Swift response from Özlem Çerçioğlu to Özgür Özel: 'She will be held accountable before the judiciary'

The 101st 'Protecting the National Will' rally, organized to demand an end to the imprisonment of Republican People's Party (CHP) presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and to call for early elections, was held in the Kuşadası district of Aydın.

Speaking at the rally, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for elections while also making references to Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu.

When the crowd chanted the slogan 'Özlem, your shoe is half-off, come out and let's play' in reference to Çerçioğlu, Özel said, 'Can Özlem go out on the street? If she cannot, I am addressing the very top of this theft of national will: Hey Erdoğan! You tried to pocket an election you did not win through political hijacking. Do you trust Özlem that much, do you believe in Özlem that much? You have the AK Party, you have the power, you have Özlem; here is the offer. In Aydın, if the CHP and the AK Party want, we can renew the elections. Bring out your candidate Özlem, let's put the ballot box out, and let Aydın make the decision. I challenge you.'

SWIFT RESPONSE FROM ÇERÇİOĞLU

The response to Özel's words from Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu was not long in coming. In her statement, Çerçioğlu argued that Özel's remarks were baseless.

Çerçioğlu stated, 'CHP Chairman Özgür Özel will be held accountable before the judiciary for the slanders he directed at me and my family with baseless accusations during the open-air meeting he held in Kuşadası! I submit this to the information of the public.'

ÖZEL'S ALLEGATIONS BECOME A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION

Stating that 'The operation conducted against Ömer Günel is the price of the transfer of the "fleeing efe"', Özel had used the following expressions:

'While many of our friends were resisting slanders, while many of our friends were protecting their honor and dignity and enduring dungeons, they placed some receipts in front of the Metropolitan Mayor of Aydın. God forbid, if we had known about that receipt, if we had known about that corruption, if we had known that those invoices were being paid by those swindlers, we would not have kept her in the party anyway. But they told her: "Either you will be thrown in jail or you will join the AK Party."'

'She said, "Yes, I will sell the will of Aydın, I will steal, but we also have a company, and I want it to be saved too." The operation against Ömer Günel is one of the prices of the transfer of the person whose old name was "Topuklu Efe" (High-Heeled Efe) and is now the "fleeing efe," which represents the selling of Aydın's will to the AK Party. This transfer is one of the promises made to clean up the dirty relationship Aziz İhsan Aktaş established with Özlem Çerçioğlu, to set aside the ongoing operations against her, and to grant non-prosecution or acquittal. Another is the rescue of her spouse's bankrupt family company. The third installment is the slandering of Ömer Günel, who objected to this betrayal, resisted, and defended your will.'

Özel had continued his words with the following expressions:

'The incident allegedly took place in 2025. However, on that date, Ekrem İmamoğlu was in Silivri Prison. All our friends were in Silivri Prison. A crime like transferring money to someone in prison is not only disconnected from reality; it is a vile slander, devoid of morality and conscience. We say it here once again, we said it in 100 rallies, we are saying it in the 101st: We are among the people, we are looking the nation in the face. I am saying it while looking into the eyes of Kuşadası: Ömer Günel is innocent. Ekrem İmamoğlu is innocent. The young people here are chanting, they are saying to that fleeing one: "Özlem, your shoe is half-off, come out and let's play." Can Özlem go out on the street? Can she come among you? Can she ask how you are? Can she look you in the face?

If she cannot, I am addressing the very top of this theft of national will: Hey Erdoğan! I made a call to you at that magnificent rally we held in Aydın. You have been silent since that day, you have turned a deaf ear. Now I repeat it once again: Özlem Çerçioğlu took the votes of this party, of this city, that were not given to the AK Party but to the CHP and the alliance of democrats, and she joined your party. Now, the people of Aydın said, "Let the CHP govern." You tried to pocket an election you did not win through political hijacking. Do you trust Özlem that much, do you believe in Özlem that much? You have the AK Party, you have the power, you have Özlem; here is the offer. In Aydın, if the CHP and the AK Party want, we can renew the elections. Bring out your candidate Özlem, let's put the ballot box out, and let Aydın make the decision. I challenge you.'

News Source: 12punto