Kılıçdaroğlu, "The Blood of our Citizens, is on the Hands of This Government"

CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said that citizens in the earthquake zone were complaining about the lack of coordination and said, "I say it clearly, the blood of our citizens is on the hands of this government. It brought the presidential system and the one-man regime and paralyzed the state. We have seen that the one-man regime cannot take decisions. We have not seen this once; we have seen it many times." Kılıçdaroğlu also said, "They are trying to postpone the elections. I am telling my people loud and clear the elections will be on time. There is no such thing as postponing elections in case of a disaster in the TGNA or the HEB (YSK). There is no such authority. I am telling you, don't even think about it. If the HEB (YSK) demands this, it would demanding a coup against democracy. This is how we interpret this," he said.

CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made a statement at the CHP Headquarters. Kılıçdaroğlu, who convened the CHP Central Executive Board and established coordination in the first hours of the earthquake, visited the earthquake zones one by one and made inspections immediately afterwards.

Recalling his inspections at the press conference, Kılıçdaroğlu said, "I saw children left without families. I hugged mothers who had lost a child. I cried with fathers who were waiting for the funeral of their dead children. I listened to the cries of helpless women who heard the voices of their loved ones trapped under the rubble. I saw people shivering from the cold for a crane to arrive. And I felt cold with them. I heard people crying out, 'Where is the state? These are indelible in my ears."

The highlights of Kılıçdaroğlu's speech are as follows:

"MY PAIN IS INDESCRIBABLE

I would like to address our dear people from here today; my pain is indescribable. I have visited the earthquake zone one after another. I will go to the earthquake zone again with my friends. Our MP teams have been in the earthquake zone since the first hours of the earthquake... All our municipalities are there, especially our Metropolitan Municipalities, women's branches, youth, and volunteers. They are all working with dedication.

IT HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO SLEEP FOR NIGHTS. I AM TERRIFIED

But I cannot forget what I have seen. I have not been able to sleep for nights. I am terrified. I feel sad and angry simultaneously; my emotions are all mixed up. I am telling you this with great sincerity. I saw children left without families. I hugged mothers who had lost a child. I cried with fathers who were waiting for the funeral of their dead children. I listened to the cries of helpless women who heard the voices of their loved ones trapped under the rubble. I saw people shivering from the cold at the debris, waiting for a crane to arrive. And I felt the cold air with them. I heard people shouting 'where is the state' in every region I visited. These are indelible in my ears. I want you to know this.

WE WENT FROM 'LOCAL AND NATIONAL' TO 'WHERE IS THE STATE'

They asked this nation 'where is the state'. We went from 'local and national' to 'where is the state'. Let me give you the details of the phrase 'where is the state'... Imprudence, irresponsibility, lack of supervision, corruption, decadence, collapse, lack of merit, bribery, detachment from values, looting, theft... The question of where the state is brings these to mind.

WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE ONE-MAN REGIME CANNOT MAKE DECISIONS

I say it clearly, the blood of our citizens is in the hands of this government. It brought the presidential system and the one-man regime and paralyzed the state. We have seen that the one-man rule cannot take decisions. We have not seen this once; we have seen it many times. He paralyzed the state with his ambitions. This is outrageous. The state is not governed; he destroyed the state. No one should ever forget that the one man and the regime he imposed on this country are the main ones responsible for what we are going through.

I AM ASHAMED AND SAD TO SAY THIS, BUT I HAVE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

The picture I see. They could never coordinate. They were very late at the most critical hours. Of course, the first 12 hours and 24 hours are the most critical hours. Let's say the first 48 hours. Our people have frozen to death. While our people were dying, they made a special effort to see how we could take this issue above politics and not take responsibility. They started thinking about it. Their incompetence caused the deaths of tens of thousands of our people.

OUR SOLDIERS WERE KEPT WAITING IN THEIR BARRACKS

While our people were groaning under the rubble, our heroic and well-trained soldiers were kept in their barracks. It is incomprehensible. What kind of cowardice is this, to be afraid of your soldiers? For God's sake, what kind of cowardice is this? The military is experienced and knowledgeable in this matter. It can solve all problems within the first 12 hours. But they specially kept the military waiting in their barracks.

