SPEECH DELIVERED BY CHP’S CHAIRPERSON KEMAL KILIÇDAROĞLU AT THE GROUP’S GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON DECEMBER 20, 2022

Kemal KILIÇDAROĞLU (CHP Chairperson) – Thank you... Don’t you worry. Don’t you worry. We will definitely establish the government of the people.

Welcome. You have graced us, honored us with your presence. Fellow compatriots watching us on TV, fellow compatriots listening to us on the radio, dear young friends watching us, listening to us on their social media accounts, I send lots of love and respect from the Republican People’s Party Group to you all.

I am aware that Türkiye is going through a difficult period, we are all aware but we will keep walking on our path with determination. We will keep on our path with conviction and determination. We will bring peace to Türkiye. We will make it so we can all embrace each other in Türkiye. We will make it so we can all reconcile with each other in Türkiye. We will embrace our 85 million people without marginalizing anyone. I promise this to my people. Our duty is to bring Türkiye out of the difficult atmosphere she is in today; establish real democracy in Türkiye; evolve into a process where capable people lead government organizations based on merit. We will achieve all of these with perseverance, determination and patience. We act together as six leaders; we act together as six chairpersons; we all believe in the same things. We root for democracy. We will bring democracy to this country. There is no other option. We will do it together.

They sometimes ask us or criticize us: “You keep saying democracy but people’s kitchens are empty”. The main reason why people’s kitchens are empty is because there is no democracy in this country. Everyone can express their opinion if democracy is in place. Trade unionists, workers, pensioners, farmers can get what is rightfully theirs if democracy is in place. Therefore, the first step in the right direction is democracy; then rapid, inclusive growth and development. We will achieve this. Because we have everything we need. We have strong human resources; we have the means; we have respectability as a state. God willing, we will achieve all of these.

Here is an incident proving us that there is no democracy in this country: The leader of a political party cannot enter into the district building of his own political party in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Why? Because the instructions were not to let him in. The leader of a political party that received 6 million votes cannot enter into his own party building. What did I say before? The one who keeps silent in the face of injustice is a mute devil. They are devils and they are doing this and we will counter this together. We will counter this all together.

I definitely do not blame my police friends in any of this. Because the one who gave the order is responsible for this. I know very well who gave the order and that he draws his strength from the palace. Thus, we will not lose our temper and we will rely on common sense while we wait for the ballot box. When the time for elections comes, we will go to the ballot box; we will cast our votes; and we will send away the palace and its followers. We will send them away all together.

I know that there are too many injustices in the country; just too many of them. An 85-year-old, 90-year-old person cannot be kept in prison, dear friends. It is a shame; it is a pity. A person who is unable to go to the bathroom without help cannot be kept in prison. If you attempt to that as the state, it means you are taking revenge. A state cannot be run based on revenge; you cannot run a state based on vengeance. A state is run based on justice, wisdom, knowledge. If you tell 85-90-year-old people "I will have you rot in prison", the conviction that that this is not a state of democracy or human rights becomes much stronger.

I am calling out to those in power here: If you want to ensure that those 85-90-year-old people get out of prison, we are ready to provide you with all sorts of support. I hereby underline it. Because we side with justice; we side with what is right; we side with human rights. I underline this once again: a state is not run based on revenge.

Esteemed friends, everyone in Türkiye, whether they vote for us or not, knows this very well: If Kılıçdaroğlu has put his hand to something, he will keep fighting for it until it is resolved. Is this true? It is. There is something else that everyone in Türkiye knows. Everyone, whether they vote for us or not, knows about my sense of justice; that I do not discriminate; that I respect people who think different than me; that I have freed myself of grudge and anger; that I am patient. My compatriots know this and since they know this, they come to me when they have problems. They tell me: "We are faced with this and that problem. Please intervene; please do something so that our problem is solved."

Subcontracted workers... First, I helped subcontracted workers get organized in Erzurum 7-8 years ago when I told them "Rally together; form an association". After a while, I gathered all of them in Istanbul and I put up a struggle for them. I made their case everywhere I went. I explained that subcontracting was not a human right and that it was a tool for exploiting people’s labor. I said that subcontracted workers had no job security and I promised them payroll employment. I told them we would give them permanent jobs. And, in the end, the government was obliged to give them permanent jobs and it did. But there are still nearly 150 thousand subcontracted workers. They are also expecting payroll employment. For example, there are 17 thousand 200 subcontracted workers at State Highways, 6300 at State Railways, 14 thousand 336 at the Turkish Post and some more in sugar factories. I also promise them here: Don’t you worry. God willing, we will come to power thanks to your votes. You will see; each and every one of you will have permanent jobs in no time and will have job security. I promise you this.

