30.06.2026 15:10
CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel, reacting to the targeting of comedian Deniz Göktaş during his party's group meeting in the Turkish Parliament, said, 'When people started talking about it, I opened it and watched it in full. He criticizes the government and also criticizes us. He makes jokes about Saraçhane and the rallies. He also criticizes Mayor Ekrem, joking about the books he reads. I promise my brother Deniz that I will end my 30-year journey with Erdoğan.'
Republican People's Party leader Özgür Özel evaluated the agenda at his party's group meeting. The highlights of Özel's speech are as follows:
"After the attack on our party, we did not sit idle in Ankara. We are expanding our struggle street by street, avenue by avenue. We are weaving politics that follow the nation's account, not someone else's plan, with our people stitch by stitch. We have no offices or buildings, but sometimes we are on the back of a truck, sometimes on a bench, yet we are in the people's hearts. In Diyarbakır, a precious person who welcomed us said, 'I have a greeting for you.' He had called his lawyers and said, 'I heard you are greeting the chairman, convey our greetings to CHP Chairman Özel.' We received Mr. Demirtaş's greetings and placed them upon our heads and eyes."
VISIT TO THE FAMILIES OF ROJİN KABAİŞ AND GÜLİSTAN DOKU
"We were with Rojin Kabaiş's family. The family's concerns, doubts, and questions remain unanswered in this process. In Iğdır, he carries stones at a minaret construction site, and on his days off, he rushes to Van to seek justice for his daughter. Two male DNA samples were found on Rojin's body, yet there are still those who say, 'Don't tell us anything, accept it as suicide.' I asked, 'Should I say these things?' They said, 'For God's sake, tell the people so they know.' Making everyone aware of Rojin Kabaiş's family's search for justice will contribute to the family's faith.
Gülistan Doku's mother is just as she was on the first day. Her eyes were like fountains, still her eyes are like two fountains. The mother and siblings have an outcry. They say, 'We want a grave as soon as possible; at the security stage, there are 24 serious suspects, but the process has stopped there.'"
REACTION TO NATO MEASURES AND ARRESTS
"There is a strange state of emergency, as if to design hardship for its own people because the NATO Summit will happen and foreign leaders will come, closing down the Parliament, ministries, public institutions, and streets. Then there are the operations carried out on suspicion of protests during the NATO Summit, and the arrests of 178 people. No one should use this in a sentence, tweet about it, react, and then dare to normalize it. This issue, let alone in terms of what's happening in Turkey, in terms of democracy, aside from everything else, in this country in November 2014, the then-AKP submitted a draft law to the Parliament from the Ministry of Justice with the opinions of the Ministry of the Interior, through the Council of Ministers. There were two headings. It was part of the internal security package. One was preventive detention, the other was protective detention. It was debated extensively. While defending it in the Parliament commission, they said it exists in German law. We opened it and read it. We read the catalogs that guide practitioners on how a law should be applied. Protective detention is when a person is about to set themselves on fire with a gasoline canister and a lighter in hand. Its duration is limited; it must be immediately explained to the necessary institutions. Otherwise, the detention ends. Before the NATO Summit, they arrest TEMA volunteers going on a picnic. They arrest journalists, academics, and civil society representatives, saying they will protest during the NATO Summit. They name organizations from 30 or 40 years ago and accuse them of membership in these organizations. And they say, 'These people will come and protest here.'"
SUPPORT FOR DENİZ GÖKTAŞ: I WILL END YOUR 30-YEAR JOURNEY
"In our country, after a long time, there is a young friend who does political satire. When people started talking about him, I opened it and watched it all. He criticizes the government as well as us. He criticizes Mayor Ekrem and makes jokes. We all laughed. He also criticizes Erdoğan. He says, 'I would like to be his therapist, but they can't stop me.' That's it. Quran slander and nonsense! Mocking religious values and such. Pro-government writers targeted this young kid. Now, they say, 'Did the gentleman flee abroad, will he come back?' We face a mindset that doesn't understand jokes and cannot tolerate freedom of expression.
I call out to the youth; don't think it's like this. Don't think that the president, ministers, or party leaders have such immunity. No one has such immunity. Those before them tolerated fifty times this, and they even appreciated it. If there is satire in a country, that ruler has self-confidence. What is happening today is incompetence. It is not a strong leader. Strong leaders do not tremble at cartoons or jokes. I promise; he says, 'I have a 30-year journey with Erdoğan.' I promise my brother Deniz, I will end your 30-year journey with Erdoğan."
"FRANKENSTEIN IS NOT THE MONSTER ITSELF, BUT THE DOCTOR WHO CREATED IT"
"Erdoğan's whole plan was to split the CHP like a watermelon. They couldn't even get the handle. Erdoğan says, 'I have no part in this.' Am I making a statement saying, 'I have no part in the investigation opened against comedian Deniz Göktaş'? If I don't need such a statement, I have no part. Everyone sees what's what, and the people give this reaction not because I say it but because they feel it. While explaining himself, he delves into topics he doesn't know. The other day, he said, 'CHP members created a Frankenstein and are paying the price.' Frankenstein is not the monster itself, but the doctor who created it. The writer also wrote it wrong. Let me contribute; we have worked under the same roof. If you're looking for Frankenstein, you need to look at today's Sabah newspaper. You should look for the monster not around here but at the Ministry of Justice side."