SOME IMMORAL JOURNALISTS PULLED THEIR MICROPHONES AWAY FROM OUR CRYING CITIZENS

When the severity of the situation became clear, they completely lost their mental faculties. The area where all aid and rescue activities were coordinated came from social media. They imposed a ban on social media. They intensified it. Our teams mobilized through VPN, but 60 per cent of the incoming demands were interrupted. They did not stop there; they detained young people, journalists and scientists who were asking questions. They created difficulties for the organizations that rushed to help the wreckage. They released us when we said either arrest us all or release us all. They ordered news channels to minimize their responsibility. Some immoral journalist pulled their microphones away from our citizens who were crying out in tragedy. Even more painful, they called this a plan of fate.

ERDOĞAN AND HIS CRONIES HAVE A GLITTERING LIFE AND PALACES IN THEIR FATE PLAN

According to them, your fate plan includes rubble and freezing to death. However, in the fate plan of Erdoğan and his cronies, there are glamorous lives and palaces. And no one has asked. So why does this fate plan work differently in Japan than in Turkey?

ERDOGAN, UNABLE TO COORDINATE SEARCH AND RESCUE ACTIVITIES, STARTED TO COORDINATE HIS COMMUNICATION

What did they do then? All these disgraces were not enough; they put the Directorate of Communication into action. The Communications Directorate immediately started purchasing the accounts with the most followers. The political superiors began an advertising campaign promoting it as the 'disaster of the century'. Social media accounts were opened, and orders were given to supporters. Erdoğan, still unable to coordinate search and rescue activities in the region, was left to blend his communication. They circulated a video. Deriving from fear, they started to justify themselves with the sound of a documentary. They began to serve videos with documentary-like effects while people were under the rubble. May God give them some sense. They have lost their minds. They must have spent a lot of money, but they made one mistake and another. They immediately withdrew the video and put an end to the disgrace.

THIS POORLY FED GOEBBELS DID THINGS AS SUCH

We have watched this Communications Directorate before. This 'poorly fed Goebbels' did these things as such. They called it the New Economy Mode, and then unemployment skyrocketed. They called it a total fight against inflation then inflation soared. They called it the 'Century of Turkey', and now they are talking about the disaster of the century. Erdoğan and the Communications Directorate under his command immediately start serving an advertisement and a concept to the public whenever Erdoğan screws up. When our people cry out where the state is, all they can come up with is a vast lie detector. Their PR is an attempt to normalize their impotence and disgrace.

THE DISASTER OF THE CENTURY FOR THIS COUNTRY IS THE ONE-MAN REGIME

It’s the last straw. That gentleman called it 'the disaster of the century'. Let me tell you what the disaster of the century is. The disaster of the century for this country is the one-man regime. It is Erdoğan. We have experienced one disaster after another, and each one has been worse than the previous one with his incompetence. The lack of coordination and statelessness imposed on our people is the disaster of the century, the murder of the century. It is the betrayal of the century. It is the incompetence and imprudence of this century. It is the incompetence of the century. Reputable organizations report that many more people have lost their lives than announced and that the damage is estimated at 84 billion dollars.

NOT A SINGLE PERSON HAS RESIGNED FOR GOD'S SAKE

Imagine the number of deaths has exceeded 30,000, but not a single person has resigned for the sake of God. What kind of responsibility is this? More than 30 thousand people lose their lives, and one man and his cronies rule the state, but not a single person says, 'I have a conscience, I have a responsibility and resigns. What kind of understanding is this? What type of armchair ambition? What kind of rent-seeking is this? It doesn't make any sense. I say clearly, there is no forgiveness for bribery and crony politics. Those who reward the ruthless, the rent-seekers with omnibus laws have no remorse. Who gave you those permits? Who instructed you not to go and inspect them? Who signed those documents, the documents for these demolished buildings? All will be exposed. I promise my people I will never let them off the hook, and I will ask them to account for all of them. It will be a debt of my neck to ask for the orphan's rights.

