15.02.2025 17:11
AK Party Deputy Chairman Hamza Dağ reacted to CHP leader Özgür Özel, who misread the "Soldier's Prayer" poem that led to President Erdoğan's imprisonment. Dağ stated, "Mr. Özgür Özel has shown all of Turkey who is ignorant... You shouldn't swim in waters you don't know, Mr. Özgür Özel. Otherwise, you'll end up in such disgrace."
AK Party Deputy Chairman Hamza Dağ reacted to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who misread Ziya Gökalp's poem titled "Asker Duası," which caused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to go to prison after reading it in Siirt in 1997.
"THE MOMENT ÖZEL SHOWED WHO IS IGNORANT TO ALL OF TURKEY"
In a post on his official social media account, Hamza Dağ stated, "The moment Mr. Özgür Özel showed who is ignorant to all of Turkey... So it turns out! You shouldn't swim too much in waters you don't know, Mr. Özgür Özel... Otherwise, you will be humiliated like this. The verses he belittled are not just a poem; they reflect the memory, history, and spirit of a nation. Not having this awareness is a reflection of a political understanding that cannot connect with the nation, beyond ignorance."
ÖZEL MISREAD THE POEM
Özgür Özel misread the lines of Ziya Gökalp's poem "Asker Duası," saying, "Minareler mızrak, kubbeler miğfer, saldır asker, Allahu Ekber" instead of "Minareler süngü, kubbeler miğfer, Camiler kışlamız, müminler asker, Bu ilahi ordu dinimi bekler, Allahu Ekber, Allahu Ekber."
HE HAD CALLED ERDOĞAN "IGNORANT OF POETRY"
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had responded to President Erdoğan's criticisms directed at his party through the slogan "There is no salvation alone, either we all together or none of us" with the words, "Bertolt Brecht's poem... The ignorant of God knows neither Brecht nor poetry. Knows neither art nor culture."
"IF HE HANGS IT IN A CORNER OF HIS ROOM, IT WOULD BE ACCURATE"
President Erdoğan had responded to Özel's criticisms directed at him with the following statement: "Honestly, what can I say? The poem I read is known to be by Ziya Gökalp. I was sentenced to a year in prison for reading this poem by Ziya Gökalp. I spent 4 months and 10 days in prison. Whether I read poetry or not is told by history from secondary education to university. But I cannot know how much poetry Mr. Özel is capable of reading. If he hangs it in a corner of his room, it would be much more accurate. He would learn what poetry is."
AK PARTY'S REACTION WAS SEVERE
AK Party Spokesman Ömer Çelik also stated regarding Özel's criticism of Erdoğan, "For our President, who faced a political ban for reading poetry, to be called 'ignorant of poetry' can only be explained by Özgür Özel's own political ignorance. The language Özel used towards our President is an ugliness devoid of any political morality."