CHP Chairman and Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Attends Fastbreaking Meeting in Konya

Republican People's Party Chairperson and Nation Alliance Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu attended the 'Fastbreaking Meeting' in Konya together with Future Party Chairperson Ahmet Davutoğlu, Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş and Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

CHP Chairperson and Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the following in his speech here:

Dear fellow citizens, Mr. Davutoğlu, has just mentioned Seyit Mahmut Hayrani; he said Akşehir, I am pleased to come from that root; we are trying to do credit where credit is due. I would like you to know that I am honoured to call you 'my dear fellow citizens'. We are in the land where Hz. Mevlana rests, Anatolian heroes are the heroes who enlightened Anatolia and the world; they spread all their thoughts throughout Anatolia and the Balkans with knowledge, experience, and tolerance without holding grudges or anger. Therefore, Anatolian heroes have a special place in our history and our world of belief.

Hz. Mevlana also places great emphasis on Justice. Let me put it in his words; 'Justice is like a pole star, it is fixed in its place, but the whole universe revolves around it. Therefore, wherever there is humanity, there is the concept of Justice. Wherever there are living beings, there is the concept of Justice. Justice also means conscience, the creator's voice in our hearts. Therefore, we need to emphasize the idea of Justice. If there is no justice in a country, if Justice is sought in a country, we have a serious, fundamental problem.

The great Iranian thinker Sadi said: 'All the rivers of the world are not enough to quench a person's thirst for justice.' Justice is such a deep-rooted and supreme concept. So then, to establish Justice, each of us has to establish Justice by struggling together without resentment and anger towards another person.

If the universe is built on Justice, then we, as equal creatures, must protect and defend Justice. All prophets were commissioned to represent good morals and bring Justice. So what are we supposed to do when there is unfairness and injustice? Injustice has happened, but I should keep silent; unfairness has happened, but trouble will come to me. Our beloved prophet says that the one who is quiet in the face of injustice is the dumb devil. So if there is injustice, every one of us has to stand up against injustice. If there is injustice somewhere, the moment you say, ''This person is not close to me, this person did not vote for our party, this person is like this and that, I should not hear his voice, I should not hear the call for justice'', you cease to be human. A human person, who has a reason, and who has decency has to stand by those who are wronged. Then we must express that we are not silent in the face of injustice and that we cry out.

The place you are in, the city you are in, is not an ordinary city; it is the home of Anatolian virtues. For example, an Anatolian poet says: 'The branch you call hell, there is no wood; everyone takes their fire from here.' You can even write an encyclopedia on these two verses if you want. Still, this Anatolian poet said in two lines, 'There is no branch or wood you call hell, everyone takes their fire from here...' If you have not done evil here, if you have not felt hatred and anger if you have not eaten the right of a servant, you have nothing to do with fire, you have nothing to do with hell.

We have to return to our own cultures, to our own essence. We have to stay away from quarrels. Politics should not be a means of quarrelling, and politics should be a means of competing in goodness; we should compete in honour. If you compete in good, you will develop the country; you will grow the country. If a child goes to bed hungry in a country, 85 million people are hungry. There is no justice if 85 million people do not raise a voice against a child going to bed hungry. No one should forget that the concept of Justice is precious and so noble. Justice is not a concept achieved in courtrooms, 'we went to court and got justice.' It is not only the court; cutting down a beautiful tree in the middle of nature is an injustice. It is an injustice not to ensure equality between men and women and to inflict violence on women. Human beings can be sensitive about Justice but also have an attitude that keeps silent about injustice. Sincerely speaking, when there is injustice somewhere, we want to run to the side; we want to solve the problem. A child who takes the exam is successful, but if you get someone else there with a torpedo and that person eats that child's rights, you cannot remain silent. You have to object. You have to ensure the fairness and law of young people. If you do not, you are not defending Justice. Justice is not a name; Justice is our conscience.

