CHP Group Deputy Chairman Özgür Özel held a press conference where the expenses of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and AK Party municipalities for concert events were discussed. Özel, who criticized the savings circular not covering concert expenses, requested an explanation from the ministry.
CHP Group Deputy Chairman Özgür Özel stated that while the government restricted many social and educational programs within the scope of savings measures, the budgets allocated to concert events organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and AK Party municipalities were kept large. Özel said, “What lies behind the decision not to include concerts in the savings circular? “How can such large budgets be allocated for concerts while citizens are saving for nurseries and dormitories?” He called for an explanation from the ministry and the government. Emphasizing that this situation shows that priorities in the management of public resources are misdetermined, Özel requested that more information be given about the transparency of savings policies.
ANKARA (AA) – CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said, “Our municipalities are not municipalities that escape accountability.” he said.
Özel held a press conference at his party’s headquarters regarding the investigations and appointment of inspectors in the CHP Ankara and Istanbul metropolitan municipalities and Beykoz Municipality.
“We do not see these developments as independent of the new Constitution debate that the government started after the local election loss, the ‘Israel will attack us’ debate, the ‘Let Öcalan come and speak in the Parliament’ debate, and the debates it started by appointing trustees to our Esenyurt Municipality and other municipalities.” Making his evaluation, Özel said that the government could not get the social support it expected from these discussions and could not shape the agenda as it wanted.
Arguing that the government tried to tie the hands of CHP municipalities after the local elections, Özel continued his words as follows:
“They had approaches such as ‘Can we immediately ask Iller Bank for the deductions that have not been made for years?’, ‘SGK should start collecting all receivables.’ That calendar is ticking. They want from us the SSI premiums that AK Party municipalities have not paid for years, all at once, with interest. Now can this be fair? No. What’s the point? Sir, let’s ask the CHP municipality at once for what the AK Party municipality has not paid for 10 years and the MHP municipality for 15 years, with interest. If he doesn’t pay, let’s send a lien. Let’s show him incapable with foreclosure. Or let’s seize the accounts. ‘See, CHP came, the municipality cannot pay salaries to its employees. Municipal employees were left without salaries. If CHP comes to power tomorrow, it will not be able to pay the salaries of civil servants.’ They stoop to such a lie, hope for help from this and try to discredit CHP municipalities. The whole account and the book are about this.”
Stating that municipalities serve everyone, Özel stated that not only CHP voters but also voters who vote for other parties are punished.
Özgür Özel continued as follows:
“Concert discussions, SSI debt discussions, inspectors, investigations… These have revealed the real goal of the evil mind before us, which puts its own interests above the interests of the nation. In other words, he says, ‘In order to be elected once again, I would risk a city’s garbage not being collected, a municipality’s employees not being able to pay their rent because they do not receive a salary, their children not being able to feed themselves, or a city’s sewage services being disrupted, if necessary.’ As long as we say to these municipalities, ‘They cannot do business, look, they manage the municipality poorly, they cannot govern the country.’ ‘People should vote for me despite my bad governance in the country.’ “We are faced with such a cheap and simple calculation.”
– “All of Türkiye is talking about city restaurants”
Özgür Özel said, “Our municipalities are not municipalities that avoid accountability.” he said.
Özel continued his speech with the following words:
“CHP municipalities are building student dormitories that have never been built, they are building nurseries that have never been built, they are building green areas, we have increased social aid by an average of 4.5 times, 4 to 5 times, compared to previous administrations. Our municipalities support producers, give scholarships to students, and serve the elderly at home. CHP municipalities collect the remaining citrus fruits and distribute them to the poor. He picks up the apricots from the rubble in the earthquake zone and returns to distribute them to the poor in Istanbul. He buys and makes it for a fee. We experienced all of these, one by one. What are you talking about? All of Türkiye’s urban restaurants are talking about it. You couldn’t distribute two masks, CHP municipalities distributed the masks. In Ankara, our municipality paid off the debt of citizens to tradesmen with a call for solidarity. Credit books have been reset. The tradesmen felt comfortable and the nation was saved from embarrassment. ‘Sir, CHP does not know municipality’ to the people who experience these. How could he not know? “The nation taught you how we know.”
