Special: Next summer will be much better, the summer after that we will most likely be in power

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, in his speech at the opening of the İzmir International Fair (İEF), which opened its doors for the 93rd time this year with the theme of ‘technology’ and the slogan ‘We Are Going Beyond Time’, said, “CHP is Turkey’s first party. We are the party of freedoms, and we, as CHP members, are the guarantee of Turkey’s future. Next summer will be much better, and the summer after that we will most likely be in power.”

This year, IEF opened its doors for the 93rd time with the theme of ‘technology’ and the slogan ‘We are Going Beyond Time’. Hosted by İZFAŞ, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade, the opening ceremony of IEF, which will host its visitors between August 30 and September 9, was held at Kültürpark. The ceremony was attended by Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay, members of parliament, district mayors, political party representatives and many citizens. Dilruba Kayserilioğlu, who was arrested due to her statements in a street interview and released yesterday evening, also attended the ceremony, sat next to CHP Chairman Özel and followed the ceremony. The robot ‘Sofia’ also attended the opening as a surprise guest.

‘THERE ARE 3 KEYS WILL OPEN THE DOOR TO SUCCESS’

In his speech at the ceremony, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who stated that İzmir felt the trauma of May 14 and May 28 the most, said, “İzmir was expecting Atatürk’s party to come to power once again in the 100th year of the Republic. There was great belief in this. What happened before and during the process, with its positive and negative aspects, was left behind. But last summer in İzmir, the youth’s eyes had faded, the shoulders of the elderly had slumped, no one could lift their heads off the ground, pessimism always prevailed. As cadres who had been involved in politics in the CHP since they were children, who had held many positions and who believed that this story should not end like this, we said, ‘If the CHP changes, Turkey will change.’ The number of friends we spoke with in the first days when that fire was lit was small. As the days passed, İzmir became the first city to believe that a change in the CHP would be good for Turkey. 93 percent of the young cadres supported the change, more women in politics and a new beginning.”

Özel said, “The process brought us to a historical change at the end of the struggle for democracy, and then there was the local election agenda. In the local elections, all candidates, how you viewed the election itself was very important. We should have emerged from this election with many female mayors, young people were waiting for assignments where they would take responsibility in local governments and prepare young cadres like themselves for the administration of the country. In addition, there were pessimists. We turned a deaf ear, because pessimism would not suit this country, the city or our party. We said, ‘We need a key.’ We have not been able to open the door to success in the political castle since the coup of 1980. We had to open this door and look to the future with hope. The average age of our party assembly that has been formed is 43. I am the 5th oldest member of the party assembly. Half of our central executive board consists of women and the other half consists of men. Equal representation is talked about in Turkey, but when they do not see it in power, they do not believe it. I called out to these cadres as follows, Atatürk has placed the keys to the door of success of this castle somewhere. 3 historical keys opened the 3 big locks. “The first lock was opened by the youth. The second lock was opened by women. The third key is measurement and evaluation. We must measure everything from beginning to end, the performance of the mayors,” he said.

‘IZMIR DESERVES THE BEST’

Özel, who said, “We owe it to this city,” continued as follows: “Izmir deserves to expect the best, the best with the support it provides and the contribution it makes. Izmir voters are the voters with the lowest marks. They teach the best, they stand by it in the most difficult times. They do not bend, they do not give in, they do not surrender, and then they demand the best. That is why we have done very good things in the past, but this time it was understood what Izmir wants from us for a certain period or the issue of generating consent here without fulfilling its standard demands. This time, the people of Izmir, who looked at the candidates, understood, saw that measuring and evaluating goodwill and effort correctly measured their own demands. Now it is time to give these people what they deserve. I see goodwill and diligent effort in all our mayors.”

‘AS A PARTY THAT FOUNDED THIS COUNTRY, CHP DEFENDS FREEDOM OF THOUGHT TO THE END’

Özel, who emphasized that Izmir is a city of those who have high expectations, who sometimes react justifiably, and who do not hold back their words when they do not get what they deserve, said, “A brother of ours in Izmir said a few sentences on the microphone. We visited him in prison yesterday. Instead of going to prison and standing in front of the door and saying ‘We will do this, if not we will burn him’, it is important to acknowledge justice at the prison door and object to injustice. If you make an invitation in prison, that invitation will be answered in a short time. I went to visit Dilruba, I said; ‘You will leave here, I will invite you in my speech in front of the door, you will come and be my guest on the anniversary of the foundation of our party. The rule here is, those who come to visit should be returned and visited, I expect you as soon as possible.’ He came to return and visit within 24 hours. Thank goodness you exist Dilruba, Izmir loves you. We know that you do not want to hurt anyone in Izmir. CHP, as a party that founded this country, defends freedom of thought to the end.”

