Joint Statement From Table of Six (Ankara, 21 August 2022)

(21 August 2022/ANKARA)

"As six political parties representing every segment of the society and 85 million people in the broadest range, we have come to the end of the first round of the "Leaders' Meetings", which we initiated to build a Turkey worthy of the 2ndcentury of our Republic and to find solutions to all the problems facing our citizens, with our 6th meeting hosted by the Felicity Party today.

As the leaders of political parties espousing consultation, courtesy, gentlemanly conduct, and cooperation as principles in our politics,

We came together for the first time on 12 February 2022 to put a stop to the natural consequences of the presidential government system, which is rapidly leading our country to disaster, namely bankruptcy in the economy, discredit in domestic and foreign policy, decay in public institutions, and sociological and psychological collapse.

On that date, it was understood that nothing would be the same in Turkey anymore, and our cooperation, named the table of six by our people, has reached its current stage with determination.

It must be known that today we are much more determined and hopeful than we were on 12 February!

Despite all the political engineering, schemes, insults, accusations and slanders of the ruling party, its partners and the media that owe their existence to the powers that be, we shared our "Memorandum of Understanding for a Strengthened Parliamentary System" with the public on 28 February 2022 thanks to the strength coming from being an inspiration to our nation.

With the established committees, we have taken steps to strengthen our preparations' legal and social infrastructure to realise the principles we have put forward.

Within this framework, we have shared the texts of the committees on "Basic Principles and Objectives", "Election Security" and "Reform of Certain Economic Institutions" with the public. We have also reviewed other committees' studies and reports.

Since our last meeting, we have also assessed the current economic, domestic, and foreign political developments on the public agenda.

We all feel the weight of our shared responsibilities, facing our common problems. We continue our determination to co-operate with this sense of responsibility.

We want to underline again that from today onwards, we are determined to continue to walk together with our understanding that attaches importance to consultation in all upcoming processes, including pre-election, election period, election day and post-election.

Until we bring our country out of these crises into which it is dragged in almost every arena and reach the days when all our people can breathe a sigh of relief, our struggle and cooperation will continue in line with our goals and principles.

We want to declare to the public that the recent intensification of pressure and violence against our parties will never shake our determination to keep fighting.

We are aware of the disappointments our nation has suffered over the years. To eliminate these disappointments, we will appear before our nation with meritorious staff and effective policies that will meet the expectations and demands of our people.

Our nation should rest assured that our joint presidential candidate will be the 13th President of the Republic of Turkey and everybody's president, not only those who vote for the political parties gathered around this table.

Our nation can rest assured that these dark days are very close to an end.

In this country,

• Social polarisation will end, and social peace will prevail.
• The language of anger and hatred will lose; kindness and mutual respect will win.
• Democracy and the rule of law will be restored.
• Effective policies will be developed to prevent moral corruption and destruction.
• Bribery, string-pulling, and favouritism will go; justice, honesty, and merit will come.
• Those who deserve it will get exactly their fair share.
• Waste and high living costs will end; production will boost the economy.
• The transfer of resources to a handful of rentier capitalists, which leads to the impoverishment of the broad masses of the people, will be stopped.

Now is not the time to be pessimistic! On the contrary, now is the time to grow hope with each passing day.

We will win; Turkey will win! We will prevail; our 85 million people will win!

On this occasion, we celebrate the 30 August Victory Day, which symbolises that no obstacle can stand in front of the freedom, unity, and solidarity of our nation, and we commemorate all our martyrs and veterans, primarily Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, with gratitude and condolences.

In this belief and determination, we inform the public that our cooperation will continue much more strongly and that we will hold our next meeting on Sunday, 2 October 2022, at 14.00 at the CHP Headquarters."