07.07.2026 17:10
CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel emphasized Turkey's role as a game-setter and the joint defense of national interests at the NATO Ankara Summit. Özel also stated, "We must establish correct, institutional, stable, and strong relationships with Russia and China."
CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel stated at the "Group Meeting" held at the Atatürk Culture, Arts and Congress Center that Eskişehir is a symbol of youth, freedom, and modern life.
Özel, expressing that Eskişehir is the 19th city they have visited after the "absolute nullity" decision, said, "We walk growing in every city with the hope of the youth and the prayers of mothers."
"WE VALUE SUCH HOSTING" Özgür Özel, reminding that Turkey will host the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government today and tomorrow, continued as follows:
"As the first party of the last local election, we value such hosting during such a period. Of course, very good hosting must be provided. Foreign leaders and delegations should be welcomed, and they should travel and see Turkey. We want Turkey to have a say in NATO, to have a voice and decision in regional and global developments, and to be a game-setting country. We desire that our country's national interests be defended together with the government and opposition, and that such organizations be embraced collectively."
Noting that they are the present representatives of the cadres who strengthened and developed the country with the republic, made it listened to in foreign policy, and transformed it into a deterrent force against threats, Özel explained that they inherited foreign policy principles from their founding cadres and view the issue from a supra-political perspective. Özel stated, "We are proponents of the idea that plans should be prepared not daily or for a single term, but for 10, 20, and 30 years. We cannot allow any government to personalize these principles, erode them for its own benefit, or weaken them for its political interests rather than for the 86 million."
"RISING RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA MUST BE ESTABLISHED" Özel, noting that institutional, stable, and strong relations with Russia and China should be established on solid foundations, and that Turkey, on NATO's eastern flank, was a border neighbor of the USSR during the Cold War and managed this balance with successful diplomacy for years, continued:
"It is clear that a foreign policy entirely dependent on the Trump administration has not benefited and will not benefit our country. Therefore, strategic steps must be taken with common sense. We will continue to offer constructive suggestions as always. The government must follow strategic wisdom and a strategic plan for Turkey. However, this strategic wisdom cannot be achieved by stubbornly purchasing S-400s from Russia and then letting them rot unused in hangars. This strategic wisdom cannot be sustained with a lack of foresight that entered the F-35 program, paid $1.5 billion, and couldn't even bring back the 6 F-35s painted with the Turkish flag in the U.S., then gave up on that and failed even with the 'F-16 modernization'."
"WE ADVOCATE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COOPERATION, AND PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST" Özel, emphasizing that they adopt and will continue to defend an approach based on institutional reason and long-term plans in foreign policy, stated:
"We prioritize establishing good relations with our neighbors in the Middle East. We advocate regional development, cooperation, and peace in the Middle East. We oppose interventions from across the ocean into our region. Of course, we turn our direction westward, towards the EU, but we foresee and persistently propose that strategic relations with Russia, China, the Turkic geography, and the Balkans continue uninterrupted and constantly strengthened. We also completely reject this submission against the Trump administration that Turkey wants to get rid of as soon as possible."
"THE ENTIRE NATION SEES THAT WE ARE TOGETHER" Özel, stating that they continue to advocate for a fully independent Turkey, said, "While some are eager to split the party like a watermelon in half, or if not in half, make it 60-40, or even 30-70, the entire nation sees that we are together as one and whole. We are a unity; those who leave or think differently have no mathematical or political significance. We expect this heartlessness to end as soon as possible."
Özel, explaining that when there was no practical possibility to hold the group meeting in Ankara, they decided to hold it in Eskişehir, continued:
"In a process where democracy, justice, and the economy have deteriorated so much, while they want to take us further down, silence us, intimidate us, and subdue us, I see with great satisfaction that all calculations have turned upside down, desk plans have backfired, and the Justice and Development Party is being criticized, isolated, and entering an internal reckoning, while the elected cadres of the Republican People's Party are walking together with the nation."
Özel, expressing that they have waited with patience and common sense since the absolute nullity decision and continue to stand by the nation, said, "We are waging and will continue to wage a legal, political, and physical struggle to reclaim our party until the end, but if the occupation does not end, let no one lose hope; neither this party nor this nation is helpless or without alternatives."
The meeting was attended by Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce, some CHP deputies, and citizens.