20.10.2025 07:20
The 39th Ordinary Istanbul Provincial Congress of the CHP has been completed. Özgür Çelik, who entered the election as the sole candidate, was re-elected as provincial chairman by receiving 536 of the 540 valid votes cast by 565 of the 655 provincial delegates at the congress. After the results were announced, Çelik stated, "The outcome of the Istanbul Congress is one of the important beginnings of our march towards power."
The 39th Ordinary Istanbul Provincial Congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP) started around 1:30 PM. At the congress held at the Hidayet Türkoğlu Sports Complex in Bayrampaşa, party members and officials began preparations as of 8:00 AM. CHP Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, Deputy Chairman Gökhan Zeybek responsible for Local Governments, Dilek İmamoğlu, district mayors, delegates, and members attended the congress. After a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem, speeches began. Around 4:00 PM, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel also arrived at the Hidayet Türkoğlu Sports Complex where the congress was held.
"WE WILL HAVE HELD OUR FOURTH CONGRESS IN TWO YEARS" Speaking at the congress, Republican People's Party Chairman Özgür Özel said, "Welcome to Istanbul, which connects two continents, opens one era and closes another, has served as the capital of three empires, and feels independence and freedom in every cell, where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk organized the War of Independence by leaving Şişli and going to Samsun, realized its establishment, and inspired independence with freedom and democracy in every cell. Welcome to the dedicated and self-sacrificing members and managers of our Istanbul organization, who, like a grain of wheat buried under snow against all pressures, hold their heads high to grow with its water, who do not bow down, the Republican People's Party Istanbul organization. On March 19, against those who wanted to stain the will of this city with a trustee, who woke up perhaps an hour after the bad ones but did not surrender to those evils; against those who tied the ferries, lifted the bridges, stopped the metros, and did not let the buses in, welcome to the Istanbul organization that repelled the coup in Saraçhane. Today, we are at the third Istanbul Provincial Congress in the last two years. When the process is completed and we hold our congress, we will have held our fourth congress in two years. Undoubtedly, we are in a process that gives confidence to friends and causes anxiety to enemies. We draw strength and courage from our friends. We cause anxiety to those who do not exist. As their anxieties grow, they increase their own evils, intensify their attacks, and wonder if we will remain silent, stay quiet, take a step back, or bow down? From here, with great determination and the strength I draw from this hall, with the belief of two million Republican People's Party members; it is not enough, with the strength I draw from my aunt who runs to the ballot boxes on March 23 with her bent back and two canes, and from my brother who comes to vote for the future of his three-month-old baby, I say that if we speak one word less, they will silence this nation. If we take one step back, they will take this country back 100 years. If we bend one centimeter, they will make this nation kneel. We will not remain silent, we will not take a step back, we will never bow down," he said.
"THOSE WHO PRACTICE ENEMY POLITICS HAVE LED THE COUNTRY TO THIS POINT" Özel stated, "We had been patient for 47 years. For 47 years, the Republican People's Party had been the second party, unable to win elections, but had sought the fault not in others but in itself. Rather than stepping outside of politics or taking other paths, even on July 15, when they were like flesh and bone, giving whatever they wanted, giving tanks and F16s, dressing in robes, filling their epaulettes, while we were pursuing the opening of the closed Parliament and not seeking any authority that the nation did not grant. If they had shown the patience we demonstrated for 47 years, the presidential election calendar would have started in 47 months. They did not even show 47 days. After the local elections, out of respect for their voters, or when we said, 'Is there a grudge at a martyr's funeral, is there a grudge during the holiday?' they said, 'This is normal' in a process where the people liked it, where they said, 'I wish politics were like this,' and where the winning party prohibited demonstrations so that the losing voters would not be upset, did not want loud celebrations, did not humiliate anyone, called other parties during the holiday to congratulate them, visited and received visits, and said, 'Let's focus on the country's problems, let's work together, let's serve together, let's fight together for hunger, poverty, unemployment, insecurity, or for all politicians unjustly held in prisons,' while saying, 'The benefit of this is to the Republican People's Party, we feed on polarization, we stand with conflict.' Those who know enemy politics, who have practiced it, have led the country to this point," he said.
