Exciting minimum wage statement from Özgür Özel: We will receive a raise in July.

22.05.2025 08:51

The leader of the CHP, Özgür Özel, is preparing for a move that excites workers regarding the minimum wage. Özel stated, "We have decided to initiate efforts for a substantial increase in the minimum wage in July. By taking the suggestions of the unions and consulting with workers and employers, we will secure a raise in the minimum wage in July."

CHP General Chairman Özgür Özel stated in his speech at the "Defending the Will of the Nation" rally organized by his party in Pendik that Pendik is one of the regions in Turkey with the highest concentration of workers, and he delivered a message regarding the minimum wage.

"WE WILL RECEIVE A RAISE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE IN JULY"

Özel said, "Suddenly, interest rates, which were at 47.5%, have raised the interest rates on loans used by SMEs and industrialists to 70%. According to TÜİK, the inflation for the last 4 months is 13%. The minimum wage, which was 22,000 TL at the beginning of the year, has now decreased in purchasing power to 19,000 TL of that day. In other words, it has eroded by 3,000 TL. According to ENAG, it has eroded by 4,400 TL. Before the last elections, they were saying that if necessary, we would raise the minimum wage 4 times in an inflationary environment. Right now, more than the raise given in 4 months has been lost. Starting tomorrow, we have decided to initiate efforts for a substantial raise in the minimum wage in July by scheduling visits to all labor unions and confederations, working together with both labor organizations and employer organizations, and with workers. We will raise the minimum wage in July by presenting solution proposals that will prevent this burden from falling on small businesses and SMEs."

Özel continued his remarks as follows:

"I KISS THE FOREHEADS OF OUR 36 FRIENDS"

There were thousands of detentions in Saraçhane, and 301 arrests. Currently, 36 young friends of ours are still detained. Today, the judge who will decide on the detention of the Boğaziçi detainees has gone on a one-week annual leave. They tell the children, 'Wait another week.' They are practically applying a law of enmity against opposing youth, dissenting youth, and university youth. Thank you to all our young friends in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and all over Turkey who initiated the resistance against the coup. We kiss the foreheads of our 36 friends who are inside.

"THERE IS AN UNDERSTANDING THAT WANTS TO PUNISH KURDISH VOTERS WHO VOTE FOR OUR PARTY"

You know that in both Ataşehir and Kartal, there is an understanding that wants to instill fear in the municipalities by gathering one deputy mayor and one municipal council member from each of our eight municipalities, to intimidate our mayors, and to punish Kurdish voters who vote for our party through those municipal council members. This is called DEM Party, Urban Consensus. The name of this in our party is broader. We call it the Pendik Alliance, the Istanbul Alliance, the Turkey Alliance. Whether from DEM or other parties, we include opinion leaders who can bring votes, even if they have previously engaged in politics in another party, as long as they are democratic, have no issues with the integrity of this country, and are loyal to their homeland and nation.

"IF THERE IS A CRIME, I AM THE PERPETRATOR OF THAT CRIME"

Names from various political parties have been taken in all provinces and many districts in Turkey. In Istanbul, one or two names from DEM who have previously engaged in politics or are opinion leaders among Kurds have appeared on the lists. This is neither a fault nor a sin. But the prosecutor wrote, 'In the West, by entering the elections from CHP lists in places where they cannot win municipalities, they have gained representation opportunities for the Kurds in the West...' They are presenting this as a crime. If there is such a crime, the perpetrator of that crime is my brother, me. On one hand, they are negotiating with the PKK, conducting a process with the PKK. They are praising Abdullah Öcalan. On the other hand, they are taking one Kurdish citizen from the municipal councils and putting them inside, judging them from HDK. Today, there was their trial. Despite the fact that HDK, especially the decision of the 12th Heavy Penal Court in Izmir, stated that it was a congress and not a terrorist organization, they have judged 10 people today for 10 hours and decided to continue their detention until some date in September. Shame on them.

REACTION TO BAHÇELİ'S HOPE RIGHT

On one side is the hope right that Devlet Bey speaks of, and on the other side is a great blow to one of the healthiest collaborations of Turkish democracy, to Turkey's peace. In this matter, neither a mayor nor a municipal council member is responsible. Those who criminalize this step taken for the unity and solidarity of Turkey are the greatest enemies of Turkey. Everyone in Turkey should know that those standing side by side in this square, both Ekrem İmamoğlu, Selahattin Demirtaş, and Ümit Özdağ, are democrats who can defend each other's freedom. The applause in this square is the hope of Turkey. The hope of Turkey is you. Let them take Ümit Özdağ inside, let someone rejoice. Let them take Selahattin Bey, let someone else rejoice. Let them take Ekrem Başkan, let another rejoice. One person should always rejoice. There is no such plunder; there is no salvation alone, either together or none of us.

"THERE CAN BE NO GLOBAL LEADER WHO IS NOT DEMOCRATIC AT HOME"

There is someone who thinks only of himself and not of anyone else. Now, with the state's money, he is giving the state's money to agencies to campaign for himself. Votes have dropped, you see. He is running a campaign to elevate himself, calling himself a 'global leader.' I say this to Erdoğan; a global leader cannot be undemocratic at home. One who is an autocrat at home, who is a dictator at home, can neither be a leader in the world nor a global leader. He can only be disgraced. He disgraces the country as well.

One cannot be a global leader who does not support the Palestinian cause, which the CHP has supported since Ecevit and Yaser Arafat, or the rightful liberation struggle of Palestine, which Deniz Gezmiş and his friends supported, or who remains silent while trying to turn Gaza into a seaside town with Trump's words, or who remains silent while waiting for the Turkish Republics to recognize Northern Cyprus, or who remains silent about the occupations of the islands in the Aegean, or who leaves Turkey's rights and interests to the whims of Trump. I don't know if AK Party members are silent about someone like this sacrificing the interests of the country for his own calculations. But this square does not remain silent, has not remained silent, and will not remain silent.

"THE FIRST GOAL IS TO REACH 20 MILLION SIGNATURES"

This square, with its energy exceeding 15 million, is ready to take on the task of reaching the first goal of 20 million signatures and moving towards 28 million. Are we ready to take empty signature forms from the stands in the district and go door to door to convince those who have not signed, to go to places we cannot reach, to complete the signatures? After we have the 20 millionth signature verified by a notary, we will count down the remaining 8 million signatures one by one. The signatures are entrusted to us, entrusted to the party of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. We will not give it to anyone. We will only show it for verification to the notary. Those signatures will be kept in the Republican People's Party as the honor of everyone. Now, let us all together raise our voices loud enough to be heard all the way to Silivri. Hey Erdoğan, I am the nation, I am the national will. What I say is what happens. Bring the ballot box, leave my candidate. I want my candidate beside me and the ballot box in front of me.

This box will either come with your faith, determination, enthusiasm, and courage, or it will come.