Özgür Özel: An era will end, a new era will begin

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel attended his party's 39th Ordinary Provincial Congress in Manisa.

Making a statement here, Özgür Özel commemorated the late Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek and said, "I bow once again before the memory of Ferdi."

Speaking about the congress process, Özel said, "We achieved great success in the local elections after 47 years. And our opponents, along with our nation, were convinced that these were steps toward a change of government . And our opponents saw that this enthusiasm, this excitement, this youthful energy, this march that sees women and men as equals, engages in politics together, and promises equality for Turkey, was spreading throughout Anatolia, just like the march of 100 years ago, and they began to take precautions."

Özel continued: "We are faced with those who could not show the patience we showed for 47 years, for 47 days after being defeated in the March 31 elections. If they had waited 47 months, the presidential election calendar would have started. They could not be patient for 47 days."

Özel, sharing a message about the party program, said: "After holding our grand convention in Ankara at the end of November, after we are freed from the attacks carried out by the Justice and Development Party's judicial branches, by certain attackers who are trying to drag us down by the scruff of our necks, we will all embark on a new march and a work we will complete without taking a breath. With the completion of our convention and the vote we hold that day, our party program will have changed since 2008, and we will continue to carry out the greatest election campaign in the history of world politics together with our concise, clear, and precise proposals, government program, and promises."

Özgür Özel stated the following: "We are on the 210th day of the thousand-day election campaign. Tomorrow is the 211th. No matter what happens, we cannot abandon this march. If we abandon it, we will fall. If we stumble, this nation will fall. If we say one less word, this nation will fall silent. If we take one step back, they will set the country back 100 years. If we bow down an inch, they will bring the nation to its knees. That is why we will not step back, we will not take a single step back."

Özel, reacting to AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said, "Mr. Tayyip trusts capital, the judiciary, intelligence, the American Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Barack Obama, and Mr. Trump... Mr. Tayyip has risked everything to exploit everything but democracy and maintain his power. Faced with such a ruthless individual, we need those who are at least as daring and who have decided to come to power in this country with even more courage."

Özel concluded his speech by saying, "Those who love me should follow me. Are we ready to march to power, to close an era and open another? An era will close, a new one will open. Those who love me should follow me, those who love their country should follow me."