While I promise this, I would like to share a tragic incident with you. I will share with you an example of how a human right was violated in relation with subcontracted workers. Esteemed friends, 306 subcontracted workers were working at the Van Metropolitan Municipality. As you know, a decree was issued and a law was adopted, according to which an oral examination would be held and these people would be tenured. These 306 people took this oral exam that was organized in accordance with the relative decree. Not even 1 out of these 306 people could pass the oral examination; they disqualified them all. They told them, "No, you could not pass this oral exam," and dismissed all of them. These people then filed an objection which was not accepted, and then they went to court. The court said, "Yes, they are right; what kind of an exam is this?" and it did justice to the workers. So, a second examination was organized. The same scam was pulled in the second exam. Not even 1 person out of 306 people could pass the exam. They said, "You couldn’t pass," and kicked them all out. In God’s name, are they being pious, are they being devout? In God’s name! In God’s name, we are talking about 306 people!...

The workers objected again. They said, "This is our right; we took this oral exam but there is injustice here." And once again, upon another court verdict, they took the exam for the third time. On November 24, 2022, not even one person out of 306 could pass the oral exam. Esteemed friends—for God’s sake, I am asking everyone in their right minds in this country: For the love of God, what kind of deviousness is this? These are people’s rightful shares; how could you usurp people’s rightful shares? They have families; they have children; what kind of an injustice is this?

Within this period, 6 workers lost their lives. One of them had voluntarily participated in the rescue efforts to save the President’s advisor when an avalanche hit Van and he lost his life there. Can you imagine? The government does not give him what is rightfully his but he volunteers to go there so that this one person is not trapped under the avalanche, he fights for him but in the end he loses his own life. Who is going to pay for this crime in the afterlife dear friends, who? I am especially asking my conservative brothers and sisters: Who is going to pay for this in the afterlife?

In the same way, Murat Kapağan was trapped under the avalanche and his lost his life. He voluntarily participated in the rescue efforts but unfortunately lost his life. Mesut Babat committed suicide. Hüsnü Timur had a heart attack and lost his life when debt enforcers knocked on his door. Hasan Turgut died of cancer; Idris Karaca died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Now, friends, what do you call this? Which conscience can accept this? You put 306 people through an exam and not one of them can pass. This is outside of the ordinary course of life. Let me state it once more: it is outside of the ordinary course of life. All the court decisions say the same thing; they say this scandal is unacceptable.

Then, we found out what they asked in the exam. “Who is the boyfriend of the Barbie doll?” They ask this question, for God’s sake… The palace must have instructed them to ask this question. “Who is the leader of the Forty Thieves?” Well, I know very well who it is but they cannot give this answer. “What is the name of the legendary Chechen leader?” How on earth would a poor fellow know; he sweeps streets. “What is the name of that airport in Myanmar?” These are the questions for God’s sake! I will ask this again: what do you want from the people of this country? What do you want from the people? These people are fighting for bread. For bread… You take people’s bread away; you do not remedy the situation despite three court rulings; then you go and tell them they can die and this is called the palace regime. Not democracy but palace regime… They do not even care about people’s bread. They even take away their bread, their flour. They say, "I should take away that slice of bread too." They say, "Let them starve." They say, "Let them just die."

Esteemed friends, I would like to call out to all my fellow compatriots. Dear compatriots, I am saying this to you, I am calling out to you, I am calling out especially to you: Why did Kılıçdaroğlu go to the Central Bank? He went there to tell them “Fight against inflation.” To tell them, “Do not surrender your will to the palace.” To tell them, “Fulfill the responsibility assigned to you by the law.” They did not…

Why did Kılıçdaroğlu go to TSI? Because they were going to announce lower inflation figures than reality and cause workers and pensioners to receive low salaries, as they were instructed to. He went there to tell them “Give workers and pensioners what is rightfully theirs”.

