14.07.2026 15:01
Özgür Özel, who made statements in the party group, called on Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who returned to the helm of CHP after the absolute nullity decision, saying, "Let both of us enter the race for the chairmanship with all members, and let the loser leave the CHP! Let the loser leave politics. Let both of us compete with 2 million members... If I get less than 90% of the votes, I will quit politics."
As the controversies that erupted after the absolute nullity decision in CHP continue, Özgür Özel, speaking in the party group, made another call to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
In his statement, Özel said, "Since you are a party member, since you do not want division, since you talk as if division would benefit the AK Party, as if you could cause division; I say this openly, clearly! Either with our 1 million 950 thousand members, let's call back those who resigned and have 2 million members, or with the 1 million 200 thousand members you left us with; let both of us enter the leadership race with all members, and the loser should leave CHP! Let CHP go! Let the loser leave politics. Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu! You are making a call, and I am making a call. Let us compete with 2 million members! If I get less than 90% of the vote, I will leave politics."
Highlights from Özel's statements; "After a week-long break, we are back in our nation's Parliament. Last week, we held our meeting in Eskişehir. Along with those who listened to our meeting, we took to the streets with our provincial chair, our mayor, the legendary mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen, and our deputies. The hall was enthusiastic, but the streets of Eskişehir overflowed like a flood. I want to send a greeting to beautiful Eskişehir, which embraced us in these difficult times.
"GOOD NEWS: WE ARE IN THE HEARTS OF THE NATION" I am addressing those who are confined to halls, especially Mr. Erdoğan, and those who cannot go out. There is no fear or submission in our nation. There is faith, determination, and resolve. No power has stood against the surging flood of the people, and it cannot stand now. We may not have offices; sometimes we are on a bench, sometimes on a chair. But good news to all of us: we are in the hearts of the nation. We have traveled to 21 provinces step by step, and we will reach the 22nd, Kırıkkale, on Friday. While we search for and build something new, there are those who walk so that the injustices they suffer are heard.
REACTION TO THE EU'S ARROGANT 'PEACE OPERATION' DECISION Our heroic army, the TSK, is our honor. We strongly condemn, reject, and denounce the decision in the EU Parliament that attempts to tarnish our army with disgusting accusations regarding the Peace Operation.
In the face of this slander aimed at our Cyprus veterans—who, after years of genocidal massacres where peace could not be achieved despite all efforts, were sent to Cyprus by Ecevit and Erbakan, who went to the island for peace not war through successful operations, who fulfilled their duties in the operation, and who have never faced even the slightest accusation of war crimes to this day—we, as the CHP group, gratefully embrace and kiss the hands of all our veterans and the families of our martyrs.
REACTION TO MINISTER TEKIN ON 'MESEM' This week, we received a heartbreaking tragic news from Osmaniye. Our 16-year-old child Yiğit Mehmet Kesme, who was made to repair a tractor under the MESEM program, died horribly when he was caught in the tractor's hydraulic system. However, in Turkey, 34 children have died in work-related accidents this year alone. Of these, 21 were working under the MESEM program. While the insolent, unqualified, incompetent appointee at the head of the Ministry of National Education is busy changing the name of the War of Independence, our children are losing their lives at his post. If Germany hasn't lost a single life in 40 years, while 21 of our children have died in the MESEM project in Turkey, from whom else will we demand an account if not from that insolent person?
"WE ARE THE CHP THAT DOES NOT LOSE" Unfortunately, there is no justice in this country. Because of that, there is no prosperity or abundance either. They killed justice in Turkey for a handful of people who have fallen from the eyes and hearts of the nation. Together, we brought about a transformation in our party. By trusting more women and young people, we determined every one of our candidates by conducting surveys. In the first election held, we defeated the AKP for the first time. After 47 years, we made our party the first party. Since that day, we have been the target of all anti-democratic attacks. We are the winning CHP, not the losing one. We are the CHP that says if we lose an election, we will go to the congress the next day and not run for office, the CHP that saw the challenge Erdoğan has posed for a quarter-century for the first time.
"THEY HAVE STARTED AN OPERATION IN ANKARA" In Ankara, the chief prosecutor and deputies will change. Because they are not carrying out the operations we mentioned." How a municipality should be audited is clear. Inspections are conducted at regular or random times, by inspectors; if a defect is found, it is written down; if there is suspicion of a crime, permission is sought from the ministry. If there is a claim, the complaint is investigated, and the same procedures lead to inspection and the judiciary. There is no other method. While there is a universal method of judgment—going at the crack of dawn, raiding someone's home and municipality, then moving from evidence to crime, from crime to criminal—they first decide on the criminal, then say to all companies and employees, 'I have seized your property, found your most sensitive spot, put you in jail, now come on, accuse the president, I'll let you go.' This is the system that Ankara said it would not implement. Operations are not conducted by targeting someone. Openly, in a process where those who carried out these operations in Istanbul are being appointed as chief prosecutors in these places, they have now started in Ankara as well. They have taken our Hüseyin Can into custody.
WILL A NEW PARTY BE ESTABLISHED? Nobody is eager to establish a new party, but the retiree, whose hope is exhausted, who interrupts our march to power on the street, asks about a new party. They pinch my arm about a new party. I say it openly. With our 2 million members. Let both of us enter the leadership race with all members; the loser should leave CHP. The loser should leave politics. Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu, you are making a call, and I am making a call. Let us compete; if I get less than 90% of the vote, I will leave politics. I am making my historic call before this noble nation and this sacred trust. If I get less than 90% of the vote, I will leave politics. Politics is not done by saying 'I don't know, I don't hear'; politics is done with assertion."