CHP Central Executive Board and Party Assembly convened with an extraordinary agenda following the Supreme Court of Appeals’ Can Atalay verdict. The meeting started at 12.00 p.m. and ended at 14.50 p.m. The meeting was immediately followed by the PM meeting. CHP Chairman Özgür Özel met with journalists after the PM meeting, which ended at 18.00.
Speaking to journalists in the PM hall, CHP Leader Özgür Özel announced the decisions taken at the PM meeting. Stating that the PM was planned to convene with the candidate agenda, Özel stated that the candidates will be announced at the PM meeting on January 8 due to the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision on Can Atalay. Özel noted that the candidates in the electoral districts where the primary elections were completed were determined, but the only agenda of the PM was the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which he described as a “civil coup attempt”.
INNOCENT PEOPLE INSIDE
In his speech, Özel summarized as follows:
“Even if Can Atalay had been released today, it would not have changed the fact that Tayfun Kahraman, Osman Kavala, Mine Özerden and Çiğdem Mater, who are being held captive today, were retried under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s explicit instructions and sentenced in a completely unlawful manner without any evidence. The Gezi Trial is a case of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s political hatred. The Gezi Trial is a case in which Erdoğan is keeping innocent people in prison to legitimize himself.
BIG LIE
We owe it to the nation to condemn another big lie. Can Atalay is one of those unjustly tried there. Atalay was a parliamentary candidate and was elected with the votes of the people of Hatay. When Can Atalay applied to become an MP, he was given a document stating that there was no obstacle. And his name was written on the unified ballot by the state.
But someone told Can Atalay and those who elected him, ‘You don’t know, but we do on his instructions’. Can Atalay was elected to the Human Rights Commission with the votes of 600 deputies, but someone said, ‘Get out of here, you don’t know, but we know on his instructions’. If this is not offensive to Devlet Bahçeli, 600 MPs, those who swore to act impartially in court, it is offensive to this nation. The issue is not only Can Atalay, it is a matter of ignoring Article 153 of the Constitution.
COUP CONFESSION
Erdoğan, who had a Constitution made for himself, considers himself above this Constitution as well. Erdoğan tore up Article 153. Five judges did this on his behalf. Erdoğan has admitted that he was at the head of this coup attempt to abolish the Constitution.
PERSON POISONED BY POWER
What is being done is to cut the branch on which we are riding. What is being done is to question the legitimacy of all of us. What is being done is to question the Constitution, which takes its color from the flag. If there is no Constitution, there is no state. If there is no state, there is no order. In a country, the government has to defend the state and order. This person poisoned by power and the structure that supports this person have made the country ungovernable. The country has turned into a banana republic.
WE STAND UP FOR
From now on, we stand by everyone who has had bad things happen to them, whether because of the Gezi protests, because of the tweet they tweeted, or because of reporting on public court records like Furkan, and we say ‘We stand by them’. We will protect the will of the people, the will of the Parliament. We stand for democracy, for the country, for Hatay, for Turkey, for the future of this country. We would like to share with you the steps we will take from now on to protect the future of this country.
We will spare no legal and political steps to fight the crime against the constitutional order. As CHP, we will file a criminal complaint against the members of the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court and the relevant members of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation who committed this crime. We remind the First Presidency Board of the Court of Cassation that it is their constitutional duty to take the decision to dismiss the five judges.
We do not accept the inclusion of all members of the Supreme Court of Appeals in this lawlessness, this execution with the courage of the Palace. Let the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation come out and say, ‘This decision is legal’. We will not remain silent while five executioners slaughter the law and darken our future.
CALL FOR EXTRAORDINARY MEETING
CHP Leader Özgür Özel called for an extraordinary meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 15.00. Özel said that opposition parties in the Parliament responded to this call.
Özel also announced that a big rally will be organized on January 14 with the slogan “We stand up for our future”. CHP Leader also called on all citizens to attend the rally to be held at Tandoğan Square at 13.00.