CHP's Başarır responds to the government on 'SGK': 'Pay your old debts first...'

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır recalled at a press conference held at the TBMM that, following the statement made yesterday by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Minister of Labor, who has taken it upon himself to address the tax and social security premium debts of municipalities, announced: "We are starting to collect the 96 billion lira in insurance premium debts of metropolitan municipalities immediately, and we have sent out notices." 

'YOU WILL PAY THAT, MR. RECEP'

CHP's Başarır stated the following:

"I am addressing the President of this country and the Minister of Labor: Mr. Minister, what have you done regarding the debts that have accumulated since 2004 in Bursa, Uşak, Kütahya, Adıyaman, and until 2019 in Ankara, Istanbul, Adana, and Mersin? Did you initiate a single enforcement proceeding? Did you deduct a single kuruş from the Iller Bank? You did not. I am calling for a shred of decency and shame. Because we just won the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality. Do you know how much tax and premium debt it has? 4.5 billion lira. You will pay that, Mr. Recep; only after you pay that will you take action against my municipality. You cannot burden our municipalities with the accumulated debts and dirty work of the municipalities from your own era. We just won the Uşak Municipality, it has nearly 1 billion lira in debt; you will pay that, Mr. Recep. Zonguldak 546 million lira, Kastamonu 505 million lira, Kütahya 269 million lira, Kırıkkale 195 million lira, Kilis 32 million lira... When the debts of Ankara and Istanbul that were taken over in 2019 are carried over to today, the total for the companies and the municipality exceeds 20 billion lira. Now, you ignored the debts of your own municipalities during your own term for nearly 20 years. It piled up, piled up, piled up, piled up, and what happened? Now I am asking from you... Look, there is only one reason for this. There is a government that has turned its back on and ignored the retiree, the worker, the farmer, and the student."

'OUR MUNICIPALITIES PROVIDE ALL KINDS OF SUPPORT TO CITIZENS'

Stating that CHP municipalities are opening dormitories, providing stationery assistance, and serving citizens through public kitchens, Başarır said:

"In almost every district of Istanbul, and in every neighborhood of Mersin and Adana, people are being provided with cheap food. Halk Ekmek (People's Bread) provides the cheapest bread in Turkey. Farmers are being provided with fertilizer, seeds, and construction machinery assistance. A President and his administration, incapable of doing these things, are now trying to collect the debts of their own municipalities from their 20-year term in order to prevent our municipalities from functioning. In other words, he is saying: I am not giving to the retiree, the worker, the student; you won't give either, he says, you will be like me. No, we will not be like you, we will not be cruel like you. That is why I am calling out from here once again: You will either pay these debts or you will write them off, and only then will you come and issue an enforcement or payment order to our municipality. I am once again complaining about the President to the 85 million people here."

News Source: 12punto