Why did he go to the Ministry of National Education? They disqualify everyone who does not have an uncle at the ministry in the oral exam. If you have an uncle, it does not matter if you get zero points. He went to the Ministry of National Education to stand by all those who do not have an uncle.

Why did we go to the Meat and Milk Institution? The children of this country need milk, they need meat. These children need to grow; they need sufficient protein intake. I went there for them. And lastly, I marched to the Ministry of Justice along with all my fellow parliamentarians. A 6-year-old, yes, a 6-year-old child getting systematically raped and the party in power keeping silent in the face of it. Keeping silent… I am telling you: honest to God, they do not have any conscience; honest to God, they do not have any morals; honest to God, they do not have any virtues.

A little child is getting systematically raped. The Minister goes up there and says, "We have known about this incident for 2 years." For two years!... They did not put the state mechanism to work; they did not put prosecutors to work; they issued false reports. Who is behind all this? I still have not got an answer for this. I told them, “Put the state mechanism to work.” I marched to the Ministry of Justice. I went there for the rights of a child; I went there so that justice can be served for a child, for a 6-year-old child. What happened then? The state mechanism finally started to work. So, this brother of yours was right. So, he is going to pursue justice up to the end and bring justice to this country.

Let me tell you one more thing. I swear to you, honest to God, they cannot govern the country. They cannot govern the country; they stop the already functioning state mechanisms; they prevent the country from producing; they just do not let it run. Can you believe that the production of milk was at the level of 123 thousand tons in September but fell to 104 thousand tons in October? They sent almost all of the dairy cows to the slaughterhouse. They do not know what will happen tomorrow morning, let alone three steps ahead; they do not know which decision they will make tomorrow morning. All they say is "We will manage." Well, we can see very well how you manage; it is out there for all to see. They are not happy about us criticizing them; they ask why. We criticize you so that you do what is right, that you do what is just, that you stand with justice… This is why we criticize you.

Esteemed friends, children need milk. I have just asked the Mayor Ekrem upstairs, about how their milk campaign was going. He said, "We have attained 100 thousand." He is delivering milk to 100 thousand families every morning. Every morning. We are doing what they cannot. They cannot stand us since we are doing what they cannot; they are making plans on how to stop us day and night; they are thinking about the ways of stopping us day and night. Well, you cannot stop us, brother, you just cannot. Instead of attempting to stop us, go and serve this nation. You just go and serve this nation. Restart the school milk program. I am calling out to the party in power, on your behalf. Restart the school milk program.

You already devastated farmers. They are miserable. Look, our farmers are debt-ridden; they owe 276 billion to banks. Farmers owe 276 billion only to banks. If you take a look at the BRSA records, you will see it. Farmers received 39 billion 823 million liras of subsidy in 2022. However, according to the law, the amount of subsidy they should have received is 134 billion 290 million liras. Thus, they give out 39 billion to farmers instead of 134 billion as specified in the law. Where does this money go? My fellow farmers, I am defending your rights as well; the Republican People’s Party is defending your rights as well; we are watching, every hour of the day, what they are doing with what is rightfully yours. Ask yourself this: Why aren’t you given the subsidy which is allocated to you by the Article 21 of the Law on Agriculture and why don’t you claim your right? I know you are scared. I know you think "Would I get in trouble?". I know that too. But don’t you worry. This brother of yours is going to defend your rights as well. Don’t you worry, don’t you worry…

Where does this money go if it is not paid to you? It goes to loan sharks. To loan sharks! Let me give you an example: the amount of money that has been spent to cover the risk for FX-protected deposit accounts so far is 172 billion liras. They just sit back; they do not go to the farm; they do not care for their livestock; they do not go to the barn; they do not climb up a tree; they do not prune a tree; they do not collect the fruits; they do not create employment; they do not give a job, not even to one person. But they have money; they put it in a bank; they do not even pay tax. Zero tax… Nobody can hold them accountable. Bring your drug money, put it in the bank… Then you give out 39 billion liras to farmers but 172 billion liras for this.

My farmer brothers and sisters; if you care about your country, if really want to live in prosperity too and if you say "this order must change", if you believe that you-know-who is too tired now and that we should say farewell to him, pay attention: you will see six arrows on the ballot paper with CHP written below it, you will see a political party that values labor, you will see a political party that protects your rights and justice. That party is called the Republican People’s Party. And we will achieve this… Thank you.

