November 10 message from detained Mayor Özmen: 'The religion of the state is justice'

Eyüpsultan Mayor Dr. was arrested on October 6, 2026 within the scope of the investigation carried out against Eyüpsultan Municipality by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Mithat Bülent Özmen shared the 10 November message from prison.

Özmen, who was arrested on charges of bid rigging, taking bribes and forming a criminal organization, explained the values ​​he adopted throughout his life and the principles of state administration in his message published on the 88th anniversary of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's death.

“AS A CHILD OF THE REPUBLIC…”

Stating that he came to Ankara from Diyadin district of Ağrı to receive education at the age of 17, Özmen stated that the education he received at Mülkiye and the values he learned from his family shaped his life.

Özmen said, "What a lucky person I am that I went through two educational institutions. One of them was family education and the other was state education," and explained that his family taught him humility, kindness and truthfulness.

Defining himself as "a child of the Republic", Özmen stated that the philosophical thoughts and Anatolian wisdom he encountered during his university years played an important role in shaping his personality.

“I WAS METICULOUS NOT TO CAUSE ANY HARM TO BETHULMALE”

Touching on his responsibilities in public administration in his message, Özmen emphasized that he saw public resources as a trust in every period of his duty.

Özmen used the following statements:

"As I have stated before, the second school of education I went through while my identity and stance on life was maturing was the state education. I saw that responsibility as a trust in every process in which I assumed responsibility, both in the private sector, in the public bureaucracy and in the academy."

Explaining his approach to protecting public resources, Özmen continued as follows:

"We care about it, we pass by what belongs to us, but we do not pass by what is entrusted to us. With this feeling, throughout my career, I have not only been very meticulous to act with public decorum and not to harm the Beytullem; I have sometimes been annoyingly insistent, instructive and uncompromising so that everyone who comes into contact with me will look at it this way."

“THE RELIGION OF THE STATE IS JUSTICE”

Stating that he took Nizam al-Mulk's Siyâsetnâme and Ibn Khaldun's Introduction as his guide in his thirty-five-year career, Özmen drew attention to the importance of justice in state administration.

Özmen said, "What these two works taught me was that the religion of the state is justice, and the essence of state decency is humility, tolerance, truthfulness, kindness and the will not to compromise on the principles, beliefs and values ​​shaped by these."

“I LEARNED FROM ATATURK NOT TO GIVE UP TO STRUGGLE”

In the last part of his message, Özmen touched upon the life of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the War of Independence and used the following statements:

“I learned from Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his Speech, that we should not forget that we are only a dot, that we should remain ourselves, without changing, and not to give up serving and fighting for this country, for this nation, for this flag, no matter what the conditions are.”

Drawing attention to Atatürk's struggle for independence, Özmen completed his message with the following words:

"That Gazi Pasha, in his short life of 57 years, was able to return from death on the front lines, in defense of the homeland; to enter the War of Independence with a death warrant on his neck, and to never return from this struggle. He managed to recreate a homeland, a nation, a country, like a phoenix rising from its ashes. On this occasion, we gratefully commemorate Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the 88th anniversary of his departure from us." I commemorate him and bow with respect to his beloved memory.”