CHP Leader and Presidential Candidate Kılıçdaroğlu in Trabzon: "We have to build an order that does not exploit poverty."

CHP Leader and Presidential Candidate Kılıçdaroğlu in Trabzon: "We have to build an order that does not exploit poverty."

-"Since 1971, we have committed to implement 9 branches of insurance in Turkey: sickness insurance, pension insurance, old age insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational accidents, occupational diseases. The 9th branch of insurance is the family support insurance... In other words, an insurance where no child will go to bed hungry, an insurance introduced to provide families with a basic income. We committed to this; 1971, what year is it, 2023, why hasn't this law been passed in 52 years? I'll tell you why; I'll give you this, you give me your vote... This is the exploitation of the poor, and poverty is not an area to be exploited. We have to build an order where poverty is not exploited and not used as a political tool."

- "Don't vote for those who exploit people's rights. Think about your children; think about Turkey. Then, we can all live in peace in this beautiful country."

- "Parties are temporary; parties are not the state. The state is permanent, and there is merit in the state, and justice in the state. Politics is not like that; you exist today; if the citizens don't vote, you leave the next day."

Republican People's Party Chairperson and Nation Alliance Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu attended the Iftar Meeting in Trabzon this evening.

CHP Chairman and Presidential Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the following in his speech after fast-breaking:

"Ramadan is also a month when we all need to think a little bit. Ramadan is also a month when each and every one of us needs to question our conscience in our own spiritual world. Ramadan is also a month that enriches our spiritual feelings. Ramadan is also a month when we look at the poor and question ourselves if they are also being fed. Ramadan is also a month when we pray to the God to accept our prayers.

I am delighted to be here in Trabzon in the month of Ramadan. We came with the Vice President Mr. Imamoğlu. He is governing Istanbul, he has a heavy burden on his shoulders, but you will see, we will all be witnesses, Mr. Imamoğlu has the capacity and knowledge to lift all these burdens, God willing, he will realize them.

Dear friends, dear friends, the God says in his book: "Do you not use your minds?" The most important treasure the God Almighty has given us is the mind. Where the mind is used, we can achieve many developments. Where reason is used, there is justice, prosperity, production, friendship and embrace. Therefore, when we use our intellect in favor of goodness, we can overcome all problems.

There is an Anatolian poet who says: 'Hell, there is no wood, everyone takes their fire from here.' Is it true? It is true. We are told 'there are cauldrons in hell, there are demons there', but an Anatolian minstrel described it so beautifully in two lines: 'Hell, there is no wood, everyone takes their fire from here.' In other words, if you do not do injustice in this world, if you do not commit injustice, if you do not eat the rights of servants, if you are on the side of people, if you do not do evil to the universe created by the God, if you do not commit massacres, if you do not chop down trees unnecessarily, if you do not destroy nature, you have nothing to do with hell anyway, the Holy God will welcome you in a different place. Therefore, we need to look at it in this perspective. We need to grow the sense of justice. As soon as we don't develop the sense of justice, we start to have problems, because the universe is built on justice. Justice is the religion of the state. As soon as you achieve justice, you learn to live in peace with the masses, because you know that if there is injustice somewhere, we will oppose that injustice together. That is why our beloved Prophet said, 'He who is silent in the face of injustice is a dumb devil'. We will oppose injustice no matter who does it, no matter who does it. When injustice is done to someone who does not think like me, we need to say this is not right, we need to say that there is an injustice here. It is the conscience in our hearts that gives voice to injustice. Some philosophers describe conscience as 'the voice of God in our hearts', because from the moment you say 'this is not enough', you know that your conscience is telling you something, that there is injustice here and nothing more. That is why we need a new process and a new beginning. We need a start without fighting. We want to live in peace, we want to grow, we want to develop. Our young children should not seek their future abroad, they should stay in their own countries by working, producing, earning and living in peace. If our children are looking for their future abroad, every one of us needs to sit down and think, not just me. Every parent should sit down and think, why are these children looking for their future abroad? We should question the answer to this question in our own conscience; I am not saying anything about Party A or Party B, but we should ask it in our own conscience. As soon as we question this, we will find the truth.