We will achieve this. My farmer brothers and sisters, don’t you worry; we will achieve this and we will give farmers what is rightfully theirs. If farmers did not work, we would all starve, all of us. The entire world knows now that agriculture is a strategic sector but this government still does not understand. They say, "But it is cheaper abroad..." What do you mean it is cheaper? Those countries’ governments give out extraordinary subsidies to farmers. You do not but they do.

Let me call out to my farmer brothers and sisters here, maybe you will remember this: What will CHP do when they come to power? First: the interest rates of the loans you have borrowed from banks will be brought down to zero overnight. We will put an end to the current order… We will do basin-based planning. It will be basin-based. Everyone will know what they will cultivate beforehand and not one farmer will ever make a loss. Each farmer will make profit on what they have cultivated; no loss at all. We will introduce red diesel. This is what we will do. What this government does is give diesel to yachts without SCT or VTA when they should be giving it to farmers. We will give it to farmers. Then they will go plough with it; we will do that. Farmers will never pay a fee to veterinarians, agricultural engineers or agricultural technicians within the scope of the basin-based planning. They will have agricultural technicians, agricultural engineers and, if they are engaged with livestock, veterinarians ready to serve them whenever they need. They will provide all services free of charge for villagers, for those who break sweat and produce. They will all be civil servants.

We will pay the social security premiums for women and young people in rural areas ourselves. They will just work there, produce and retire when the time comes. Listen, I am calling out to all my farmer brothers and sisters: take a note of this. Write down what we are promising you. You will all see how a promise is kept and how we stand firmly by our word. The entire world will see it. The world will witness it.

An organized society is healthy. An organized society is able to think for itself. Those who work in the same field, for the same objective get organized. It could be through a trade union. It could be through civil society organizations or foundations but they get organized… An organized society is strong. An organized society can communicate its problems more rapidly to the political authority. An organized society can build resistance to injustices. We should look at it this way. Don’t you worry, don’t you worry… They are now introducing the trade union threshold of 2 per cent. In favor of whom? In favor of their partisans as my friend said. They are trying to eliminate certain trade unions. There are nearly 400 thousand civil servants, 400 thousand of them. They want to usurp their rights. A government cannot discriminate between civil servants. If it does, people will get different ideas. Listen carefully, esteemed friends, they are introducing this threshold of 2 per cent and putting it in the law. They had actually integrated the threshold of 1 per cent in the collective agreement before. It went to the Council of State and the Council of State said it was not right and cancelled it. They are now putting it in the law. Trust me, we are going to take this law to the Constitutional Court, don’t you worry. We will if the law passes but we will do everything we can, so it does not.

We will remove all thresholds, don’t you worry. Not only the threshold of 2 per cent, but also all obstacles brought about by the palace, don’t you worry. Now a person who is attached to a trade union above the threshold of 2 per cent will get a bonus of 707 liras while another who is with a trade union under the threshold will get 250 liras once in every three months. For God’s sake, they are both civil servants. They are doing the same job. They are just in different trade unions. They tell them, "You resign from that trade union. Look, there is a pro-government trade union here. You move to this trade union. You will get 707 liras if you do."

But there is another issue here. Yet another issue: there are those who cannot unionize. For instance, police officers cannot unionize. Prosecutors, judges, guardians cannot unionize. They are not given this bonus. Why not? Because they do not have trade unions. They are being punished, plain and simple.

Let me call out to my police brothers and sisters here. And to my prosecutor and judge brothers and sisters who do their job with integrity. And to guardians. We will give you what is rightfully yours. We will bring justice. Don’t you worry at all. We will win. We will, don’t you worry.

Now let me touch upon the very last development. The picture we have seen in recent days. I will try to summarize it in a way that everyone can understand. I would like our fellow citizens to listen carefully. Question number one: Did they file a completely made-up lawsuit first? Yes, they did. Then, did the palace intervene in the work of this court? Yes, it did. Did they then ensure that the court made this verdict that would never, ever have been made otherwise? Yes, they did. They did not even try to hide anything they did. They did it openly, out there in the open for everyone to see. They slaughtered justice with 85 million people watching. I would like all my fellow citizens regardless of what they are, right-wingers, leftists, moderates, head-scarfed or not, wherever they live in the world, whichever geography of Türkiye they live in, to know about this injustice.

