Özgür Özel in Edirne: 'New Party' Emphasis and Pension Promise

New Party Chairman Özgür Özel came to Edirne as part of his Thrace visits. Özel was welcomed at the Selimiye Mosque square by Edirne Mayor Filiz Gencan, Tekirdağ Mayor Candan Yüceer, district and town mayors and party members.

According to the news in DHA, Özel toured the Selimiye Mosque, whose restoration was completed and reopened for worship, and then chatted with the citizens. Özel, who tasted the Edirne fried liver offered to him after leaving the mosque, then opened the Veda Edirne Retirement House, which was completed by Edirne Municipality. Before the special program, he came together with the citizens surrounding him and made a speech.

Özel stated that those who joined the party stood on the right side of history and said, "The new party is the new party of Türkiye, the new party of the Ataturkists. It is the new party of our friends with whom we fought shoulder to shoulder in the past, who now flock to the New Party with us. The New Party is the new party of Thrace, Rumelia, and my dear relatives."

"NEW PARTY WILL GIVE PENSIONERS THEIR RIGHTS AGAIN"

Stating that retirees in Türkiye are faced with disloyalty, Özgür Özel said, "When this government came 25 years ago, that is, 24 years ago in 2002, the lowest pension was 8 quarters of gold. Today, the lowest pension is 23 thousand 500 liras; 2 quarters of gold is barely affordable. While retirees in the past were able to retire, find peace, and maybe even help their children or grandchildren, now they go hungry if they rent out the salary they receive if they do not have a home. The best example of this is "Edirne. Because the average house rent is 23 thousand liras. The minimum pension is 23 thousand 500 liras. So, if you don't have a house, if you pay for the rent, you will stay hungry, if you feed yourself, you will stay on the street. The New Party, which retirees come to and embrace everywhere we go, as a response to the struggle we have been fighting for retirees in recent times, will change the AK Party's land system and give retirees their rights again," he said.

"MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD BE 39 THOUSAND TL"

Stating that the lowest pension should be 39 thousand liras, Özel said, "According to our calculations, the minimum wage today should be 39 thousand liras and the lowest pension should be one minimum wage. Also, remember this, it is not a joke, it is real. To remember what this government did to the retirees, it reduced it from 8 quarters gold to two quarters below. Or the lowest pension was 1.5 minimum wage, when they came, it was much lower than the minimum wage today. When we come, the lowest pension in the first period will receive a minimum wage, until the next period. There is no way to get to 1.5 minimum wage. Retirees whose hands have become calloused for years, whose elbows have rotted, whose glasses have grown, and to whom we said, 'You have worked enough, you will stop, we will take care of you', are now looking for a job and say, 'If I find a job, I will work.' A 70-year-old lady works in a greenhouse in Antalya, Burdur, saying 'I will send money to my child.' "We are challenging this great disloyalty, and when the black order of the AK Party in Türkiye is over and the new order of the New Party that suits you is established, we will reverse this disloyalty to you," he said.

"WE WILL NATIONALIZE ALL HIGHWAYS"

Özel said, "The Official Gazette was published last night. It was decided to privatize 2 bridges and 8 state highways. I said this months ago, they remained silent. They did not deny it, we suspected it. Then it turned out that foreigners came, inspected the bridges, made measurements and calculations on the highways, they remained silent. They did not answer a word. I said: 'Answer, will you do this?' They fell silent. Erdoğan signed the agreement quietly last night. Do you know what's happening? The Izmir-Çeşme highway, built by the late Özal, is being privatized. Let me tell you what will happen; Izmir-Çeşme highway is the highway built by the state. 95 kuruş per kilometer, they travel 50 kilometers and pay approximately 48 lira to Çeşme, or maybe 50 lira. This is the highway where Turgut Özal said, 'Semra, put on a cassette and let's enjoy ourselves'. May God have mercy on him. But when you go this way, the Istanbul highway, which Tayyip Erdoğan built as build, operate, transfer, you go the same kilometer towards Akhisar; 5 lira per kilometer, the money you will pay is 250 lira per 50 kilometers. Now, with this privatization, all cheap highways will become 5 times more expensive. With this privatization, the first and second bridges in Istanbul will now become 50 lira, at least two times, two and a half times more expensive. It will be more expensive than the third bridge. Thirdly, the ring roads in Izmir and Bursa, that is, the ring road where the highway comes and passes around Izmir, the ring road in Bursa, has been free until now. Now, the ring roads were also privatized yesterday, and these will also be tolled. From here I say this to our nation. We have been warning about this for months, they do not listen and now they have done such evil. What they do is this; They are slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs. Once the state did this, the cost ran out. The state is collecting 700 million lira with the cheap money they took for privatization last night. Now they will give this place to those who pay 3 billion, 3.5 billion, 4 billion in advance for 25 years. The man will come and give a 5 times raise. He will collect the money he gave in a year or two, and then he will extort money from us for 23 years. My word to Erdoğan from here is this; You need money to win an election, I see you are desperate. I am telling those who will enter this tender and those who will buy this place with 5 years' worth of today's money for 25 years of income, but with almost 1.5-2 years' worth of money after the increase. We will come next year, we will come to power. "We will nationalize all highways," he said.

Özel, who opened the Vefa Edirne Retirement Home, pinned their badges on Edirne Mayor Filiz Gencan, who resigned from the Republican People's Party, and the district mayors who joined the party.

"JUSTICE IN INCOME MUST BE PROVIDED"

Speaking at the opening ceremony here, Özgür Özel said that the justice system in Türkiye should be restored. Özel said, "First of all, we need to ensure justice in income. We need to work more, develop together, earn more. But it needs to be shared among the people. Then we need to ensure tax justice. There is no country in the world where indirect taxes are as high as Turkey. In Türkiye, it is almost 65 percent. What is indirect tax? Indirect tax is the most unfair tax in the world. It is the richest and the poorest paying the same tax. A new development move in this country, the state's planning correctly, a state that is managed honestly together, will also benefit the workers of this country." "There is a need for them to be protected by their employers, to earn more and to be taxed through a fair tax system. When justice is provided by the courts in Türkiye, those who earn money domestically will not leak their money, and investors from abroad will not be afraid to come to Türkiye," he said.

"WE WILL BANN THE PROHIBITIONS"

Reacting to the arrests, Özel said, "Turgut Özal used to hang the harshest caricatures of his harshest critics in the Çankaya Mansion, which not everyone could bear. Süleyman Demirel participated in the plastic show that imitated him and made fun of himself. Erdal İnönü used to tell his own stories, putting on what was said about himself, making fun of himself, and was open to all kinds of criticism. In the 1970s, he was open to all kinds of criticism, either the late Türkeş, Erbakan, "Cartoons criticizing Ecevit, Demirel, all four of them were chosen as the cartoon of the year. Today, a small insinuation is considered an insult to the President. This is the lack of self-confidence of the government. And we, as the New Party, have decided how to fight against so many bans of Erdoğan. We will also be pro-bans in our government. We will ban all the bans brought by Erdoğan."

After the special opening, he wandered around the market place in 1st Murat District and met with both tradesmen and citizens. Özel, who also wore a marketer's apron during his visit, then left the city for Kırklareli.