They said 'it's not on our agenda': 3.3 billion lira tender in the Kanal Istanbul region
A new development has occurred in the Kanal Istanbul region, a project that President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to 'build in spite of them,' but which the AKP's Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate Murat Kurum claimed was 'not on our agenda.'
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Emlak Konut and Turkish Airlines (THY), which are partners with a 50 percent stake each, have held a tender for the Kanal Istanbul region.
For the project to be built in Dursunköy, the heart of the Kanal Istanbul project, Emlak Konut has submitted a notification to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).
CONTRACT VALUE REACHED 3.3 BILLION LIRA
According to the report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; the statement said, “In accordance with the contract signed between our company and Turkish Airlines on May 28, 2018, the contract for the Istanbul Arnavutköy Dursunköy 3rd Stage 1st Part Residential, Commercial and Social Facility Construction and Infrastructure and Landscaping Works was signed with the contractor Kuzu Toplu Konut İnş. A.Ş. on February 27, 2024. The contract value is 3 billion 334 million 500 thousand TL + VAT.”
SUPPORT FOR ERDOĞAN AND THE AKP
The Kuzu Toplu Konut company, which won the tender, is known for its closeness to the government. The company's owners, the brothers Özen, Gökçen, and Güven Kuzu, are also fellow townsmen of President Erdoğan’s wife, Emine Erdoğan.
Güven Kuzu had declared his support for Erdoğan, who was elected as a member of parliament at the time during the renewed elections in Siirt in 2003, saying, "The people of Siirt will stand by Erdoğan. All non-governmental organizations came together and we supported Erdoğan's candidacy."
The company made two gestures to Erdoğan’s wife, Emine Erdoğan, in 2013. The names of Emine Erdoğan’s mother, Hayriye Gülbaran, and her father, Cemal Gülbaran, were given to two schools built by the Kuzu Group in Siirt.
THE SCHOOL THEY BUILT BECAME UNUSABLE
The Yunus Ensari Primary School, with a capacity of one thousand students, which the Kuzu brothers built in the Ahlat district of Bitlis in 2000, became unusable in the earthquake that occurred in 2011. Criminal complaints filed after a 10-year-old school suffered such damage were inconclusive because the Ministry of National Education did not grant permission for an investigation.
ONLY 3 THOUSAND WILL BE GIVEN TO THY EMPLOYEES
With this housing and commercial project built in the Kanal Istanbul region in partnership with Emlak Konut and THY, 14 thousand residences will be constructed.
In a previous statement made by THY, it was said, “It is planned to build a total of 14 thousand residences in stages within the scope of the project and to put them up for sale under the management of Emlak Konut Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş., and for the right to draw lots for at least 3 thousand of the residences to be built to be determined by our partnership to be sold to the employees of Turkish Airlines and its affiliates.”
In other words, only 3 thousand of the 14 thousand residences will be sold to THY employees. It is unknown to whom the remaining 11 thousand residences and commercial areas will be sold.