Muharrem İnce: Do not forget what happened between 7 June and 1 November

CHP presidential candidate Muharrem İnce met up with the editors-in-chief of national newspapers, TV stations and websites this morning. Representing Cumhuriyet, our Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and Digital Media Coordinator Bülent Mumay attended the press conference at Istanbul’s Polat Renaissance Hotel. İnce conveyed the following messages at the press conference.

 “We have run a very different campaign as a first”

 - I have been in politics for thirty years. We have run a very different campaign as a first. For 48 days everything has been totally different. We have been addressing huge crowds. There is no transportation, no expenses, just three bits of cloth saying Muharrem İnce will be in such-and-such a square at such-and-such a time. There is more interest than at Tayyip Erdoğan’s rallies. There is no pressure on schools, no students. In Gaziantep, I asked those under thirty to raise their hands. I told them to raise their hands because I am a teacher. Seventy per cent of them were under thirty. There is a massive groundswell. We are making headlines in the world media. I have asked for appointments from one hundred out of two hundred countries. The world is talking about us but the Turkish media has failed the exam. We have held 102 rallies in 48 days. There are a few TV stations that showed one of my rallies from start to finish.

 “Despite everything. Despite the partial media and the cowardly business world. There are millions on the streets.”

 - I am a presidential candidate. You cannot break off from broadcasting me and screen Binali Yıldırım. He is somebody who is at the end politically. If Erdoğan cannot get elected, he will be an ordinary MP. The moment Erdoğan comes out, you in fact cut me off in a second. But, you cut me off and put Binali Yıldırım on. This is the chiding of a friend; I am saddened most by the state of the media. Journalists will be the happiest under my presidency. You will be able to criticise me with ease. I will take this election, you will see. Despite everything. Despite the partial media and the cowardly business world. There are millions on the streets.

 “Why didn’t you make Halisdemir’s brother a candidate”

 - There is a man who determines everything and decides on the headlines. Regardless of what this entails, we will put an end to this. Have you gone to Ömer Halisdemir’s grave? Well, I have, take a gander at the photograph. I have visited his family. But Halisdemir’s brother asked you for him to put himself forward as a parliamentary candidate and you did not do it.

 “If only I had the time so I could write it again”

 - They are writing about the poem I penned thirty years ago. I will give account to nobody about this. He was very conservative, you know. Just let him read Necip Fazıl’s poems, but it is a crime to discuss his FETO partnership five years ago! But you are going to ask about my poems from thirty years ago? I stand by what I wrote and if only I had the time so I could write it again. Am I to give account for poems?

 “If they worked without insurance how did they retire?”

 - A fine was imposed on my supplementary education centre. Something like a traffic fine. Did I pay? Who cares? They say I employed teachers without social insurance. Was there a single person there who did not retire? There was trouble with the support contribution. Otherwise, if they worked without insurance how did they retire? All my teachers apart from one are alive so be my guest and ask them.

 “You cannot ask Erdoğan. But, ask me.”

 - Erdoğan is not discussing the economy. He says nothing about the dollar and nothing about interest rates. What I want with persistence from the media is I want to debate with Erdoğan on TV. You must also ask the questions you want to. Whatever is on your minds, ask in the most blatant manner. I most openly request this. I know you cannot ask Erdoğan this. But, ask me. Turkey has longed for this. Journalists should give politicians a grilling. They must ask the toughest questions. We must let Turkey experience this. We must and will depart from single-man tyranny. I will be the president of the 81 million.

 Question: What do you envisage in foreign policy?

 Answer: Our preference is the West. I told the ambassadors I have spoken to not to force us to change our preferences. As soon as I am elected, I will make a European tour immediately. I will visit the capitals. The European Union wants one or two things from us. But, even if they did not, there are things we must do because our people deserve them. Does it really have to be Europe that goes on about sorting out the judiciary? Even if the EU did not, these things should be in place. I think I have inspired trust in Europe on this point.

