When President Erdoğan took the podium at the opening of Parliament, Özgür Özel and the NEW Party MPs left the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Erdoğan waited for the NEW Party members to leave the hall before speaking. Leaving the hall, Özel told journalists, 'We don't have time to waste listening to someone who attacks the CHP to change the agenda.'

New Party Chairman Özgür Özel and its MPs left the hall as President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the podium. Erdoğan waited for the New Party MPs to leave the hall before speaking.

We don't have time to listen to Erdoğan

In a statement to journalists after leaving the hall, Özel said, "We don't have time to waste listening to someone who changes his party's leadership and replaces it with an appointment that suits him, someone who imprisons our presidential candidate, someone who just this morning carried out an operation against the innocent Mersin Mayor in order to win the Union of Turkish Municipalities elections, someone who tries to march on the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality every day by threatening and poaching district municipal council members, someone who has allowed the poor to be plundered through a fund crisis and remained silent about it, and who once again attacks the CHP to change the agenda."

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk addressed [the people] as follows...

The highlights of Erdoğan's speech from the Parliament podium were as follows:

First and foremost, I commemorate with mercy the 115 members, above all, who, 106 years ago, after the Friday prayer performed at the Hacı Bayram Veli Mosque, proclaimed the will of our nation to the world from Ankara the heart of independence with prayers, takbirs, and the resolve and passion for independence, along with all our deputies who have served our nation worthily under this exalted roof until today and have passed away.

Once again, here, I ask mercy from the Almighty for all our martyrs who, for a thousand years in this geography, sacrificed their lives without blinking an eye for the survival of our nation, and for those among our veterans who have passed away. Right at the beginning of my words, I want to express with all my heart this truth: The only parliament in the world that has been honored with the title of 'gazi' twice is the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. This assembly successfully led and directed the national struggle against the invaders who attempted to put shackles on the feet and a rope around the neck of our nation.

Look, the minutes of our Grand National Assembly of Türkiye between 1920 and 1923 are the most vivid witnesses of how Türkiye was made a homeland for the second time. The following words that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk uttered in 1921 at the opening of the second legislative year of the Grand National Assembly are a clear expression of the love of freedom that is in the very cells of our nation and of the historic mission of our parliament. In those painful days when the Turkish nation was squeezed between independence and annihilation, Gazi Mustafa Kemal, in his capacity as Speaker of the Assembly, addressed [the people] as follows.

Esteemed colleagues, let us once again recall the distances we have covered from the Armistice days, when the entire nation looked death in the eye, to this day, and the countless difficulties we have overcome. Since times whose beginning is unknown.

Our nation, which lives with the honor of independence, seemed to be heading toward the worst of ends through death, yet the voice of our ancestors, who called their children to rise up against enslavement, rose in our hearts and invited us to the final war of liberation. The days of despair and faint-heartedness are now far behind. While Your Exalted Assembly enters its second legislative year having shown the country the path to liberation, the true path, and having gathered the entire nation under its banner of independence I pray that the lights beginning to dawn on our horizon may be auspicious for a good morning in this unfortunate homeland of ours, which has seen so many disasters. Ninety-five years after this speech, which was frequently interrupted by applause, our Exalted Assembly once again fulfilled its duty of leading the nation. On the night of July 15, our Gazi Assembly, which defended the nation's trust under bombs, together with our nation that resisted the coup in squares, streets, and airports, passed that heavy test with a clean record.

On this occasion, I thank all our deputies who protected the nation's trust that night, and I say, may my Lord never again oblige this assembly to wage the same struggle. I specifically express the satisfaction I feel at addressing you in the General Assembly hall of the Gazi Assembly, whose past is so glorious and whose duty is so sublime.

The agenda in Türkiye changes very rapidly, or there is a desire by some to change it. This is because the deep economic crisis, poverty, and even hunger are creating a massive crisis in the country. The government is busy constantly shifting the agenda to deflect incoming criticism in other directions, but it takes no steps to solve these problems.

Photo Talha Uğuz on Pexels

The unfathomable magnitude of the foreign debt, the interest being paid, and the fact that these debts will also have to be paid by future generations are opening deep wounds in the country. Then I sit and think about it, and I conclude that these things are actually being done intentionally. Because no sane person would knowingly surrender the country to such deep poverty and debt. Only those who are someone else's pawn, who commit treason against the homeland, could consciously take these steps.

I believe we are witnessing the final days of this filthy clique that uses the country's resources and engages in shady dealings to amass a fortune of a few hundred billion dollars. It is precisely because they are living their final days that they exhibit such an aggressive attitude. The government, wanting to eliminate the opposition or design it according to its own desires, is engaging in certain shady dealings and trying to do political engineering because it realizes it cannot succeed. However, since these actions have no traction within society, it seems highly unlikely they will succeed.

Ruling powers that lose the support of society are doomed to lose. Parties that gain the support of society will, one way or another, definitely come to power one day and rule the country. Of course, the important issue here, which is also the expectation of society, will be to question the shady dealings of the previous government, have them investigated by an independent judiciary, and prosecute if there is any irregularity. The shady dealings of the government will definitely come to light one day, and steps must be taken to ensure they are not repeated.

Leaving the administration of the state to the initiative of a single person means being dragged into the abyss. Governments that lack the capacity, education, and equipment to rule a country, and that do not feel a sense of belonging to the country, absolutely must not be in charge of the administration. Otherwise, the example of Türkiye should be examined and a lesson must be learned.

A single person must never be the decision-making authority. The Republic of Türkiye is governed by democracy, and the Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM), who are elected by the public to act as their representatives, should be the authority taking the decisions. That is to say, collective wisdom always develops a country and brings it to prosperity. Countries that are not governed by collective wisdom become trapped in darkness.

Türkiye is not like an Arab country. Neither the society nor the form of government resembles those in Arab countries. Even if it wanted to, it couldn't, because the abundant oil resources found in Arab countries unfortunately do not exist in Türkiye. The administrations of Arab countries (especially those ruled by monarchy) distribute resources as much as possible to keep the society satisfied. They share the oil revenues with the public; otherwise, the public would revolt, and the monarchy would collapse. However, since Türkiye cannot distribute an oil resource it does not possess to the public, it cannot be like Arab countries, and indeed it should not be.

Therefore, the Republic of Türkiye must return to its founding principles and state administration, and it must have robustly functioning institutions. Otherwise, it will sink to the absolute bottom of darkness. Since there will be no deeper bottom left to hit after a while anyway, a rebellion will break out in society.

"The Republic of Türkiye, devotedly founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, will stand forever."

The Turkish society has no problems whatsoever with the Kurdish society. They have lived together without issues under the same roof for centuries and have established neighborhood and kinship relations. That is to say, a Kurdish youth is not subjected to discrimination in the Republic of Türkiye; just like every citizen, they can benefit from all rights. Education, social, justice...

No distinction is made based on language, religion, or race, and everyone is equal before the law.

Long live the Republic, long live Liberty!