Look; this region has two strategic products, tea and hazelnuts. There is no area for mass production here except for tea and hazelnuts, and there is no such nature here anyway. Therefore, it is necessary to know the importance of strategic products for the region and to prepare future plans for them. If there is a monopolization here, if a foreign company comes and makes enormous profits from this monopolization, whose sweat is given to whom? If the area of use of hazelnuts in the world reaches a turnover of 140-150 billion dollars and Turkey is number one in hazelnut production in the world and we earn 1.5-2 billion dollars, we need to sit down and think. We produce, others make. Why, why? What did the God say: "Don't you use your minds?" Human beings act with their minds, all living creatures other than us act with their instincts, but we act with our minds, with the most precious treasure given to us by the God.

Tea is also a strategic product of this region. But if smuggled tea is allowed and these teas are sold all over Turkey, then why do Rizeli and Trabzon people produce tea and why are we wasting their labor? These need to be considered and relevant policies need to be developed. If hazelnut trees are getting old, they need to be rejuvenated, and a rejuvenated hazelnut tree means that the tree will not bear fruit or produce nuts for a while. What are we going to do then? During that period, the social state will take action and support hazelnut producers, this is the social state. A social state is a state that stands by its citizens. A social state is a state that ensures a healthy income distribution. A social state is a state that stands by the poor.

I will tell you an example, maybe you have not heard it, you will be surprised. In 1971, the International Labor Organization's Convention No. 102 was passed and adopted by the parliament, the year 1971. Since 1971, we have committed to implement 9 branches of insurance in Turkey: sickness insurance, pension insurance, old age insurance, unemployment insurance, occupational accidents, occupational diseases. The 9th branch of insurance is family support insurance... In other words, an insurance branch where no child will go to bed hungry, in other words, an insurance brought to provide families with a basic income. We committed to this; 1971, what year is it, 2023, how many years have passed, 52 years. What did the God say? Why hasn't this law been passed for 52 years, why hasn't this law been passed for 52 years? I'll tell you why; I'll give you this, you give me your vote... This is exploitation of poverty, poverty is not an issue to be exploited. What we are saying is that the left hand will not see what the right hand gives. This is the philosophy of the family support insurance, the social state pays a regular, specific monthly salary to that family and that's the end of the matter, without exposing anyone's poverty. And as soon as you give them a new job, it stops that support. Therefore, we have to build a system where poverty is not exploited and not used as a political tool. If you do not build this, it will not work.

We should also commemorate our dead with respect. We may have fought in the past, we may have had arguments in the past, but we have a beautiful tradition of reading Fatiha after everyone. Therefore, this is a wisdom of our society. Being together, being together in difficult days, embracing each other in difficult days. We experienced the earthquake, Turkey's hearts beat over there. When I was there, Mr. Imamoğlu was in Hatay, Mansur Yavaş was in Kahramanmaraş, each of our Metropolitan Mayors was in a different place and coordinating that place. We never separated them, no matter which party they were from, where they were from, what they were, what they were not... It is our citizens who are in distress and they have a place above our heads and we had to mobilize all our means and we did that. Today is the anniversary of the death of the late Alpaslan Türkeş, let us take this opportunity to remember him with mercy and pay our respects to him.

Dear friends, governing the state... The state is governed with wisdom, the state is governed with knowledge, the state is governed with justice and merit. What does merit mean? It means giving the job to the competent. As long as you provide the job for a qualified person, the manager is the most comfortable because he knows that he can do the job best. If you call me and say, 'you graduated from university, you studied for 4 years, you have a PhD, come and build this wall', I can't do it, the bricklayer will do it. Because we know that the bricklayer is the one who builds that wall in the best way. What am I, what is my field? If I am a doctor, it is a doctor, if I am a doctor, it is an engineer, if static calculations are to be made, it is a civil engineer. Each of us has merit in different fields, that is, we gain expertise. In the 21st century, there is a new definition of development. Which state has developed? In the past, it used to be national income per capita, other things, books read, newspapers read; now, in the 21st century, the definition of a developing state is this, moreover, the purpose of a developing state is this: A state that divides labor in small particulars is a developed state. Let me rephrase: A state that divides labor in small details is a developed state.