 Question: Let us say you son is mixed up in a traffic accident and causes somebody to lose their life and you are said to have brought pressure to bear on this trial. It is said that you had the man who wrote a report favourable to you promoted and years later it ends in your son’s acquittal. If this news comes back onto the agenda years later during the presidential contest would you take it off the air?

 Answer: I think I am a very devout believer. If I did such a thing, I would be afraid. My first fear is of God. I would be afraid that harm would come to my family if I did such a bad thing. I would fear God holding me to account. Regardless of the consequences. I have one child. My son was going to go on his military service and we were living in an apartment in Yalova. It was 11.30 PM. My wife had kept on for months about me pulling some strings. I said if he went to Istanbul instead of Şırnak he could die in a bomb attack in Istanbul. I said that I could not do this as a Muslim. My wife stuck to her guns because he is our only child. The internet was inaccessible because it was busy. My wife found out where he was to do his military service. He did his military service for six months as a gendarmerie officer. And I did so for eight months as a private. My son once called me at three in the morning while he was studying at university. The police had collared him. I told him to put him on. I told the policeman that I was Muharrem İnce and said, “Do what is called for. Mind you do not pull any strings. If you pull strings I will find you.” This is why such things bother me. I have a conscience.

 “Do not forget what happened between 7 June and 1 November”

 Question: The Interior Minister blamed you after the events in Suruç.

 Answer: I do not address myself to the Interior Minister. It is impossible to understand how somebody who made the Bafra speech against Erdoğan could have the effrontery to engage in politics alongside Erdoğan with an untroubled conscience. I do not even address myself to him. I could not work alongside somebody whom I had said so much about. There is no relation between what I said to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and what Soylu said to Erdoğan. I did not call him a thief, I said I could do politics better than him. Everything is possible in this period and they are in such a fluster that their projects have fallen apart. Do not forget what happened between 7 June and 1 November. I know what is passing through their minds, but they cannot dare do the same thing. They most certainly cannot work out the results of the election. Everyone will win after these elections because freedom will come. The only loser will be the polling companies. But everything is possible. Do not ask for further detail.

 “AKP people, HDP people and people who make the Grey Wolf gesture”

 Question: You said that after the election you will take ministers from other parties. Are the names known?

 Answer: Yes, there are people I have spoken to. If AKP people, HDP people and people who make the Grey Wolf gesture say, “My vote’s for you,” I am on the right road. Because I want to unite. Turkey needs this. The eighty-one million are unable even to take joy when the national team plays. This is the point we have reached. We do not even say the same thing about foreign policy. There are four million Syrians. The dollar has reached five lira. We must unite and come to an accord.

 “I stand by my words. Such an officer can never do such a thing.”

 Question: Your epaulet pronouncement has provoked great debate. It has become an important argument used against you. If only you had not said it and made do with saying that this did not befit a general and was inappropriate. Do you stand by it? Have you had any contacts with officer Metin Temel or those close to him afterwards? Has anybody intermediated?

 Answer: I stand by my words. Such an officer can never do such a thing. He cannot applaud Erdoğan while he is criticising a rival beneath the AKP emblem. Saying I will strip off his epaulets means I will retire him. If he merits an award, an award is to be given, as is a punishment if this is merited. If in one year another officer applauds me at a fast-breaking meal while I am criticising Erdoğan, will this be to Erdoğan’s liking? He cannot do it and I will RE-TIRE him!

 “Provided there is no electoral fraud, it is not a significant figure”

 Question: How do you regard 30,000 Syrians voting?

 Answer: Provided there is no electoral fraud, it is not a significant figure. What does the electorate like about us? It likes that we talk of peace, calm, not discriminating, not giving preferential treatment and not spending recklessly. Republic of Turkey citizens in their entirety will feel themselves to be equal and free. Kenan Evren, Özal, Mesut Yılmaz, Demirel and Erdoğan became accepted people. We will dispense with this. Everyone will be an accepted person. Are there no honourable people in the AKP? There are. Can there not be? Are there none in the MHP? There are. They will also be in the Cabinet.

