CHP Chair Özgür Özel answered questions from Tele1 TV’s Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ, Evren Özalkuş, and Murat Taylan.
Speaking about the Gaziosmanpaşa rally held by his party on Wednesday, Özel explained his statement: “Don’t push me to my limits, we’ll gather never to disperse again.” He said, “I say what they understand. I don’t know where we’ll gather or how we’ll not disperse. Let whoever the message is for, take it. We’ve reached our limit. From now on, if they keep dishonoring us, continue slandering, and if a fair judicial process isn’t established... If they harden their stance, I will too. I’ll do whatever they understand. There’s no turning back now.”
“A trustee cannot be appointed. No trustee can be appointed to the Republican People’s Party. That seat was brought by Atatürk, and one must arrive there through election. No one can sit in Atatürk’s seat in Atatürk’s party without an election. If a trustee is appointed, they cannot enter that building. Former administrators would never stoop to such a thing. And if someone would, then they’re not CHP anyway.”
Özel defended İmamoğlu, saying he's motivated to run for president and being targeted with fabricated evidence. “They tried to manufacture the ‘İmamoğlu crime organization’ narrative. There’s no solid evidence, so now they’re pressuring detainees to turn informant,” he said. Özel also accused Erdoğan of trying to eliminate political rivals through judicial means, calling the current process a “coup in a prosecutor’s robe.” On early elections, he claimed, “If millions demand it, the ballot box will come.”
A day later, Özel announced that they will not be exchanging holiday greetings with other political parties, due to the ongoing imprisonment of their party members: “We are in no state to celebrate, friends. The holiday does not come to us. Eleven of my mayors here were elected by the people, but since Tayyip Bey couldn’t defeat them, he sent wave after wave of attackers.”
Erdoğan targeted CHP for its decision not to engage in holiday greetings, criticizing it in a video message shared just before Eid al-Adha. Referring to CHP’s stance due to its detained mayors and bureaucrats, he expressed disappointment, saying:
"I regret that the main opposition has become a party that doesn't exchange Eid greetings with anyone. I hope this insistence on a wrong course ends, and all the diverse elements of Turkey can come together, especially during holidays."
(AB/DT)
