Özel says CHP marks 'bitter' Eid amid arrests

MANİSA

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel said on June 6 the main opposition party has marked this year’s Eid al-Adha with a sense of bitterness amid the ongoing imprisonment of several of its mayors.

"We wish all citizens a happy Eid al-Adha holiday. However, this holiday does not feel like a holiday to us. Many of our friends have been unjustly and unlawfully imprisoned on false charges," Özel told reporters on June 6 in the western city of Manisa.

The remarks came after a June 3 court decision led to the imprisonment of five more CHP mayors, raising the number of detained mayors from the party to 11.

"The CHP's shining mayors, especially our Istanbul mayor [Ekrem İmamoğlu], are being discredited by being constantly linked to various crimes and criminals in a storm of false accusations," Özel said. "We will continue our struggle. The state of the judiciary is obvious, but eventually the truth will come out.”

The CHP leader voiced hope for early elections, promising to make it happen "as soon as possible" to "make people smile in Türkiye."

Özel also defended his criticism of Istanbul's chief prosecutor Akın Gürlek, which led to investigations against him earlier this week.

"I stand by what I said that day," he said. "From now on, no one will make us experience things we don't deserve, and I will make those who do regret it a thousand times over."

In a message released on June 5, Özel defended the party’s decision to abstain from inter-party Eid celebrations in protest of the arrests, echoing a similar boycott in March.

"Holidays are special days when our nation strengthens its unity," he said. "Unfortunately, as the Republican People’s Party, we are greeting this holiday with bitterness, like millions of our fellow citizens across the country."