CHP's Savaş, re-nominated from the earthquake zone, speaks out

Participating in a live broadcast on Habertürk, Savaş stated that he is not the only person responsible for the earthquake.

Claiming that they will win the elections, Savaş said, "Our esteemed chairman conducted 4 polls and chose us. I thank everyone. We will enter the election and we will win. We are the strongest candidate. We are winning because we produce," he stated.

Here are the highlights from Savaş's statements:

Throughout the earthquake, earthquakes occurred in only 15-16 provinces. An image was tried to be drawn as if Lütfü Savaş was the only culprit of this earthquake, as if he were against urban transformation. Especially in the social media dimension. We live in the real world, not the virtual world.

Mr. Özgür Özel later said nice things about us. In our meeting with him, he said, 'I am satisfied with you, we will continue with you, Mr. Mayor.' I did not come to the CHP today.

In the past, Mr. Kemal had invited me. After my first 5 years as Mayor of Antakya, I did not apply for candidacy from the AK Party. First Saadet, then MHP had offered me the metropolitan mayoralty.

I had become a candidate from the CHP. We won the election against the Minister of Justice in a process where winning was very difficult.

"I VOTED FOR MR. KEMAL"

At the convention, I personally supported Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu. I had a moral debt to him. I voted for Mr. Kemal. We have been keeping the excitement alive for 3 terms, we will keep it alive once more.

I come out ahead in the polls conducted by the government and the CHP. These things happen with claims and the contributions of those who believe in you.

We have done good work in a difficult geography, so people want to be with us. Our esteemed chairman conducted 4 polls. I came out far ahead in all of them. If I came out ahead, it means I should be made a candidate.

"RÖNESANS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME"

If Lütfü Savaş comes out in all 4 polls... The goal of political parties is to manage both cities and the country. If the CHP wants to win, it wanted to run with Lütfü Savaş, and this is very natural.

I was only in a position to issue licenses for 5 years. When I was the Mayor of Antakya.

When I was there, there were 76 municipalities. All of them had the authority to issue licenses and building occupancy permits. Rönesans has nothing to do with me. It is within the borders of a town next to us. During this process, I was the mayor of Antakya.

"I AM THE ONLY MAYOR BEING ACCUSED"

When it switched to metropolitan status, the towns were abolished. I have not been issuing licenses for 10 years. The districts issue the licenses. Currently, 11 districts belong to the current government. Lütfü Savaş only did it for 5 years.

If I have any fault in a construction, I am ready to be held accountable. Nothing has been conveyed to me to date. In 16 provinces, not a single mayor was accused, only Lütfü Savaş was accused.

Currently, metropolitan municipalities do not have the authority to issue licenses. If there are collapsed buildings, it is the responsibility of the town, district, and provincial municipalities. No one asked for an account of this. In 2013, immediately after the urban transformation law, I chose the two riskiest neighborhoods in Antakya. When it became a metropolitan election, they gave that place to the Antakya Municipality. The Antakya Municipality could not succeed in this.

"WE WORKED ON RISKY AREAS"

Since 2014, I have worked on a 32-hectare area. I sent it to the Ministry. I said let's declare it a risky area. I said let's be given a reserve area, they didn't give it. In May 2019, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization said prepare your urban transformation and strategic document. We worked for exactly 1 year. We worked on 6 neighborhoods. We worked on risky areas. We worked on 25 thousand 20 buildings for 1 year.

"YOU CANNOT TAKE A STEP WITHOUT THE MINISTRY'S PERMISSION"

We worked in the whole region, in 46 neighborhoods. We divided the places we worked on into 26 zones. We said 13 thousand 400 are at risk. We said 54 percent could be demolished, 55 percent have either been demolished or have reached a position that needs urgent demolition. 427 hectares of area were identified as areas that need to be touched. We worked one by one and made a model. We sent our work to the Ministry in 2021, no answer came. You cannot take a step in an urban project without the Ministry's permission.

"WE ARE STAYING IN A CONTAINER"

We slept in a container in Hatay. We are staying in the 21-square-meter container that everyone else has been staying in. Since the earthquake. My house is moderately damaged. We cannot stay there. I have a doctor friend. He has a house, 2 floors, a small duplex, we experienced the earthquake there.

We are talking about this with you for the first time, we have been staying in a container since the earthquake.

I have been in politics for 15 years, I have never lied. Ciner Holding built 100 houses there for us. We also helped. First of all, we thank Ciner Holding. We live just as the people of Hatay live, just as they spent the earthquake.

"WE HAVE WORK WITH THE NETHERLANDS"

The first 5 months were very critical. I needed to stay in the center. I needed to organize the incoming aid. I needed to contact the official and unofficial NGOs that came. If I hadn't been at the head of that coordination, Hatay wouldn't be like this. People always want to see me by their side.

If I hadn't coordinated this work in the center, we wouldn't have been able to deliver that aid. Hatay needs experienced people. We are making plans and projects with academics, NGOs, chambers, and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. We need to bring this accumulation back to life. 126 academics are working in 15 fields, from transportation to social life.

We will announce what we will do at the end of this month. We have loan studies in 3 separate areas. With the loans we find, we want to make people homeowners in a way that they will pay for a long time. We have work with the Netherlands. We worked with them 2 months ago, we signed the signatures, we will start.

"WE WILL WIN"

Our esteemed chairman conducted 4 polls and chose us. I thank everyone. We will enter the election and we will win. We are the strongest candidate. We are winning because we produce. There are around 550 thousand refugees right now, we have experienced a major earthquake. I have done my best.

The duty of municipalities is separate, the duty of the government is separate. I am an earthquake victim, my employees are earthquake victims, the governorship, the district governorship are earthquake victims. Unfortunately, the government was not there in the first 5 days, maybe its representatives came.

What happened to the first 5 days happened. Those in positions of responsibility could not do their duty in the first 5 days, unfortunately.

"MY BROTHER WAS A CIVIL SERVANT"

One of my brothers works in the municipality. Another brother of mine was working at the university, he came from there. He works in our water and canal services.

Is it a problem that one of my brothers came from the university among 8 thousand employees?

He is 55 years old right now. There is nothing to be uncomfortable about, he is doing his job. My brother was already a civil servant, he came from there. I did not hire him.