Handover Ceremony at the Republican People's Party

Özgür Özel, who was elected as the 8th Chairperson of CHP at the 38th Ordinary Congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP), took over the office from CHP 7th Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu at the handover ceremony held at CHP Headquarters.

CHP 7th Chairperson Kılıçdaroğlu and CHP Chairperson Özel said the following in their speeches at the ceremony:

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu- We all greet our new Chairperson with respect. We sincerely wish him success. We will all make our best efforts to ensure his success. Therefore, it is the common duty of all of us, as every Republican People's Party member, to stand by our new Chairperson in his struggle from now on. We will take care to fulfil this common duty in a best way.

I wish you all the best again.

Özgür Özel- Thank you, sir. Our esteemed Chairperson has contributed a lot to everyone in this room, most of all to me. He has contributed a lot to our party, he fought a great struggle in very difficult times, in the most turbulent and difficult periods of Türkiye's political life. The March for Justice, which has gone down in the history of world politics, may be incomplete today because the process has not yet been completed, but the history of world politics will remember the March for Justice and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for centuries to come.

In a very important part of the governments of those who had enmity with the Republic, who had enmity with the founding cadres of the Republic, our Chairperson carried on a very important struggle. From being attacked under the roof of the Parliament, to a lynch attempt at a martyr's funeral, to a terrorist organisation attack in Şavşat in which we lost a martyr, our Chairperson put his life on the line for this party.

Today, in a little over an hour, he gave me the advice that a Chairperson should know, the advice that he should learn and the advice that he should keep. I will try to fulfil the information he conveyed and the things I need to do, the precautions I need to take, the issues I need to pay attention to, which are in the tradition of the Republican People's Party and which I have inherited from Atatürk until today, without keeping them in the rarest corner of my mind, without forgetting them even for a moment.

The greatest honour for our Chairperson is that all our organisation and all our members love him very much and will always cherish him. From now on, we will consult his knowledge, know-how and experience wherever we get stuck, wherever we face difficulties. I would like to thank him once again for his contributions to me, to each of us, to all Republican People's Party members and to our party, and for his outstanding efforts.

Please accept our sincere gratitude.