NEW Party Chairman Özgür Özel answered the questions of journalists in Silivri, where he came before the IMM trial, where the detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu will defend.
Reacting to the appointment of a trustee to Halk TV in the morning, Özel argued that the government was trying to silence opposition media outlets.
Özel said, "Were we expecting a trustee to be appointed to Halk TV, or a few television channels that give voice to the opposition to be appointed and closed down? We were waiting. Will they appoint trustees to Halk TV? They will. When will they appoint them? When they come to the end, they would do that too. It is understood that this government has come to an end now."
"THIS IS AN INDICATION OF THE EXHAUSTINATION OF THE GOVERNMENT"
Özel said that the government is trying to prevent the publicly discussed funding issue and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality case from reaching the masses and said:
"They are so desperate that they want to completely close these areas at a point where the funding issue is properly discussed and the nation is informed. Just yesterday we saw this: This is the first time that the government voters are watching opposition television channels at such a high rate. Why? They are disturbed by what is happening. 'What is happening?' "He turns and looks at Halk TV, he looks at Sözcü TV, he looks at Koza TV."
Referring to Ekrem İmamoğlu's right to defense, Özel continued as follows:
"The right to defense has been blocked here since March 9. They did not allow it in July, they did not allow it in August. Today, for the first time, Mr. Ekrem will use his right to defense after 580 days, probably 589 days. They are closing Halk TV this morning. This is a sign of the exhaustion, helplessness and impotence of the government. No one should despair by saying 'The government is strong, Tayyip Erdoğan is strong, look, they closed Halk TV too.'
Think of the world's strongest countries, strongest democracies, and strongest leaders who are not in insolvency; He who stoops to this is doomed and finished. If a government that cannot stand a broadcast on Halk TV and has reached the point of saying 'Let me silence it so that the funding issue cannot be discussed, let me silence it so that İmamoğlu's defense cannot be heard, let me silence it so that the opposition cannot make its voice heard, let me silence it so that Özgür Özel cannot find a medium to speak,' it is finished. Some people have come to an end, we are just getting started, friends. No one should be discouraged.
"WE WILL GET OUT OF THIS PUNCH"
We will show our solidarity with Halk TV during the day. Apart from this, we will get out of this trap by establishing new channels through other opposition channels, new channels and social media, new organizations, and new collaborations. I wish our friends working at Halk TV to get well soon. I wish the management of Halk TV to get well soon. I wish to get well soon to Mr. Cafer, the owner of Halk TV. All our strength, support and struggle are with them.
Everyone should know this: Nothing will be easy. One day I will come out and say 'It's okay'. Do you know when? That night when we were clearly ahead in the election results, I will say 'Okay, we did it'. Until that day, we will have difficulty, we will suffer, we will be oppressed, maybe very bad things will happen to us, but we will not surrender.
Look, today the regime, the Erdoğan palace regime, did not take the lead against us or score a goal. It's another sign; They already scored 50 goals there. Look at this: Do the people expect elections on the sign in the people's hearts and want to change them? Do we have the moral superiority? We did not fall down, are we standing? Then we will win. The real scoreboard is the one in the hearts of the nation, in the conscience of the nation.
They won the day they collapsed on President Ekrem's ballot box, right? What happened? After 40 days, people smoked them. They will be a thousand times worse. No one should be discouraged, we are standing tall. Mr. Ekrem is standing there, Halk TV is standing there, we are standing here. Unless we get the feeling of 'We are defeated, we are losing', they will never win. They are cowards."
