09.12.2025 14:40
President Erdoğan responded for the first time to CHP leader Özel's remarks directed at him, "Where was your grandfather?" Erdoğan said, "He asked where my late grandfather, who fell as a martyr in Sarıkamış, was a century ago. The Youth Branch has given this political novice the answer he deserves. I consider it a waste of breath to engage with this person, who thinks it is a skill to act as a messenger for a criminal organization that plunders the resources of the people of Istanbul."
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel responded to President Erdoğan, who reacted to the ongoing "executioner" debate, saying, "There was only one party that saved Turkey, established democracy, and brought democracy. We were there, our grandfathers were there. Then they will find a point of enmity in history and pick at it. CHP did that. Where was your grandfather?"
"I CONSIDER IT A WASTE TO SPEND BREATH ON THIS PERSON"
President Erdoğan, who responded for the first time to Özel's words "Where was your grandfather?", gave a scathing reply. Speaking at the "Strong Turkey for Humanity" program, Erdoğan used the following expressions; "Whenever the CHP Chairman is cornered, he either passes the ball out of play, becomes aggressive, or talks nonsense. He asked where my late grandfather, who fell as a martyr in Sarıkamış, was a century ago. The Youth Branch has given this political novice the answer he deserves. I consider it a waste to spend breath on this person, who thinks it is a skill to act as a messenger for a criminal organization that plunders the resources of the people of Istanbul. We do not hesitate to speak the truth."
WHAT HAPPENED?
CHP leader Özgür Özel, who was re-elected as chairman at the Congress where he entered as the sole candidate, targeted the Terror-Free Turkey Commission's visit to İmralı and addressed the DEM Party, saying, "I invite everyone not to fall into Stockholm Syndrome, not to fall in love with the executioner we barely escaped from yesterday."
DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları responded to Özel, saying, "To fall in love with your executioner or to use the metaphor of Stockholm Syndrome for us is, at the very least, a moment of mental paralysis. We are representatives of a revolutionary, socialist, and patriotic tradition that has resisted all pressures tirelessly and without getting weary throughout history. We know the executioner very well."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacted to CHP leader Özgür Özel's 'executioner' statement in his remarks. Erdoğan said, "Have you never read the history of the CHP, which is filled with shameful stains throughout your life?" and added, "Did you never learn what single-party fascism has inflicted on this nation? You may not know who the executioner is and who the victim is. But my Kurdish brother knows very well who the executioner is."
In response to Erdoğan's statement from Silivri, Özel said, "There was only one party that saved Turkey, established democracy, and brought democracy. We were there, our grandfathers were there. Then they will find a point of enmity in history and pick at it. CHP did that. Where was your grandfather?"