31.10.2026 18:21
CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that CHP is going through a purification period and said, "We will purify not only ourselves but also Turkey from pollution. We will purify both the AK Party and the other parties." Kılıçdaroğlu also called out CHP mayors, using the statements, "If he is spending for himself and his relatives and still says he is a CHP member, he should by no means stay in CHP and should resign immediately."
CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke at the closing of the CHP Youth Branches Provincial Coordination Meeting held at CHP Headquarters. Kılıçdaroğlu, who was welcomed by CHP youth with Ahmet Kaya's song “Tired Democrat,” took the stage accompanied by chants of “Kılıçdaroğlu is the hope of the youth.”
“POLITICAL ETHICS LAW IS INDISPENSABLE FOR US”
Responding to the slogans with “Together we will rebuild this country on its moral foundations,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, “We will cleanse politics of corruption. We will rebuild a politics with strong moral foundations. I say it again: the Political Ethics Law is indispensable for us. Unless politics is cleansed of corruption, Turkey cannot find peace. Resources cannot be spent in their proper places. While a handful of people get rich, millions become poor. Therefore, the fundamental point you must not forget is that this country definitely needs a Political Ethics Law. God willing, under the leadership of the Republican People's Party, we will bring the moral foundations of politics to this country. Without these foundations, politics cannot function, and Turkey cannot reach enlightenment. Therefore, we will do it together, all together.”
“WE WILL CLEANSE BOTH THE AK PARTY AND OTHER PARTIES”
Emphasizing that the CHP is a party with high moral values and that even citizens who do not vote for it refer to CHP members as “decent people,” Kılıçdaroğlu concluded his speech with these words: “The CHP is not like other parties. Money does not circulate at CHP congresses. Persuading a person is one thing; buying that person's will is another. I come, you persuade me, and I accept it; I persuade you, and you accept it. But if, without listening to you at all, you put money in your pocket and say ‘Go vote for that one,’ those people are not real CHP members. They infiltrated us, and Turkey went through a period of purification; the CHP went through a period of purification. We will cleanse not only ourselves but Turkey of corruption. We will cleanse the AK Party and other parties too. We no longer want this nation to be robbed; we want citizens' hard-earned labor to be valued. We never accept corruption. Yes to debate, persuasion, sitting down and talking; but no to buying will with bribes, and this is a great immorality, I do not accept it.
No mayor should refrain from serving the people, from serving the town. But if he spends money on himself and his relatives and still says ‘I am a CHP member,’ let him by no means remain in the CHP. Let him resign immediately, immediately, and go somewhere else. The address of those who engage in corruption is clear. Look, it is close to here too: AK Party Headquarters. If they want, let them all go together to AK Party Headquarters.
HE MENTIONED DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY
Later, speaking about developments in the defense industry, Kılıçdaroğlu said that CHP members must know history well. Recalling that the Ottoman Empire missed the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, Kılıçdaroğlu emphasized that the priority of the Republic founded after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was economic independence, and said, “The Izmir Economic Congress convened in 1923. Gazi Mustafa Kemal knew that one without economic independence could not have full independence. He was saying that if you are economically dependent on someone, then your independence is questionable.”
Explaining the importance the founders of the Republic gave to the defense industry, Kılıçdaroğlu listed the factories opened in this field and then said, “I am saying this so that you know what great successes were achieved by that poor country in the period from the 1920s to the 1930s and 1940s.”
Emphasizing that in 1937 Turkey was one of five countries exporting aircraft to the world, Kılıçdaroğlu explained that from 1945, when Turkey joined NATO, efforts were made to prevent aircraft production, and said, “Turkey joins NATO. Until the Cyprus Peace Operation, it was treated like a baby, like a rose. There was no problem. June 5, 1964. Events occur in Cyprus. Our kinsmen are massacred. İnönü wants to intervene, but US President Johnson writes a very harsh letter to the then Prime Minister İsmet İnönü. A similar event occurs on July 20, 1974. Events are happening in Cyprus. Our kinsmen are being killed. The whole world is a spectator, but there is one person who is not a spectator: the late Bülent Ecevit. And he intervenes in Cyprus. If the Republic of Turkey has a right in the Eastern Mediterranean today, it is necessary to remember Bülent Ecevit with mercy and never forget him. The leader who laid the foundation stones for Turkey to have a say in the Mediterranean region is Bülent Ecevit.”
