CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel said, 'We stand behind the elected officials during the July 15 coup attempt. Stating that he was the person who said 'Let the Parliament be opened, let's not surrender the Parliament', he said, "Even though 10 years have passed, I would still have the same attitude today. There were various discussions going on that day, it was discussed a lot; I am a person who said 'It is not a theatre, it is a bloody coup'. My opinion has never changed since then, I have no inconsistencies."
CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel answered journalists' questions in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Regarding the 10th anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, Özel said, "10 years ago, there was an attempt to stage a coup against the will of this nation and the Parliament. You are all witnesses; this Parliament was closed that day, and I am one of the MPs who suggested opening this Parliament, and after it was opened, resisted the coup until the morning with the MPs who were in Ankara and could come, and became a target and under bombardment because we opened the Parliament. I am a member of parliament who had the idea of opening the Parliament that day; I am from the AK Party." I am the person who called our colleagues and administrators and said, 'This is a coup against democracy. We should open the Parliament, let's not surrender it.' I commemorate the veterans with respect. There was such an atmosphere in the Parliament that day; it was understood that the Republic, the separation of powers, and appointing someone to a position because their foreheads were prostrate were wrong. It was said, 'No matter who they are, they should be qualified.' Suddenly, large posters were searched and found in our provinces. Provincial Presidencies asked for large Ataturk posters from CHP members. 'Secularism' was emphasized and it was said, 'From now on, these mistakes will not be made, the value of democracy has been understood. However, at the end of 10 years, all structures of FETO, including the army, judiciary, police and religious affairs, were taken into consideration, but when it came to the political side of FETO,' he said.
Recalling the report prepared by the July 15 Coup Attempt Investigation Commission and the questions in his party's counter-report, Özel reminded that the then Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and the then MİT President Hakan Fidan did not attend the commission meetings. Özel said, "In our report, suspicions were written that the coup was expected to take place and that the results of the coup were being taken advantage of, and although these were not answered, the coup could not be confronted because 'will those who do not evaluate the intelligence continue to rule the country?' They had questions. These questions were asked through individuals, not parties. Because those who were aware of that intelligence but did not do what was necessary, would the Chief of General Staff continue to be at the head of MİT? Now one is the Chairman of the National Defense Commission and the other is the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The commission report was never published, which is a very important and suspicious situation. Besides, I have to express my sadness; A coup is made against the government. When a coup is made, the government either surrenders or resists, what is expected from it is to resist, but when there is a coup, everyone turns and looks at the opposition, looks the main opposition in the eye. On the night of July 15, we stood behind the elected officials without blinking an eye. The government that dealt with the coup that day; They saw us on the side of democracy in the streets and in the Parliament, and the coup was thwarted together. What was attacked that day was the ballot box and its elected officials. If the coup had been successful, Fetullah Gülen would have descended on Ankara like Khomeini and an appointed person would have come to the head of the state instead of an elected one. "We struggled with this," he said.
Özel reminded that Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner was sent to prison and noted that the allegations in the investigation did not even require a call to testify. Özel said, "The President of this country has a saying, 'Whoever wins Istanbul wins Türkiye'. Our Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and our presidential candidate, who will win Türkiye, were sent to prison. I called July 15 a 'coup' at the first moment and all AK Party friends witnessed this. I called March 19 a 'coup' on the first day. How do those who were the addressees of the coup on July 15 become the perpetrators of the coup process after March 19? "How do they remain silent, how do they direct the coup against those we resisted together, the elected members of our party, the chairman of our party, the coup against our party's institutional identity, the void process that destroyed the political party order in Türkiye, how do they hope for help from this on July 15?" he said.
Özel emphasized that his attitude on the night of the coup was the attitude of his party and that he defended the then Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was at the house of the Mayor of Bakırköy that night, and said, "Now the AK Party ignored an election and the 4 certificates of election we received in a row, dismissed us from office and appointed Kemal Bey. As Mr. Erdoğan said 20 days before the nullity decision, he also said, 'Hopefully, we will have a main opposition party worthy of our nation very soon.' "I remind you. I regret it. I regret everyone in the AK Party who said 'I will kiss you on the forehead' during the July 15 coup and watched this happen today."
Özel used the following statements on the question: 'Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stated today that you are supported by FETO':
"For years, AK Party members, AK Party group deputy chairmen, AK Party politicians asked me this question: 'What do you think about the fact that FETO members abroad support Kemal Bey?' he asked. We said, 'If they support a file filed by the opposition just because they have a problem with the government, this does not mean FETOism.' Now, was Kemal Bey hoping to inflict on me this injustice that was often done to him? Then something like this happens; We need to remember how the first wave of this erupted back. The answer came from the then Chief of General Staff, from the victims of conspiracy cases such as Ergenekon, Sledgehammer, Military Espionage, from the relatives of the dead, and from Ali Tatar's brother Ahmet Tatar's Kumpas-Der, İlker Başbuğ. They said, 'No one can attribute FETO to Özgür Özel, who stood firm with us against FETO and was the only one with us in those days.' Also, thanks to Mr. Kemal, 'Won't we obey the law, won't we listen to the courts, will we ignore the courts?' he says. I told Hulusi Akar, 'Your comrades do not give you your rights. Your comrades died without giving you their due. You are the person who paved the way for FETO, cleared the roads and opened the highway for it.' He sued me. 500 thousand liras 7 years ago, the largest compensation case in history. We won that case. The lawyer who won the case is Hüseyin Can Güner. 254 admirals, generals and colonels who served during the Hulusi Akar period petitioned the court to testify in my favor. So to whom do you say, 'You are on the side of FETO?' Everyone should be careful when saying 'FETO members support you'. Since we always made those defenses strong around here, Kemal Bey's muscle and memory remained weak. In that respect, he probably forgot that this was the answer to be given, so he made such an insinuation."