‘WE WILL NOT CRUSH ANYONE LIKE AN ANT’

“Yesterday I was bored and went to watch a concert,” said CHP Chairman Özel, who continued as follows: “They attempted impudence such as saying to someone like Suavi, ‘We will not let you have a concert in Çine. We will raid the concert. We do not want terrorists here.’ We performed the most unforgettable concert of Suavi’s life with people from all districts of İzmir who loved and supported Suavi, and we sang his songs. Whoever knows from now on, if there is a victim or oppressed person in Turkey, we are not behind him, we are by his side, we are by his side. Whoever wants a concert to be held in Turkey by separating artists with political statements, we will ensure that the crowd is 100 times bigger than normal. We will not let anyone be crushed like an ant, an ant has a sibling, and that is the CHP.”

Özel said, “‘They won the election, their language is soft, they maintain their sense of gratitude to voters, they attribute their success not to themselves but to Turkey. They shake hands with everyone, they do all kinds of social relations in the best way, we need polarization, tension’ was said and accepted. They had Suavi cancel the concert, we went there. Today they said, ‘We will not let you speak in Dumlupınar’. We went to Dumlupınar, we visited the martyrs’ cemetery, we went to the monument and laid a wreath, we spoke in the square, but we said, ‘We will not be a tool in that game.’ Why aren’t they letting us speak today? We weren’t in the executive, the minister was supposed to speak. The minister should speak for 1 or 2 years, then the head of the executive there will speak, but he shouldn’t maintain his ties with his party that day. But the president, a CHP member will be the president. If a minister has to speak, it will be the CHP or the ministers of the Turkish Alliance. The chips are down, we are all fed up. CHP is the first party of Turkey. We are the party of freedoms, and we, as CHP members, are the guarantee of Turkey’s future. You have troubles, there is a solution for every trouble, and its name is the Republican People’s Party. I would like to thank you for believing in me until the end last summer. Next summer will be much better, and the summer after that, we will most likely be in power,” he said.

‘IEF WILL CARRY US BEYOND THE EVIL EVENTS OF OUR TIME’

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay also stated in his speech that IEF has given morale to the people of Izmir after the sad events they have experienced recently and said, “We experienced sad fires in Karşıyaka, Tire, Bayındır, Menderes, Bergama, Urla, Çeşme. We are opening the fair after these fires. We believe that we will rise again from our ashes. Just like the Kültürpark we are currently in was reborn from its ashes after the Great İzmir Fire that broke out after the War of Independence. Because those who made those miracles happen are our heroes. They are the ones who founded the republic, especially Atatürk, and who brought life to life from among the ruins. The 93rd IEF will carry us beyond the bad events of our time. It will remind us of our joy, our hope, and the liveliness of our social life.”

‘IZMIR FAIR ALWAYS GOES BEYOND TIME WITH THE INNOVATIONS IT BRINGS’

Stating that the innovations brought by the Izmir Fair have always gone beyond time, President Tugay said, “Inventions, new technologies, new products and brands have always entered Turkey from the world through the doors opened by the Izmir Fair over the years. When choosing the technology theme this year, our goal was for Izmir to be a city that dreams of the future, makes its dreams come true and keeps up with the times. The 93rd IEF, where we aim to carry our city to the future with the technology theme, will contribute to the country’s economy with the business connections of international and national companies. Entrepreneurs and start-ups in the technology sector will exhibit their new business ideas and creative solutions in special areas reserved for them. We have allocated free stands to 50 start-up companies in order to support young entrepreneurs. We will use technology to make our lives easier and to increase the quality of our service areas. We will also take our place at the fair with all the works carried out by our municipality on this theme. We will implement new artificial intelligence applications in Izmir with the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality company Izmir Innovation and Technology Inc. “The technology theme is also an important indicator of our vision of how we want to prepare Turkey for the coming years,” he said.

‘I PROMISE TO BRING THE FAIR BACK TO THE OLD DAYS’

Tugay, who stated that the fair period made significant contributions to employment in Izmir, said, “It provides our youth with their first work experience. Young people working in the pavilions and stands of institutions earn their school allowance. It helps young people gain a social environment and get acquainted with business life. This was the case for me as well. I am having an emotional day in that respect. I worked at the Izmir International Fair for four years while I was studying at university. I worked first as a cashier and then as a stand manager at the Milk Industry Institution next to the Parachute Tower. It was the beginning of my working life and that was how I got into insurance. Now, as the mayor of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality that organized the fair, I feel great happiness, honor and excitement to be here. Who knows in what positions in our city and country in the future we will see our young people who are currently working at various stands at the fair.”

Tugay continued his words as follows: “Izmir Fair is not just Izmir; it means Turkey, it means Republic. We will protect the legacy of our Ata, who said ‘Establish fairs and open exhibitions in this city’, by developing it even more each year. We will recapture the joy and liveliness of the old fair period. This is one of my most important duties as mayor. I promise to bring the Izmir Fair back to those days when it was as lively as before, eagerly awaited, and where people from all over Turkey wanted to visit. I am already experiencing the excitement of the 94th Izmir International Fair. We will revive the old magnificent and magnificent fairs together.”