Service to the people, not to rent-seeking

The local election race has begun. It is understood that this race will be very fierce. Not all candidates have been announced yet. However, in terms of Istanbul, it has become almost certain that the local elections will be a contest between the People's Alliance's joint candidate, former Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, and the CHP candidate, the current Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Ekrem İmamoğlu. In the launch program where he announced his candidacy, Ekrem İmamoğlu both explained his current services and talked about what he would do in the future. Among these services, metro networks, high-speed rail, public bread factories, waste treatment plants, public milk, city restaurants, and what I consider to be one of the most important, his efforts in solving scholarship and housing problems for students studying in Istanbul, stand out. 

Mr. Murat Kurum also held his launch. As can be understood from this launch, the People's Alliance's mayoral candidate intends to highlight two issues: urban transformation and transportation. As is known, Murat Kurum is a civil engineer. Although Mr. Kurum has the advantage of experience with TOKİ, Emlak Konut, and the ministry, we can say that the fact that he issued and implemented the zoning amnesty in 2019, and the revelation that approximately 294 thousand illegal structures were pardoned in the 10 cities hit by the February 6 Earthquake last year, will work against him. Furthermore, I believe that his bulldozing of Lake Salda, the fact that TOKİ houses have not been delivered, the serious emergence of TOKİ victims due to price increases over time, and his defense of Kanal Istanbul in the past, even if he has not mentioned it to date, will wear him down in this election. 

It seems that the fear of earthquakes created in Istanbul over the last year and the promise of providing homeownership through urban transformation will be kept at the top of the People's Alliance candidate's promises to win the election. We understand this from the fact that the news of “turnkey delivery to the earthquake zone” was reported everywhere immediately after the launch, and the announcement that 41 thousand residences would be delivered in the earthquake zone on that day. However, considering the number of residences to be delivered a year ago, even the fact that this number remained at 15% is actually an example of failure. Because, in fact, the number of residences to be delivered in the earthquake zone on February 6, 2024, had been announced as 250 thousand. 

On the other hand, if we exclude the last 5 years, Istanbul has been governed by the current ruling power for nearly 30 years. It is observed that the political maneuvers made to prevent IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu from solving problems in the last 5 years, such as not granting a single penny of credit to the IMM from public banks, the late or non-approval of loans found with great difficulty for metro works that were continuing with a thousand difficulties, and even delaying the commissioning of metrobus vehicles purchased by the IMM, have not provided any benefit to the People's Alliance. Despite not having a majority in the municipal council, IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has managed to overcome all of these. 

In addition, one of the issues that will come to the fore in the election is transportation. As soon as he took office, Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu wanted to solve the taxi problem, which had become gangrenous. The People's Alliance, on the other hand, changed the structure of the Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME), a board where IMM bureaucrats were in the majority, to a structure where the Ministry of Transport bureaucrats were in the majority. Thus, it prevented the IMM from solving this problem with a majority decision. Let us remember, in the last 5 years, at least 15 IMM proposals were rejected due to the non-acceptance of the Ministry of Transport authorities. 

In summary, although Istanbul belongs to all of us, the People's Alliance has not helped the CHP mayor who won the election to serve Istanbul at all. On the contrary, it has brought “polarization politics” to the fore here as well, marginalizing Mayor Ekrem by saying us and them. For example, while the sign for the metros built by the IMM is M, the U sign was placed on the metros under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, creating a comical appearance in a city of 20 million. On the other hand, as soon as Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu took office, he mobilized the IMM inspection board regarding the corruption that occurred before him. However, when the investigations reached a certain stage and took shape, these files were seized by the Ministry of Interior in its capacity as the guardianship authority. Thus, the initiation of criminal prosecutions regarding corruption allegations in the IMM was prevented.

It did not stop there. The most severe examples of enemy law practices were exhibited directly against Mayor İmamoğlu. The judiciary was used almost like a stick. For example, even if it was later abandoned, the request for a highly ridiculous investigation permit on the grounds that he “disrespected our tombs” because Mayor İmamoğlu walked with his hands behind his back in front of the tomb of Fatih Sultan Mehmet can be shown as an example. However, more severely, in the trial held against the mayor on charges of insulting a public official, the fair and honest trial principles were all violated by exiling the natural judge at the last minute and appointing a new judge in his place, and Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was sentenced to 2 years, 7 months, and 10 days in prison for the crime of insult. This file is still in the Regional Court of Justice. If this file is finalized, Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu will become politically banned. In short, Mayor İmamoğlu is entering the elections with this guillotine over his head. 

On the other hand, what has been done to Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu since the day he was elected should not be forgotten. On the day he was elected, they canceled the election on a pretext contrary to democracy, accepting 3 of the 4 votes cast in the same envelope into the same ballot box as valid and calling 1 of them fake. But they were not successful, so obstacles were always placed in front of his work, he was alienated, and he began to be tried with unfair and unlawful allegations. To remind and list these, they edited İmamoğlu's speech on television and claimed that he made a call saying, “let's govern Turkey together with the PKK,” even though he did not say that; they showed the tweet shared by Melih Gökçek as if Ekrem İmamoğlu had shared it by editing it. In the mentioned post by Melih Gökçek, it read, “You cannot call Fethullah Gülen FETÖ, apologize.” 

In another example, in 2020, İmamoğlu bought 100 tons of lemons from producers in Mersin and distributed them to citizens for free. Upon this, they made fake news by staging fake interviews, saying “İmamoğlu is buying lemons from pro-government producers.” They mounted a fake license plate on a photo of his official vehicle and said, “He is using an official vehicle with an FG plate,” calling it “proof of his love for Fethullah Gülen.” They mounted a necklace on a photo of him wearing a t-shirt and said, “he is wearing a cross-shaped necklace.” They said he closed the prayer room at the metrobus station even though it was open. They produced a fake Masonic document and called him a “Masonic master.” They said, “mucilage occurred in the Sea of Marmara because of İmamoğlu.”

They even set a trap for Boji, the dog that became the mascot of the IMM, just to smear Ekrem İmamoğlu. They created a perception on social media by saying, “Ekrem's staff dog Boji defecated on the tram,” but it turned out that a citizen, captured on IMM cameras, had left the dog feces he took out of his pocket. 

All this situation shows that the next 3 months will be very fierce in terms of the Istanbul elections. The President's will regarding the re-winning of Istanbul by the People's Alliance is clear. It is possible that injustices like those we experienced in the last elections will occur. Moreover, compared to the last elections, Mayor İmamoğlu is entering the election only as a CHP candidate without an alliance. In my opinion, no matter what the polls show, it is not possible to predict the result of the elections in advance. However, as mentioned above, it should not be thought that the People's Alliance candidate, Mr. Murat Kurum, who is entering the elections by using all the means of the state, has a low chance, one should not fall into negligence, and it is necessary to work in the election by utilizing all means.