Tülay Hatimoğulları: “Operations targeting municipalities undermine the peace process”

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel stated in a press conference after meeting with the DEM Party delegation that the municipality operations were political. Özel argued that İmamoğlu's crime was to defeat Erdoğan and that journalist Timur Soykan was also sent to arrest for a similar reason. DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları said, "These operations are undermining the peace process."

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel received DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları at his party's headquarters. Özel claimed in the press conference held after the meeting that the recent municipal operations were entirely political.

Özel said, “There is no one left in Türkiye who does not believe that these operations are political operations.” The CHP leader stated that 25 percent of the people in the polls believe in these operations, but that these are categorical voters of the People’s Alliance. He said, “No one who listens to the issue conscientiously, not politically, believes that these operations are corruption operations.”

Özel, recalling President Erdoğan’s words, “The trustee application will remain an exception,” argued that this was a political confession and asked, “So, apart from that exceptional case, all cases are political, right?”

CHP Chairman Özel reminded that trustees were appointed to all but four of the municipalities won by the DEM Party in the past. “At that time, Mr. Tayyip would appear on television and say, ‘They are being detained because they sent money to the terrorist organization,’” he said.

Özel explained the real reason behind the current operations as follows: “Their crime is to defeat Tayyip Bey’s candidate. Our crime is to make our party the number one party. Ekrem İmamoğlu’s crime is to have become a presidential candidate with the votes of 15.5 million people.”

Özel, who stated that Ekrem İmamoğlu beat Erdoğan by a wide margin in all polls, said, “If we had seen that İmamoğlu’s crime was anything other than beating Erdoğan, everyone would be sitting at home today.”

The CHP leader also criticized the detention of Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar and Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere. He described Tutdere as “someone that Adıyaman has nominated for itself, that it has forced upon itself, and that does not even sleep a wink.”

Özel, who stated that Karalar was accused of a tender eight years ago, argued that this file had been examined many times and was deemed appropriate by the Court of Accounts, and said , “It is a point where there is no problem, but now they are trying to arrest our mayor for this.”

Özel also evaluated the referral of journalist Timur Soykan to court with a request for arrest, and said that Soykan was being tried because of his post, "Defeating the AKP in the elections should be included in the law as a crime."

Özel asked about Soykan, who is being tried for the crime of “publicly spreading misleading information,” “Is Timur Soykan saying this for the first time? Have you put forward any evidence in the last 108 days to prove that this is a lie?”

At the end of his speech, Özel made an appeal to the AK Party and MHP voters by telling the camel story between Hz. Ali and Muawiyah, and asked, “Will you call a male camel a female just because Tayyip Bey calls it one?”

Özel, who concluded his speech with the words, “I seek refuge in the conscience of the voters of the AK Party and MHP, the brilliant people of Anatolia, from this evil,” emphasized that the opposition parties were in a new process and that the resistance would increase.

Özel also announced that the CHP Party Assembly will convene and determine new strategies, and thanked the DEM Party for its solidarity during this process.

Hatimoğulları said in his statement that they are the political party that will best understand what is being done by the CHP municipality, “We see these operations as a continuation of the trustee mentality. We are the political party that can best understand this in Türkiye. Today, I would like to emphasize that these operations are political. If there is corruption or another crime, an investigation can be launched against anyone,” he said.

Stating that no one is immune, Hatimoğulları said, “However, we never accept these allegations being used as a cover and turned into a political operation.”

Emphasizing that the events also undermine the peace process, Hatimoğulları said :

“The fact that we are talking about these operations while discussing a chronic process that has been going on in this country for 100 years weakens the belief in democracy. We want to call out once again to the mentality that carries out these operations. These operations undermine the peace process. These operations do not mean putting a mayor in prison, they only mean the elimination of the right to vote and be elected. We reiterate our call. The mind that carries out these operations today must abandon them.”