I PROMISE MY PEOPLE WE WILL SOLVE THE HOUSING PROBLEMS OF ALL THOSE WHO COME TO THE METROPOLITAN CITIES WHERE WE HAVE MAYORS

They were so absurd that they went on with a lot of unwise work. If their incompetence in rescue efforts was not enough, now they are trying to collapse our universities and the dormitories of my students. In Istanbul alone, more than 750,000 houses are already empty. The capacity of our tourism sector is 1 million 600 thousand. What right do you have to lower the quality of education of our young people and ruin the future of this country? Open the Universities immediately. Let students stay in their dormitories. There are already no decent dormitories. If they come to metropolitan cities, I promise my people that we will solve the settlement problems of all those who come to metropolitan cities where we have metropolitan mayors. They are doing irrational things; I have never seen such incompetence.

IF HEB DEMANDS IT, IT WOULD BE DEMANDING A COUP AGAINST DEMOCRACY

They are trying to postpone the elections. They are putting forward some names with certain characters. I am talking about the postponement of the election. I am telling my people loud and clear the elections will be on time. The rule of law, the constitution, the laws and the institutions created by these laws should understand this very well. Elections will be on time in this country. Elections cannot be postponed except for war. Then even for war, the decision is made by the Parliament. Article 78 of the Constitution is apparent, just like Article 101. There is no such thing as postponing elections in case of a disaster, neither in the TGNA nor in the HEB. There is no such authority. I am telling you, don't even think about it. Let me express it to them in advance. Erdoğan is out there with the message, 'Give me one more year'. This country gave you 20 years, not one year, Erdogan. From now on, he will not be able to provide you with one year, not even 1 hour.

WITH THE VOTES OF THE PEOPLE, WE WILL CHANGE THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT, THIS GOVERNMENT THAT HAS BEEN A DISASTER FOR THE COUNTRY

Let's talk about knowing your faults and blaming others. The earthquake is the collapse of this outdated mentality and this incompetent system. But Turkey needs a tremendous change. It is this government that needs to change, but we will change this government. With the people's votes, we will change this incompetent government, which has been a disaster for the country. But more than just altering the government is required. There is a mentality that needs to change. We will change the mentality. This mentality is the one-man mentality. We need a change of mentality where we will end the mindset of what's about me... Which cronies will get a share of which tender and how much they will get a share of which tender must be accounted for, and this mentality must be changed. We will change the mentality of greed. We will dig out greed, arrogance, and this mentality from its roots. This will be the cornerstone of a power shift.

WE WILL FOLLOW THE RULES AND SCIENCE

We will put our hands under the stone. We will rebuild our cities. Zoning amnesties will never, ever be demanded. We will be free from lies, theft and meritlessness. We will regain the morals and values that make us who we are. We will follow the rules and science. We will build a prosperous Turkey.

EVERYONE SHOULD CHOOSE THEIR SIDE ACCORDINGLY BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE A SINGLE MINUTE TO LOSE

We will collect every penny of the 418 billion dollars stolen from us in the pockets of this nation. With this money, we will raise everything in Turkey. We are receiving investment commitments. Many investors are waiting at the doorstep. The problem is that there is money but no honest people. Where there is money, honest people will come. Where there are genuine people, money will come because it is our honourable duty to account to the nation for every penny you spend. This means a change in mentality, a transformation. Honest teams and decent, ethical politics can quickly recover Turkey with this money if we try to rebuild our Republic in the second century with reason, science, knowledge, freedom, justice and conscience. For this, we have to initiate a remarkable transformation. With this change, we will draw a clear line.

Let's agree on this. I am addressing my people with all my heart; we have to draw a new line with the change I have promised. Everyone has to think and make their choice in this context. On the one hand, the rotten, rent-based system is the grave of our people; on the other hand, the clean and spacious system. The plan enriches a handful of gangs aside, the state that works for its citizens aside. On the side of theft and selfishness, on the side of unity and humanity. Everyone should choose their side accordingly. Because we don't have a minute to lose."