04.05.2025 19:00
The leader of the CHP, Özgür Özel, made a statement regarding the attack he faced after the funeral ceremony held for Sırrı Süreyya Önder. Highlighting that the attacker had murdered two of his children years ago, Özel said, "If someone is going to do such things, if they are going to provoke, blame someone, or do something, they will definitely find someone like this to carry it out. There must be an instigator behind it."
```html
CHP General Chairman Özgür Özel visited the family home of the late artist Yavuz Top in Sarıyer to offer his condolences. After the visit, Özel stated, "I couldn't attend our poet Yavuz Top's funeral due to the intensity and hustle of May 1st. We were in contact with the family. Today, we came here to pay our respects. We visited the family. He was a poet I loved very much, with whom I exchanged tapes since my boarding school days, and we met at the Dikili Festival when we were 14-15 years old. We lost him too early. We lost a very valuable name not only with his music but also with the comments, contributions, and objections he brought to politics. Once again, I extend my condolences to his family first and to his neighbors," he said.
"TODAY WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT PEACE" Speaking about the attack he faced after the funeral of the late Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and DEM Party Istanbul Deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Özel said, "Today we need to talk about peace. Today, Turkey needs to put an end to both the terrorism issue and all human rights violations in Turkey through democratic openings. All imprisoned politicians should be outside, not in prison. It was a day when these issues were discussed. Some people facilitated the occurrence of today's attack because they did not want these issues to be discussed."
"THE ACTION OF THIS ATTACKER MUST NOT OVERSHADOW THE AGENDA" For a while now, we have been receiving threats, and intelligence assessments are being made. The events in Konya, etc., are all separate. I will only ask one thing from here. Of course, it is not in our hands, but Sırrı Süreyya's departure, like a peace dove, must not overshadow the agenda of the action taken by this attacker. After the incident, I called my wife, my mother, and my daughter and said, 'I am continuing.' Since my daughter was very curious, I stopped by her side for about 10 minutes. We are continuing with our program. There have been assassination attempts on the leaders of this party. It happened to Atatürk, it happened to İnönü, it happened to Ecevit, and it happened to Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Party leaders were imprisoned, and they faced lynching attempts. When you aspire to such a position, you already accept this risk.
"I SEE THIS ATTACK AS AN ASSAULT ON THE POLITICAL INSTITUTION" A lot of dirty information is flying around here. Everyone, from the President to the ministers and the leaders of political parties, is calling to condemn this attack. I also see this attack as an assault on the political institution. From now on, it doesn't matter if someone is a member of this party or that party; whatever comes after that. We must defend civil politics, reject violence, talk, and work together. But let’s say this much: Polarization and sharpness benefit no one. I was saying these things 1.5 years ago as well.
HE SHARED HIS MEMORIES OF SIRRI SÜREYYA ÖNDER Özel mentioned a dialogue he had with Sırrı Süreyya Önder, saying, "I have no grudges or resentments against anyone. We are doing our job. If threats and attacks after this time were to intimidate us, we would not aspire to the leadership of the party that founded the republic, risking our lives. Sırrı Süreyya has a legacy, let me tell you. One day he came to me and asked, 'Have you watched the movie A Republican Song?' When I said, 'I haven't watched it,' he said, 'Watch it for my sake.' I said, 'I will watch it anyway. How can I not watch it?' We watched A Republican Song in a cinema hall with Ekrem President, the daughter and son of Ahmet Özer, who had just been arrested at that time, our Istanbul Provincial Chairman, our MYK members, and youth branches. Later, when we gathered, he asked, 'Did you like it?' He said, 'This secret is entrusted to you until I die. You can tell it later. I wrote the script of that movie.' We asked, 'Brother, why don't you say it?' At that time, of course, it was before October 1st, and Mr. Sırrı was in a period when politics and his party were demonized. He said, 'It would be a shame for the film and the efforts of those in the film. Let them know after I die.' From that day until today, this secret has been with me. This morning, I told one or two people, very close to me. Let everyone know that the script of that wonderful film, A Republican Song, was written by Sırrı Süreyya Önder, together with the current screenwriter friend. They will probably reveal it from now on. Because he said, 'Let it be known after I die.' I asked, 'Why did you entrust this to me?' The film tells about Atatürk. 'I told the first chairman of that party. So we will entrust this to the last chairman, I guess,' he said. On a day when I had such feelings, those punches thrown at us do not affect us. They do not hurt us. They only increase our determination to fight," he said.
"THERE MUST BE A PERPETRATOR BEHIND THIS ATTACK" Özel stated that information about the attacker has been received, saying, "It was reported to us by the Minister of Interior in 2004 that he killed two of his children, injured one, and that the fourth child managed to escape by jumping from the balcony during that incident. They are closely interested, thank you. These have already been covered in the press. If someone is going to do such things, disturb the peace, provoke, and pin the crime on someone, they will find such a person. We know that. There must definitely be a perpetrator behind this. The issue is that today, at the funeral of a person who has dedicated his life to ensuring that the DEM party's deputy works for peace in Turkey, that the Kurdish issue is resolved, that the terrorism issue ends, and that mothers do not cry in Turkey, this happened. Therefore, those who are disturbed by this process, those who want to pin this crime on someone, or those who want to send us a message have done something. That will be investigated, revealed, and found. We must stand strong as a whole. Otherwise, you would be giving credit to those who try to create enmity from here, to those who try to throw that punch. That’s why I look at it this way. Besides that, I have nothing more to say about the phone issue on my behalf. The phone opened by the President carries a value in that regard. I think the past phone call was taken into account, and that phone call was also retracted. For all of us, for all the people doing opposition politics.
"POLITICS IS DONE WITH WORDS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO IT WITH WORDS" Politics is done with words, and we will continue to do it with words.
```
Whoever convinces the people, whoever the people appreciate, will govern this country. We will continue to cling to the people's ballot box. We will fight our democratic struggle against those who do not respect the ballot box, who disregard it, or who cannot digest the people's appreciation. We are very strong, very determined, and very committed. On such a day, it is not my job to create political debate from here. A punch thrown embarrasses those who advocate violence in politics. It is a process that justifies us, advocating that those who value words in politics, that the norm of politics should be politicians shaking hands, attending funerals, condolences, good days, and holidays together. I hope this will be a new milestone from here. If politics in Turkey is conducted through words, if the elected officials are present in their duties, and if steps are taken to allow those who are accused to be tried without detention, we would be pleased if it contributes to such an atmosphere. If it does not, what will we do? We have no intention of taking a step back; we will continue the struggle," he said.