00:00Özgü Özel, the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, the party of arrested
00:05Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
00:08Thank you for your time.
00:10You called Mr. İmamoğlu's arrest, quote, a judicial coup.
00:15Explain to me what exactly you mean by that.
00:19Now, if you remove someone in power by force, rather than through votes, we call this a
00:26coup.
00:27Turkey's history and the history of democracy have experienced various coups.
00:33What's happening this time is different, because instead of targeting the current government,
00:38they're staging a coup against the future government.
00:41They're carrying out a coup against the future president of Turkey, against the possibility
00:46of the Republican People's Party, the CHP, becoming the governing party.
00:51This is an attempt to eliminate political opponents by abusing public power, preventing
00:58them from running in elections.
01:07Can you say with certainty that there is no basis to the corruption accusations against
01:12Ekrem İmamoğlu?
01:15There is no corruption whatsoever.
01:18If there was, how could I, as a social democrat, defend him so openly?
01:22If there was even the slightest hint of corruption, our party, being the most sensitive about
01:26this issue, would immediately initiate disciplinary procedures and punish those involved ourselves.
01:32But this is not a legal process.
01:34It's a political process.
01:36Since Erdoğan cannot openly tell the world, I arrested İmamoğlu because he was going
01:41to defeat me in the elections and become the next president after me, he instead says,
01:46I arrested him for corruption.
01:49He has filed five different cases against İmamoğlu, one for corruption, one for insult,
01:54another related to expert testimony and so on.
01:57He's seeking a total of 25 years in prison and in each case also demanding a political
02:02ban.
02:03His goal is to eliminate his political opponent.
02:06Most recently, as you know, they annulled the university diploma İmamoğlu received
02:1031 years ago.
02:12Why?
02:13Because in Turkey, a university decree is required to run for president.
02:17All these things that have happened are not about seeking the truth, they're about imposing
02:21a political ban on İmamoğlu.
02:28Your party has nominated Mr. İmamoğlu as its presidential candidate, but how can he
02:32run if he's in prison and do you have a plan B?
02:37If he's in prison and does not receive a political ban, and if we win the lawsuit we have filed
02:42against the annulment of his diploma, then there will be no obstacle to his candidacy.
02:48In that case, even if İmamoğlu is in prison, we would still run with him as a candidate.
02:54He would remain in prison while all CHP members and all Democrats in Turkey would campaign
03:00on his behalf.
03:01There's no issue with that.
03:03However, if his candidacy is legally blocked, for example, if his diploma is not reinstated,
03:10then someone else will take his place as the candidate.
03:13But the election will not be about choosing a president, it will be about freedom for
03:18Ekrem İmamoğlu.
03:20It will be a referendum on democracy versus autocracy.
03:24People will go to the polls to make that decision.
03:33Almost 2,000 people have been detained in connection with the protests within just about
03:39a week.
03:40President Erdoğan has branded the demonstrations, let me quote him, as a movement of violence.
03:46Do you want people to continue to take to the streets despite all this?
03:52We had two choices.
03:53Either stay silent and sit at home, surrendering to Erdoğan's unlawful actions, or take to
03:59the streets under the belief that all forms of resistance against a coup attempt are legitimate.
04:05I chose democracy and called people to the streets, leading to a remarkable seven days
04:10of resistance.
04:11Today, İmamoğlu is being held in a cell, meanwhile Erdoğan resides in a palace built
04:18for himself.
04:19Yet he is under stress, as if he were in the depths of a dungeon.
04:23That's why I see that we hold both the psychological and moral high ground.
04:30What are your next steps and how do you want to maintain the momentum of the protest movement?
04:36We will continue with massive daytime rallies every Saturday in a major Turkish city and
04:42nighttime rallies every Wednesday in an Istanbul district.
04:46At the same time, we're launching the world's largest signature campaign to demand İmamoğlu's
04:51release.
04:52Through this global signature campaign and rallies in all 81 provinces of Turkey, we
04:57will raise our demand for Ekrem İmamoğlu's freedom.
05:01Özgür Özel, Chairman of the Turkish Main Opposition CHP, thank you very much.
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