Özgür Özel, the parliamentary group leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and a candidate for party leadership, commented on the investigation initiated against CHP MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu for his remarks concerning the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
"I won't follow in Ömer Çelik's footsteps and allow my own MP to be lynched with a 32-second video from the very beginning. I won't distort what happened in 1980 as if it happened today. If mistakes are being made today regarding the Turkish Armed Forces, it is my duty as the party leader to stand against them and rectify them," Özel stated.
Erdoğan threatens Tanrıkulu: 'We have a duty to teach them the necessary lesson'
During an interview on HaberTürk TV, Özel addressed a question about how he would react to figures like Sezgin Tanrıkulu who make such statements if he were to win the party leadership. He emphasized that he wouldn't treat Sezgin Tanrıkulu unfairly and explained, "Sezgin Tanrıkulu was connected to a live broadcast and spoke for 6.5 to 7 minutes. Ömer Çelik attacked Sezgin Tanrıkulu based on a 32-second clip, making unfounded remarks. Unfortunately, our party spokesperson took a similar stance. I objected to this."
When asked if he found Sezgin Tanrıkulu's statements reasonable and correct, Özel responded, "This is exactly what I want to convey. During my candidacy announcement, I specifically said this. Sezgin Tanrıkulu says that he narrates an incident if you watch six and a half minutes. The incident happened in 1982, where villagers were thrown from a helicopter. The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed this. Turkey has also accepted it and paid compensation. That's the incident, that specific case. When you watch 32 seconds, it seems as if it happened today."
Özel continued, "Firstly, the Turkish Armed Forces are our pride; no one questions that - we supposedly cooperate with terrorists, right? Secondly, it's the CHP that defends the rights of specialist sergeants and specialist privates; it's the CHP that defends the rights of the police... Just take a look at police forums; see what they write and draw about the CHP there. See what is said and drawn about CHP MPs. We have no doubt about our intentions there."
What did Tanrıkulu say?
Tanrıkulu had said, "We, as MPs, criticize everything the TSK does. Isn't it the army that carried out the coup on September 12th? Isn't it the same army that attempted a coup on July 15th, burning villages... I'm following cases. Wasn't it the TSK that threw 15 villagers from a helicopter, a fact confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights? We approach things critically. We ask questions, we ask if it's true or not. We ask these questions to remove any suspicions related to the TSK. If they had done everything right in 40 years, Turkey wouldn't be in this situation. The European Court of Human Rights decision is there, 15 villagers, who threw them? Who burned so many villages? Just recently, we had Roboski in Uludere... Turkey is in this state because you can't approach things critically."
