19.05.2026 20:40
Speaking at the May 19 events, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said, 'Politics in Turkey is very old, even I am very old. We will go through a process where we will clear the way for young people and, as Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, entrust the Republic to the youth.' It was noteworthy that while Özel criticized politics as 'old,' he was accompanied by 70-year-old Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş.
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said, "Politics in Turkey is very old, even I am very old. We will experience a process where we will open the way for young people and, as Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, 'entrust the Republic to the youth.' In this process, Chairman Ekrem, Chairman Mansur, and I will do whatever falls upon us."
ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S CRITICISM OF "OLD POLITICS" The CHP Ankara Provincial Directorate organized the 'May 19 Youth Cortege' in Ankara for the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day. The march, attended by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş, Çankaya Municipality Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner, the CHP Ankara provincial organization, and young people, started at Güvenpark and ended at Anıtkabir. During the march, CHP Youth and Sports Policy Committee Chair Sevgi Kılıç and CHP Youth Wing Chair Cem Aydın addressed the young people from a bus. Özgür Özel, meanwhile, made a statement to the press during the march, celebrating May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.
Özel stated that the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a genius and a magnificent soldier, using the following expressions: "He was the chief of general staff, he was the commander-in-chief, but he did not entrust the Republic to the chiefs of general staff or the army and leave. He was a very good politician, he was the head of state, but he did not entrust it to the presidents after him and leave. He was the founder of the Republican People's Party, but he did not say, 'The Republic is entrusted to the Republican People's Party, to the chairmen after me.' He entrusted the Republic only to the youth.
Therefore, today, for instance, no one should be surprised by this immense crowd, or the youth running to Anıtkabir, the youth in 81 provinces embracing their Ancestor, or despite all the efforts and targeted rhetoric trying to wear down Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, the rates of young people defining themselves as 'Atatürkist' in polls approaching 90 percent."
"EVEN I AM VERY OLD" Özel, stating that politics in Turkey is very old, said, "These days are the most important time to stand up for the Republic. And we see that young people are determined to stand up for the Republic and its gains. As someone known and referred to as a 'young leader' at 51, I reject that. Politics in Turkey is very old, even I am very old. We will experience a process where we will open the way for young people and, as Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said, 'entrust the Republic to the youth.' In this process, Chairman Ekrem, Chairman Mansur, and I will do whatever falls upon us. And we will reunite the Republic with the youth once again. We will entrust it to its real owners. We will withdraw to our own corners with great peace. The greatest duty for us to achieve this lies with the youth. We trust them. We walk together with them."
MANSUR YAVAŞ WAS BESIDE HIM It was noteworthy that Özgür Özel used these expressions while next to Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş. Mansur Yavaş, who has been the Metropolitan Municipality Mayor for 2 terms, is 70 years old.