In the past, we used to say 'doctor'; I remember when we were children, doctors used to come to town, doctors, but we didn't ask "which branch of the doctor?" Today we ask, " which branch of the doctor?" There are doctors in every field; from dermatologists to physiatrists, from pediatric surgery to ear, nose and throat. This shows development, expertise and merit. A stone is heavy in its place, as soon as you put a person with distinction there, the manager feels comfortable and the manager knows that the job is going well. What does the manager do? The manager makes political decisions. For whom? The money collected, that is, the taxes collected from you, the political authority decides where to spend it and what to do with it. But the political power must be based on justice. Why? For our growth and development - I was talking to my friends earlier - the 21st century is the century of the science economy, the knowledge economy. The state that captures and produces knowledge has a say in the world. Let me rephrase: the state that creates knowledge and transforms knowledge into commodities has a voice in the world. In the past, in the 20th century, there were oil wars, but now no one is fighting over oil. The 21st century is the century of chip wars, who will produce chips. Where are we in this and how much does our politics know about this and is our politics working on this? The question is: Who will produce knowledge? Universities.

Therefore, universities are institutions where all kinds of ideas are freely discussed. Universities are the institutions where the most contrary thoughts are discussed and valued. In our country, when someone thinks differently, we immediately shame them, beat them up and throw them out, whereas there is nothing as valuable as contrarian thinking. Let me rephrase, there is nothing as valuable as contrarian thinking. What does this mean? You've all read about a man named Newton sitting under an apple tree, lying down, and an apple falls on his head. He expresses the world's most straightforward contrary thought, 'why did this apple fall to the ground and not go upwards?' Isn't this contrary, since the world was founded, the apple has been falling to the ground, but he says, 'why didn't it go upwards?' What did he find? He found the Law of Gravity. Using the mind also means discovering the miracles of the God. Using the reason, having knowledge, expanding knowledge means learning the gifts of the God. For instance, we talk on cell phones, don't we? Is there a cable? There is nothing. But there are laws of physics. Who invented it, not me, who? Physicists. Who gives us that benefit? The God. Therefore, we need to value knowledge and scientists. 'The ink of the scholar is more valuable than the blood of the martyr,' says the Holy Prophet, 'The ink of the scholar is more valuable than the blood of the martyr.' Therefore, scholars are valuable, knowledge is invaluable. In the Islamic geography, since the advent of Islam, it was Islamic scholars who paved the way in knowledge. But later on, unfortunately, we ignored them all, I am sorry to say, but there is nothing as valuable as knowledge. I wish we all had wisdom, virtue and thought. A scholar should know how to be a scholar, but a scholar should not be under pressure. Again, what is it said, 'The Fatwa of the scholar who sits at the sultan's table is not respected...' Therefore, each of us has to act within this framework. We, I mean you, I said this at the rally today, 'For God's sake, for God's sake, don't vote for those who eat the rights of people, for God's sake.' Why are we voting for them? Think about your children, think about Turkey. We can all live in peace in this beautiful country. We have had fights in the past, this should not mean that we have no faults, we also have drawbacks, we also have misdemeanors; this is what I am saying, because knowing your weaknesses, knowing your flaws is a virtue, there is no culture of imposition, there is no such thing as imposition. We need to act within this framework, talk within this scope, and enlighten Turkey within this perspective.

Listen, Turkey was a state that produced automobiles before South Korea. We used to create automobiles before South Korea. Now we have only one new car, but South Korea has 5 brands worldwide. How did this happen? Before South Korea, we had a higher per capita income, they have already surpassed us, they have reached 40-50 thousand dollars. China was in our place, look at China, it is going into space.