“IF THERE IS NO COMPETITION, NO DEVELOPMENT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY”
Kılıçdaroğlu, saying that the American embargo began after the Cyprus Peace Operation, explained that after this embargo important steps were again taken in the field of the defense industry. Noting that many things have also been done in the field of the defense industry today, Kılıçdaroğlu recorded the following:
“We are proud of those who do it, of our industrialists, of our engineers. There are two fundamental points that no one should forget: the letter Johnson wrote to İnönü and Bülent Ecevit's operation in Cyprus. The starting point and trigger of all these is these two events. Turkey has returned to its essence, to its own industry. ‘If I do not produce, I cannot succeed; if I cannot produce, I cannot defend myself.’ Moreover, in a region within a ring of fire, Turkey must protect its own existence and its own security, without opening its palm to others. And Turkey is at this point today.
Yes, today we are building aircraft, we are building helicopters. Regarding tanks, perhaps you remember, I criticized the government very harshly. The same criticisms also apply today; I would like to point that out as well. Today our defense industry has an important problem: it is not open to competition. If there is no competition, you cannot achieve the developments we expect in the defense industry. The defense industry cannot be handed over to one person or one company. There must be competition. Whoever makes the best, the finest, the most needed, that person must come forward. Therefore, there needs to be a structure open to competition. The defense industry is an area that requires high technology.
“WE WANT TO BE STRONG IN DEFENSE”
Explaining that the CHP has four fundamental philosophies, Kılıçdaroğlu recorded the following: “First: the rule of law. If we ensure this, from that moment on we can discuss all of these events. We do not belittle what is being done today, but we will not let the past be forgotten. At the foundation of the past is the labor of Republican People's Party members. The party that paid the heaviest prices is the Republican People's Party, but no one should forget that the party that opened this path is also the Republican People's Party. We love our country. We want to be strong in defense. We founded the Republic, but our country does not yet have the democracy we desire. God willing, it will be granted to us to crown the Republic with democracy. We long for a real democracy, cleansed of corruption, where everyone can freely express their thoughts.
Second: A producing Turkey. Turkey must produce, but what will Turkey produce? Turkey must produce high value-added products. When you produce high value-added products, you have a say in the world.
Third: Social state. Okay, we brought democracy. But it doesn't work if one is hungry and another is poor. A state where everyone lives in peace, everyone freely shares their bread, where there is no corruption or theft, and no child goes to bed hungry.
Because the mother cannot feed her child well, the child goes to school hungry. Can't you give a bowl of soup to a child in 21st-century Turkey? Can't you give water to this child? Can't you put paper in this child's toilet? They say nothing to those who take away billions.
“YOU NEED TO EVALUATE FUND PROFITEERS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ORGANIZED CRIMES”
The fund profiteers took the goods and ran. Everyone took the money abroad. Sir, 'I'll arrest you, I'll throw you in jail.' Well, 5 billion is gone, 10 billion is gone, 100 billion dollars is already gone. What will happen? 'We'll stay three or five days, three or five years, ten or fifteen years, go and live like kings abroad,' they say. You need to evaluate the fund profiteers within the framework of organized crimes and file a lawsuit. If that can happen, maybe Turkey can bring that money back.
Therefore, if we defend rights, law, and justice, not only for ourselves; we will bring equal rules for everyone who lives in this country and defend them.
Fourth: Sustainability. Life and the world are changing rapidly. Those who cannot keep up with change are left behind. Societies that cannot keep up with change, developments in the world, science, culture, and art withdraw from the stage of history after a while. We want to catch change in every period, produce with rational policies, and have a say in the world. “
“WE HAVE RIGHTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN”
Kılıçdaroğlu, who said that Turkey must be a strong country in its own region, said, “We have rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. We have rights in oil and natural gas. We have rights in the Mediterranean. If you are strong, you have a say; if you are not strong, you cannot have a say. The agreement with Libya is very important. We have problems in the Aegean, they need to be solved. Terrorism must end in the Middle East, peace must come, and Turkey must show much more economic and cultural interest in that region. We are brothers and relatives with the peoples of the Middle East. We must be the dominant country, the producing country, the respected country of the Middle East.”
Kılıçdaroğlu said, “Atatürkism is not getting stuck in the day; Atatürkism is building the future. That is why that ideology, that philosophy we call Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is not static. You will build the future. You will build it with knowledge, experience, and respect; you will build it without conflict. When the time comes, you will not refrain from teaching a lesson to those who test your power; as happened in Cyprus. Never forget that the party that took the most important steps in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the party that took the most important steps despite not being in power for many years, is the Republican People's Party. Let no one forget that the party that founded the Republic, went to Cyprus, and signed international conventions is the Republican People's Party.” he said.
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