 “I may implement the good things that the MHP, AKP, Good Party and HDP say.”

 Question: Do you reiterate precisely the things you used to say about head-scarf wearers? Where do you stand on this? In relation to education, 1+8+4 is perceived by ruling circles to be a return to 28 February practices. It is said this situation will lead to practices verging on the closure of religious vocational high school’s middle section. What are you thinking of doing to alleviate the suffering of state of emergency victims?

 Answer: My sister had just finished primary school. My late grandfather said, “Come, let’s have a look at you. When I go to the market on Saturday, I am going to buy you a scarf.” He said, “From now on you will wash my laundry, too.” He said, “You have now grown up.” My sister has been a headscarf-wearer for a full forty years. My father has two daughters-in-law. My wife does not cover her head. My brother’s wife does. We have no such problem. Turkey has surmounted this problem. Be it in public service, be it in shopping areas and markets, it does not interest me. The second thing is religious education. Just as a father does not discriminate between his kids, the president cannot discriminate between schools. Science high school students will be educated in the same way as religious vocational high school students are educated. The CHP may have pronouncements about religion, but I will be president. I may sometimes implement the good things that the MHP, AKP, Good Party and HDP say. We will give those who want it as much religious education as they wish, and none to those who do not want it. In the case of state of emergency victims – immediately - and we will wait for those dismissed under decrees with the force of law against whom proceedings are pending. We will immediately restore the others to their posts. Not only do you dismiss people, but there are to be no proceedings against them. Whoever they are. Conservative or left-wing. We will immediately restore those with no proceedings against them to their posts.

 “We will start with the judiciary, so as to come to a reckoning with the 17-25 December corruption”

 Question: Do you think the necessary punishments were handed down in the 17 December corruption investigations? Do you think that the judicial processes were conducted as required in the case of those the police killed during Gezi, most notably Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Abdullah Cömert and Berkin Elvan? Yesterday in Hatay you spoke of the “toadying media” and now you talk of the Turkish media failing the exam. You have a gripe with media owners in Turkey. Do you have a plan in relation to this?

 Answer: As to the 17-25 December affair. The Republic of Turkey is not a 95-year state but a three-thousand-year state. A state cannot be set up so easily and it has its traditions. It has records. Even the worst state keeps records. There was everything. There was a sergeant at every police station and an honourable usher at every judicial complex. Do not worry. In Salonika the Greek gendarmerie took thirteen of my grandad’s grandad’s goats. I found the documents for this last year. So, have no worries, Turkey just needs honourable prosecutors and judges. We will find them. This also applies to Gezi. We will start with the judiciary, so as both to resolve the Berkin Elvan incident and to come to a reckoning with the 17-25 December corruption

 “The pro-regime media leads people into error”

 - (Concerning media ownership) We will make statutory regulations. Journalists will do journalism. Chasing up tenders on the one hand and journalism on the other is not on. The pro-regime media leads people into error. It must warn. I do not want a threatening media. It is not within the media’s remit. I will not get them to do this to me. But, there is another thing I do not want. I do not want a media that fawns over me, because that is a bad thing for me. It must find my errors and write about them honourably. It must warn me and prevent my errors. But, we will make statutory regulations for the media to be free.

 “There is a balcony speech but not from the balcony.”

 Question: When you are president, how will you select the deputy presidents? Is there a balcony speech?

 Answer: There is a balcony speech but not from the balcony. I will make it from the first parliament. If Akşener is elected I will certainly be her deputy. And, if I am elected, I will make the same offer to her. It would delight me if she accepted.

 “Justice is also necessary for Erdoğan”

 Question: Access was blocked following an application by Erdoğan’s son to the comments you made in Elazığ about Sevim Tanürek. Your comments and the media were censored in this way. In this way, not only the media, but your messages, too, are being censored. Can we get your comment on this?