– “We went to the weighbridge on March 31”
Reminding that there were people who said “I was acquitted, acquitted, my administration was legitimized” after every election they won, Özel said, “Well, we went to the weighbridge, brother, we went to the weighbridge on March 31st. The people decided. They gave you the power to rule 20 percent of the population and us 65 percent. What are you talking about? The nation has made a decision, you will accept it, you will appreciate it, you will take it as an example, you will work on it. If you do good municipal work, you will win the election. “It’s that clear.” he said.
“We took these municipalities from those who served a handful of minorities, not the citizens, in the municipalities they governed for 25 years. We took the nation’s money from those who transferred it to associations and foundations around themselves, not for the nation. “We got on a helicopter and bought it from those who distributed coupons over Istanbul.” Özel said that they did not escape any control.
Özel claimed that AK Party and MHP municipalities were not inspected.
– “What is the reason for not including concerts in the savings circular?”
Özel, showing the tables regarding the money paid by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and AK Party municipalities to concert organizations,“What is the reason for not including concerts in the savings circular? Let the Minister explain this. Kindergarten is included in savings, dormitory is included in savings, if you breathe, it is included in savings, concerts are not included in savings. “You are the one who runs the country.” he said.
Private, who also called on public officials, said:
“I have great respect for the Court of Accounts, they do it on behalf of the Parliament. I have great respect for civil inspectors, they do it on behalf of the state. Just find something where you go and write it down, if anything, we haven’t been able to account for what you’ve written so far. Find it and write it down. But I will not forget and will not let anyone forget that those who follow the instructions of ‘Investigate, mix, implicate them in crime’ serve the AK Party, not the state. Go and inspect with your honor, if there is any dishonesty, remove it. But do not try to invent crimes with dishonest political instructions. Otherwise, all of you have a place in our power today and tomorrow. It is the most sacred profession that controls the state’s money, the nation’s money and on behalf of the state. We have no fear of being inspected. But no one should be a tool for some political operations. “Every signature and slander will one day be called to account.”
– “We will never break away from the real agenda”
Stating that the People’s Alliance is trying to export the crisis to the CHP instead of dealing with its own crisis, Özel said, “They are not busy with the problems of the nation. “They have come to rely on all kinds of unlawfulness to both overshadow the crisis among themselves and to draw a curtain over the real agenda of the citizens.” he said.
Özgür Özel said that while 230 inspectors were assigned to CHP municipalities, not a single inspector was assigned to AK Party municipalities.
Özel said, “You are still busy with such complicated things. Is there anything you can find or deduce from the Republican People’s Party? That’s why we will never ever break away from the real agenda. Let them come and inspect. We will never, ever let the citizens forget their poverty, unemployment, and their efforts to increase the minimum wage from 17 thousand liras to 21 thousand liras. “We will defend our 30 thousand lira minimum wage proposal, city by city, district by district, neighborhood by neighborhood, until the end.” he said.
After the statement, Özel said to a press member, “As of today, can we say that CHP’s normalization with the government has ended?” On the question, he said, “The Republican People’s Party has not become normalized with the government anyway. “We express our respect for the voters who elected this government despite its evil mind.” he said.
Stating that they expressed the rightful demands of the nation, Özel said, “What did we talk about other than the rightful demands of this nation, normalization?” I will continue to normalize with the nation until the end. We will continue to do what is normal until the end. The normal thing is that we seek the rights of the nation. “When the day comes, it is the Republican People’s Party’s duty to come to power and grant that right.” he said.
– Acceptance of Chairman Özel
On the other hand, Özgür Özel, Vice President of the Turkish Diabetes Foundation, Prof. Dr. He received Mehmet Temel Yılmaz and his accompanying delegation at CHP Headquarters.
According to the statement made by the party’s press unit, Özel was accompanied by Deputy Chairman Zeliha Aksaz Şahbaz, İzmir Deputy Ednan Arslan and Bursa Deputy Kayıhan Pala during the meeting.
