President Erdoğan on Gezi Trial: They Attempt to Acquit Him with a Maneuver

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken at the weekly group meeting of his party.

Addressing a series of issues such as the debate on the "political wing" of the FETÖ and the situation in Syria's Idlib, Erdoğan has also talked about the verdicts of acquittal given in Gezi trial yesterday (February 18).

Referring to Gezi, Erdoğan said, "Look, it is not a simple incident of uprising. There are those types stirring up trouble to provoke some countries behind the scenes, as Soros does. And you know that its Turkey branch was behind bars. They attempted to acquit him with a maneuver yesterday."

Erdoğan briefly stated the following about Gezi trial:

"The incidents that began at Gezi Park in Taksim under the pretext of environmental considerations turned into a civilian coup against the nation and state. Mr. Kemal [Kılıçdaroğlu - main opposition CHP Chair] calls them the bright youth, they are the deceived youth. I only curse the ones who labeled those young people as environmentalists and a government which planted millions of trees as their uprooters. Does Mr. Kemal make the call? Yes, he does. They gather the accomplices there.

"This incident, when the squares of some of our metropolises were ravaged for three months, does not have a single innocent side to it. It is very important for us so that you know who is who.

"Look, it is not a simple incident of uprising. There are those types stirring trouble to provoke some countries behind the scenes, as Soros does. And, you know, its Turkey branch was behind bars. They attempted to acquit him with a maneuver yesterday. There are also others involved apart from him.

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'Ah, you and your bright youth...'

"While the direct cost of Gezi incidents was 1.4 billion dollars, its indirect cost reached hundreds of billions of dollars. Interest rates started to mount for the first time with Gezi incidents. Similarly, unemployment hit double-digit figures and inflation rocketed in the same period because of them.

"Ah, you and your bright youth... These are actually the young people entirely deceived thanks to you. Weren't you the ones who hung the posters of the ones recognized as terrorists on Atatürk Cultural Center? Didn't we see those posters on the facade of Atatürk Cultural Center facing Taksim? Who stretched and hung those posters? Mr. Kemal, here it is, your team did it. If it is your bright youth, then we are toast. We don't need a deceived youth.

"Whoever defines those incidents as an innocent environmental movement is an enemy of the country and the nation. We ended the Gezi incidents, which aimed to divide the country, by standing shoulder to shoulder with our nation. What they did not manage to do, they tried to do it in 17-25 Security-Judiciary attempt. We spoiled that too. Then, they tried to divide our land directly with the protests of ditches.

'Our judgement will not change'

"We - of course - have respect for every verdict of the law, but the judgement of our nation as well as that of ourselves about Gezi and the ones who stood in its way will never change.

"Our nation should be relieved, we will resolutely follow this issue to the end and will keep up the struggle to out last breath to ensure that justice is served." (TP/SD)