AKP deputy Özkeçeci sold 1 million liras worth of sacks: 'We reminded him it was unethical'

AKP Gaziantep MP Mehmet Eyup Özkeçeci and his family members, who own the Gaziantep-based Ünal Sentetik Dokuma Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi, sold coal sacks to the General Directorate of the Turkish Coal Enterprises on April 24, 2024. 

According to a report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; The Turkish Coal Enterprises made a payment of 936 thousand TL to the company. According to information in the Public Procurement Bulletin, Özkeçeci's company received 18 separate tenders from the public sector between 2011 and 2024. The total value of these tenders exceeds 53 million TL. Özkeçeci, who also served as the AKP Gaziantep Provincial Chair between 2014 and 2023, also received tenders while holding that position.

IT IS UNETHICAL TO RECEIVE TENDERS

Former CHP member of the Gaziantep Şahinbey Municipal Council, Uğur Kalkan, stated in his remarks, “We had shared with the public that Eyup Özkeçeci received many tenders while he was provincial chair. Above all else, we have repeatedly reminded him that these tenders are not ethical. There had been no new tenders visible in the procurement records since 2021. In April 2024, we started seeing tender business again. A 936 thousand Lira sack contract, awarded via direct procurement from the General Directorate of the Turkish Coal Enterprises, went to the AKP MP's firm once again. He had defended previous tenders by saying, 'I am on the Coal Enterprises' supplier list.' You were the provincial chair when you were receiving tenders back then, and now you are an MP while receiving tenders. While Gaziantep has so many problems, I do not find it ethical for you to be chasing after tenders,” he reacted.