The fallout from the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress, where Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu lost his position as party leader, continues. It had emerged that those close to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu objected to his decision to withdraw his candidacy before the second round, after he received 664 votes compared to Özgür Özel’s 682 in the first round.
Journalist İmambakır Üküş, one of the key figures on that stage, recounted the events of the convention night during a live broadcast on TELE1.
“My remarks were not directed at Mr. Kemal”
Üküş, who said he was part of a team ready to give their lives for Kılıçdaroğlu and claimed the footage had been distorted, said, “I showed no disrespect toward Mr. Kemal. In fact, when you watch the footage, you’ll see that I wasn’t reacting to Kılıçdaroğlu, but to the people who were saying, ‘We’re leaving.’”.
Üküş reported that a village headman from Malatya, who had been displaced by the earthquake, said, “I cut back on my children’s livelihood to come here. If you back down, I won’t forgive you,” and that Kılıçdaroğlu had said, “They’ve already started voting without even listening to me.”.
“My CHP membership has been suspended”
Üküş, who stated that he is not Kılıçdaroğlu’s advisor and is not a delegate, said that his CHP membership had been suspended due to missing contact information.
“I have no regrets”
“When asked, ”Do you regret what happened that night?“ İmambakır Üküş replied, ”I don’t regret it,“ adding, ”My only regret is that I was unable to prevent the operation carried out against Kılıçdaroğlu, even though we knew it was going to happen.”.
Was he born in 1981?
On the other hand, the claim circulating on social media that İmambakır Üküş was born in 1981 was also proven false by Üküş’s statement during the live broadcast: “I have been involved in revolutionary politics since before September 12.”.