In the meanwhile, you know that servant of the palace whose scandalous photos would make a good photo-novel, he is there, serving this filthy agenda. It looks like he is quite encouraged. He starts to talk, too. What does he say? That he would unseat the beloved mayor of 16 million people. Look at this gentleman! Who are you to challenge Ekrem Imamoğlu? You cannot hold a candle to Ekrem Imamoğlu. You should first wash that mouth of yours before uttering Ekrem Imamoğlu’s name. Wash your mouth first. As I said, who are you to challenge him, to compare yourself to him? You were appointed to your office. He was elected. I know very well what you have been up to. I know that you have been up to no good. Look, crypto scammers are on your side. It is your duty to secretly send messages to the mob. You take photos with drug lords. You are the number one man when it comes to dirty money. Do you think I do not know any of this? I know everything. I said this before and I will say it again so that everyone can hear me: Imamoğlu is more than you can chew. If you try to swallow him, you will choke on him. We will choke you. We will choke you.

Well, let me get back to the process in question. The entire lawsuit was a scam. They anticipated that the court would not rule in their favor. So, they banished that judge. They relieved him of duty. They sent him into exile. They put another person in his seat, as preferred by the palace. Someone who sold his free will to the palace. Someone who wears a judge robe but should never have been given the status of a judge. They told him, "You will decide". The verdict was drafted in the palace. He just read the verdict. The prosecutor was not there when he read the verdict. A judge cannot read a verdict if the prosecutor is not present. But that judge in not a judge. That judge was given orders and he just followed them. Of course, the people of the country went mad when they heard. People revolted. Honest to God, people went mad and they started to revolt in the face of this much injustice, this much unlawfulness.

Esteemed friends, then they started to think "What have we done?". They made Fahrettin the Pergola Guy step in. So, the pergola guy stepped in. There is one thing they are good at: propaganda. They wanted to muddy the waters so they first tried to create confusion. They said, "This was a conspiracy". They said this and they said that… They pulled the acrobat scam to distract people. Let me repeat this: they pulled the acrobat scam. In the past, acrobats would perform during festivals. Then, pickpockets would approach people to rob them and say, "Look at this acrobat, bravo, look how good he is". When people looked away, they took their money. They are pulling the same scam now. But the people of this country did not buy the acrobat trick. They held onto their mayor. They held onto justice.

Esteemed friends, our Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu is here today. I will state something that you do not know from this rostrum. Something that those who closely know us, our friends and comrades know very well. So that all fellow citizens can know it too. Ekrem Imamoğlu and I are like father and son. We are like father and son. He is like a son to CHP as much as he is like a son to me. It is my duty to stick with him.

I am now addressing those pickpockets and courtiers. Just go away; you are way in over your heads. I also want to say something to Erdoğan, from one human being to another. Ambition is a monster that is never satisfied. Let me repeat: ambition is a monster that is never satisfied. Do not be a slave to your ambitions. Do not give in to your ambitions. Do not spill out hatred. Just be just, just be fair. Did not they teach you what justice means? Did not they teach you what integrity means? Did not they teach you what embracing each other means? Do not give in to your ambitions. If you give in to your ambitions -which you do- then your time is up: you will see what is what in 4-5 months.

Dear comrades, we have so much to do! We really have so much to do. We do not have time this nonsense. We all know that justice will definitely be served one day. It will be tomorrow if it is not today. It will be the day after that if it is not tomorrow. But I want all my fellow citizens to know this: this will be taken care of. Judges will of course get engaged with it. Lawyers will of course get engaged with it. The people’s conscience is of course bleeding. We are going to work all together to stop the bleeding. But I want all my fellow citizens to be sure of the following: Türkiye is a beautiful country. Türkiye is a mighty country. We have built our team. We have found our money. We will have Türkiye rapidly grow and develop. Everyone will do their job in a just way. Everyone will do their job with peace of mind. And we all know this very well: Türkiye needs democracy. Türkiye needs growth. Türkiye needs development. Türkiye needs justice. Türkiye needs embracement. And we will most certainly achieve all of these, God willing. I want everyone to be sure of it.

Everyone should know this very well: we will achieve all of these step by step, with great determination. You will see. Everyone should wait for Mister Kemal.

Thank you.