"CHP BLOOMED FROM THE ROOTS OF KUVA-I MİLLİYE" Özgür Çelik stated, "The Republican People's Party bloomed from the roots of Kuva-i Milliye. CHP is the political form of the independence voice rising in every corner of Anatolia. Our party is the heir to the epic of liberation against imperialism. CHP is the party of those who said either independence or death in the trenches, fields, and mountains. The Republican People's Party is a party that laid the foundation of the state, established the country, and raised the people to build the republic. It is the Republican People's Party that brought enlightenment to Anatolia with Village Institutes, granted women the right to vote and be elected, and provided education, science, art, secularism, and social justice. It is the Republican People's Party that enabled the transition to a multi-party life. It is also the Republican People's Party that introduced the lands of Anatolia to new currents of thought with the idea of social democracy. On one side, revolutions, on the other side, the struggle for labor and equality. This plane tree has managed to stand tall for 102 years despite various storms. The Republican People's Party has been subjected to various attacks for 102 years. There were times when our chairpersons were assassinated. There were times when the party was in opposition, and the national struggle hero İsmet İnönü was kept waiting in the shadow of soldiers' weapons. There were times when the party's assets were confiscated. There were times when the fascist coup of September 12 closed our party. It sent our Chairman Bülent Ecevit to prison. There were times when our provincial and district chairpersons were assassinated. Our provincial and district chairpersons were murdered. Today, the 102-year-old plane tree, the Republican People's Party, is under attack from the government. But despite all attacks, it stands tall. If this flag has been able to wave proudly for 102 years, if the Republican People's Party has been able to rise like a phoenix from its ashes every time despite various attacks for 102 years, we owe this first to Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, then to our people, and then to you, our valued organization. In congresses, managers present their work during their terms and their future visions to the community and leave themselves to the appreciation of the delegates.
In my two-year term, I will share some of our work with you. I will make some evaluations regarding our future work," he said.
"TURKEY'S LEADING PARTY IS STEPPING CONFIDENTLY TOWARDS POWER TODAY" Çelik said, "It was just a day after the 2023 elections, we all woke up together on the morning of May 29. That morning, there was a sense of despair among a large part of society. People had lost hope. Young people had lost their excitement. Women had lost their hope. People didn't even want to go to work or school. In that hopeless and pessimistic environment, just one day after the elections, someone came out and said a word, formed a sentence, and sparked a flame. He said, 'No one should worry, everything is starting anew. Don't forget.' He said, 'The only constant is change itself.' The call for change by President Ekrem was an expression of the beginning of a new hope in these lands, as was the call for the century of change by our Chairman Mr. Özgür Özel. At that time, our Istanbul provincial congress had taken place, and I had said that we promise you a new path, a new beginning in our 2023 congress. I had said we are coming to illuminate Anatolia with the hope that will spread from Istanbul. With the wave of hope spreading from Istanbul in 2023, under the leadership of our chairman Özgür Özel, we became Turkey's leading party. Turkey's leading party is confidently and steadily walking towards power today. We are walking towards power together. We are entering power together.
"THEY WANT TO INTIMIDATE" Çelik stated, "The effort to exclude our presidential candidate, determined by 15.5 million citizens' votes. The effort to make the ballot box symbolic. They are trying to collapse the municipalities they could not win through elections by weaponizing the judiciary. They are conducting operations and arrests not only against members of the Republican People's Party but also against everyone who does not align with the minority government, including journalists, artists, students, other political parties, the business world, and the labor world. They want to intimidate. They want to cover up the real problems of society and do not want the truth to be spoken in the face of lies and slanders. Despite all the pressures, despite all the financial pressures, despite all the judicial harassment, the municipalities governed by the Republican People's Party continue to make history. Our CHP municipalities continue to open nurseries. Our municipalities continue to build dormitories, and our municipalities continue to open city restaurants. Our municipalities continue to provide market support to retirees and urban transformation support," he said.
YSK'S 'CONTINUE THE CONGRESS' DECISION The Supreme Election Council (YSK) convened yesterday to discuss the request to suspend the CHP's 39th Ordinary Istanbul Provincial Congress, made by the Istanbul 45th Civil Court of First Instance. After the meeting, YSK Deputy Chairman Özübek stated that the Istanbul 45th Civil Court of First Instance had sent a letter to the Sarıyer 1st District Election Board, stating that "the congress could not be held due to the existing precautionary decision." Özübek also mentioned in his statements, "A decision has been made to continue the congress. It has been decided that the congress processes that have started in accordance with the procedure cannot be suspended by the district election boards, and the decision will be sent to the parties and relevant units."
"THE SPARK WE IGNITED IN ISTANBUL WILL LIGHT UP TURKEY" After the speeches, the voting process was followed by the counting process. Özgür Çelik, who entered the election as the sole candidate, was re-elected as provincial chairman by receiving 536 of the 540 valid votes cast by 565 of the 655 provincial delegates at the congress. After the results were announced, Özgür Çelik expressed his gratitude to those who supported him, stating, "Dear elders, our 39th ordinary Istanbul provincial congress is not an end, but a brand new beginning. We held a congress two years ago. We promised you a new beginning. We said the spark we ignited in Istanbul will light up Turkey. And under the leadership of our Chairman Özgür Özel, we became Turkey's leading party. Now, this congress represents not an end, but a brand new beginning. Together with our presidential candidate Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu, our Chairman Özgür Özel, our executives, our friends, and most importantly, our nation, we are coming to power together. The result that emerged from the Istanbul congress is one of the important beginnings of our journey to power. I thank you all."