 Answer: They ask me if I will prosecute Erdoğan. No such thing is up to me. Will I supply dossiers to the judiciary when I am president? For sure I will. I will be inundated with information. I will deliver this information to the judiciary. The rest is the judiciary’s business. This is what we must set up. A professor who was dismissed for FETO ties came to me and said, “I want to make a confession. Those on the left are unfortunately more honourable than us.” “No,” I said, “We believe in democracy and you do not. That is where the problem lies.” I think a just judiciary is the prime concern in Turkey. The nation comes first or the military. That is not correct. If the judiciary is unjust, you have a scrap of land not a nation. Justice, justice, justice. It is necessary for everyone. The FETOists imprisoned Ataturkist officers in Ergenekon and Sledgehammer. Along with whom? Along with Erdoğan. And now the FETOists have gone inside. Justice is necessary for everyone.

Those who do evil encounter evil. Justice is also necessary for Erdoğan. The day may come, God forbid, that you will cast an aspersion and make a mistake, but everyone must have the right to a fair trial. We must pull this off. Everyone will say this with peace of mind.

 “I do not take such polls seriously”

 Question: What do you think about the Qandil and Manbij operations? Do you consider them to be election-oriented? What is your opinion of the polls?

 Answer: What can I say about the poll that talks of Muharrem İnce being at nineteen per cent? I laugh it off. I do not find it worth noting. A local paper in Yalova held a poll in 2002. It placed a percentage next to my name. I totalled the poll results and it came to 109 per cent. They had put it together so clumsily. I do not take such polls seriously.

Qandil, Manbij. Qandil is 140 kilometres inside from the border. I spoke about this business with people versed in the matter. This is a business being put on before the election, this is a for-show business. It is an election-oriented business. It is impossible to be able to enter Qandil with such a plan. There must either be agreement with Iran to the east or a solution down to the south. Other things are needed as well. The US people’s dishes are there. Election-oriented business needs to be avoided. I do not want to say anything that will harm the military’s morale. I will not say things to upset them. They need morale.

 “We did not invite the ones that are Erdoğan's hatchet men”

 Question: You applied accreditation at this conference. Non-attendees are griping. What is your comment?

 Answer: Why should I invite Akit? Are they a newspaper? Why I should I invite them? I do not see it as being a newspaper and do not invite it. It is Erdoğan’s lawyer and hatchet man. I mention Akit because they came to mind. We did not invite the hatchet job people.

 Question: What if you win the presidency and are in a minority in parliament?

 Answer: Through reaching accord, parliament passed laws that had been impossible to pass for five years. This culture of accord can be reintroduced. Everything can be sorted out with consensus. I have this experience. We resolved quite a few issues in parliament this way when they cropped up.

 Question: If you do not manage to be elected, will you stand for CHP General Chair?

 Answer: As one who has come very close to being president, I cannot think of being General Chair. That would deprive one of energy. I have focused myself on Çankaya and I am concerning myself with this.

 “There will be no tailor-made deals”

 Question: Very serious flows of capital have been made via public tenders. It has been given to business people close to the ruling party. What will your approach to this be?

 Answer: There will be no tailor-made deals. They amended the public procurement law 186 times. We will introduce transparency and competition. If the law is amended 186 times it means there is no need for documents and that theft is involved.

 “I will observe them from a place unknown to you, but in Ankara.”

 Following the conference, Muharrem İnce appeared before the cameras and made comments:

 “The eighty-one million will win at the end of this election. The losers will be the polling companies and, unfortunately, the Turkish media. The freest and happiest circles resulting from this election will also be the Turkish media because it will then be free. Headlines will not be run to instruction. The Television and Radio Corporation will never be Muharrem İnce’s mouthpiece. A happy Turkey, a grown-up Turkey – we will achieve this. I see these winds of change in the streets and squares.

 

I say this is a done deal with the permission of God. I will observe the election results from a place unknown to you, but in Ankara.”

 Muharrem İnce: 7 Haziran 1 Kasım arası neler olmuştu unutmayın!