If you put people in jail unjustly, this is injustice. The fatwa of the scholar sitting at the sultan's table does not bring Justice. The scholar, the sage, is a particular person. If he sits at the sultan's table and speaks the sultan's voice, he will ignore all injustices. Therefore, we have a lot of work. We have to stop fighting. All our neighbours are growing, and we are shrinking. All states are growing; we are shrinking. This is not possible. We must grow; we must develop. We must demand rights and laws not only for ourselves but for everyone. When this beautiful country fought the War of Independence, it set an example for all the oppressed nations. All oppressed countries took us as an example and fought their own wars. Again, when we established the Republic in 1923, all those oppressed countries also established their republics. The Republic of Turkey has such a feature; it has the quality of being an example for oppressed nations.

We are trying to get to know each other with our prejudices. Let's get rid of our biases and use our minds. The reason is the most valuable treasure given to us by the Almighty. That is why the Almighty repeatedly says in the Qur'an, 'Do you not use your intellect? We are the ones who will use our minds, we are the ones who will develop science, we are the ones who will discover the miracles of the Almighty, but if we rent our minds, if we follow the minds of others and go the wrong way, we will not achieve Justice.

It is perfect for me to make a justice speech in front of my fellow citizens in Konya because Justice is in the soul of this land. We have to grow Justice, we have to keep it alive, and we have to spread Justice. When it comes to 'this is not enough', we have to at least object to injustice and say 'this is not happening'. Our friends, who are the mayors of Ankara and Istanbul, will also become the Vice President on May 15th. With Mr. Davutoğlu and the other Presidents, we will strive to grow and develop and bring Justice to this country. You cannot condemn and marginalize people because they think differently. Then you are rejecting your mind. We have to do it like this.

When the earthquake happened, all our mayors went to the earthquake zone with all their vehicles, and I went there on the second day; I saw the earthquake victims, the efforts and the drama in the cold. I want to give you the following figures; 11 of our Metropolitan Municipalities are the coordinators of 11 cities, for example; Ankara is the coordinator of Kahramanmaraş, Istanbul is the coordinator of Hatay, Mersin is the coordinator of Adıyaman, but under each Metropolitan Municipality, 218 of our municipalities are also working. We sent 6,944 trucks, four planes sent aid, six ships sent aid, two ferries sent aid, two trains sent aid, and we provided diesel, feed, fertilizer, and seedling support. I visited the tents set up by CHP and AK Party municipalities, wished them success, celebrated them, and made no distinction. Why? It is not right to discriminate. After seeing the picture, I said I was glad there are municipalities in this country; without municipalities, nothing would happen. Can there be discrimination when people are under the rubble, friends?

We need to get out of here quickly and get rid of it. We will ensure Justice at the table, and we will provide abundance at the table. Our children will go to exemplary schools. There will be peace and abundance in our homes. As the Nation Alliance, we are determined to end the fighting; it is enough; where is all this conflict taking us? A Turkey that is respected, esteemed, trusted, and listened to, a Turkey that produces knowledge in its universities, a Turkey that competes with the world, a Turkey with advanced technology, we are now in the 21st century, the 21st century is the information age, the information economy. A society that does not produce knowledge has no chance of growth and no chance of development, and there is no justice in a society that does not build knowledge. Knowledge, our beloved prophet says, 'Go and learn even if knowledge is in China', Prophet Ali says, 'Whoever teaches me one single letter, I will be his slave for 40 years'. So we will almost reject knowledge, and we will almost close our universities.

We have to grasp and feel in our hearts the vast space offered to us by our own roots and Islam. My friends, is there any other religion that values science as much as Islam? Even the Ottoman sultans bowed respectfully in front of scholars because scholars are different, and people of knowledge and science are other; they are not ordinary people. We are determined to create such a wonderful picture. We will be together, we will be united, we will end the fighting, and Turkey will spread its wings towards the horizon, towards the future, and we will build a beautiful Turkey.