High capability development... Maybe you have never heard of this concept. What takes a society forward are the 2 percent gifted people of that society, and the state clings to those people so that they stay with us, so that they don't go anywhere. I went to America, to MIT. It was written, it was drawn, yes, 'sir, he went to get a permit...' No sir, I went to the number one technology university in the world, the number one in the world. And I went there to find out what the professors working there are doing, whether these professors can come to our country, whether we can bring them to our country, whether we can make a breakthrough in technology, whether Turkey can catch a new era in technology. And I went to the UK in the same way. The rector of a university told me: 'We are looking for two things all over the world, two things...' 'What is it, teacher?' 'One; where are the smartest people in the world, let's bring them to England. Two, where are we going to find the money and funds to turn their discoveries into commodities?" Our gifted children are going abroad, and many institutions have been depleted. Therefore, the responsibility of the political institution is weighty here, because it is politics that governs, it is politics that decides. In this respect, each of your votes has a particular weight. 'I voted, it doesn't matter...' No sir, every vote matters, that's what democracy is all about. We must also develop our culture of democracy; if I always do the same thing, if I always do the wrong thing, if I always get votes and always come to power, neither you nor the political institution will prosper. Parties are temporary, parties are not the state, the state is permanent, there is permanence of the state and there is merit in the state and justice in the state. For example, to become a chief in the state, to become a chief is the lowest rank; you have to pass a KPSS, you have to graduate from universities, you have to win the exam. You become a probationary civil servant, after a while you are approved as a principal, you work for a certain period of time, you take the chief exam, and if you win, you become a chief. Do you look at merit, if you win, you become a chief. But to become a minister you need two things, a certificate of good conduct from the prosecutor's office and a primary school diploma, that's it, you can become a minister, there is no obstacle. I told you this to show the difference between the state and politics. The state is different, the state is permanent, in the state there is merit, in the state there is the survival of the state. Politics is not like that; you exist today, and if the citizens do not vote for you, you leave the next day. Therefore, the merit system has a particular weight in state administration.

When I worked with the late Özal, the late Özal would work until three in the morning, he would work with great pleasure. We fiscal officials would often object, and when the late Adnan Kahveci would say 'don't object too much', Özal would silence him, no, let them speak, let's see what they say, let's know what they are saying, let's know if they are telling us something, and we would express our opinions. In the end, of course, the decision belongs to the political authority. But now there is no such picture, dear friends, there is no such situation. No one can tell their problems, for fear that something will happen to me if I say to my problems. Moreover, when I was doing this, I was still the head of a department; in other words, I was neither deputy general manager, nor general manager, nor deputy undersecretary, nor undersecretary, I was not in those positions, that happened in later years. But when I was a department head, we could sit down with the prime minister and discuss, we could tell him, we could tell him our problems, we could say that this was wrong, we could tell him on what grounds it was terrible, we could say these things. Therefore, state administration is not an ordinary event. The survival of the state is essential and the state has to create a unique culture for its institutions. As soon as this culture is established, merit in the state is established by itself. When I was appointed as the Head of Department at the Ministry of Finance, I knew who would be the next Deputy Director General. It doesn't matter which government comes in, it doesn't make any difference. I knew that the person who was appointed 3 days before me, 4 days before me, would first become Deputy General Manager, then my turn would come and I would become Deputy General Manager. This was the state. Such a state proliferates, develops rapidly, and makes many developments rapidly.

After all, let's not throw scientists out of universities because they think differently, because they think differently. There is nothing as valuable as science. What does Yunus say, the great Yunus? 'Knowledge is to know knowledge, knowledge is to know yourself. You don't know yourself, how much reading is that? Our beloved Prophet who cared so much about knowledge, who said, 'Go and learn even if knowledge is in China', Prophet Ali who said, 'I will be a slave for forty years to anyone who teaches me one letter', Prophet Omar who put justice as the principle of his entire administration, a person who was so humble and broad-hearted as to say, 'If a sheep is lost on the edge of the Tigris, I am responsible for it'... Therefore, when you look at him, he is a humble and big-hearted person; that is how the state should be governed, that is how the state should be governed, it should be governed with humility and modesty. The state is not my state, it is the state of all of us and the state of all of us is the shadow of all of us. A state where no one goes hungry or deficit, where everyone is fed, where the winds of peace and tranquility blow.

I realize that I am speaking a bit long for a Ramadan table, but they talked about knowledge and science. So I thought I should tell of wisdom, science, justice and virtue. Therefore, knowledge is necessary, science is essential; what did the God say? 'Don't you use your minds?' There is nothing as valuable as using our minds.

Bon appetit to all of you, I offer my respects to all of you, thank you all, thank you all."