Zeydan Karalar's reaction to seizure: We are not the mayors of Tanzania, the citizens will suffer from this!

Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar evaluated the seizure proceedings initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security against the CHP-run Adana Metropolitan Municipality over its debts to the Social Security Institution (SGK). Stating that the seizure process would negatively affect worker salaries, Karalar said the following:

"IF WORKERS CANNOT GET THEIR SALARIES, IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS SEIZURE"

"Our President told the Minister of Labor and Social Security to 'shake them up,' and he thinks he is shaking us up. However, the seizures that arrived are affecting worker salaries. If workers cannot get their salaries now, it is because of this seizure. Who will they be angry at? Will they be angry at me? Or at the one who gave this order? That is one dimension of this issue. 

Another dimension of the issue is that this debt is not just the debt of CHP municipalities. There are also People's Alliance municipalities that have debts that started earlier and continue, and there are more of them than us.

In other words, the normal SGK debt is partially lower in CHP-run municipalities. Should it be resolved? Should it be paid? If they want it to be paid, they should do as they did for citizens before, as they did for businessmen, as they did for big businessmen; they should waive these interest charges, spread this over a long term, and deduct it from us that way.

Giving instructions to seize assets in this manner hinders the services municipalities provide to citizens. Secondly, it prevents workers, who are already struggling to make ends meet, from receiving their salaries. Excuse me, but this reflects poorly on us. It does them no good. Therefore, they must immediately withdraw this decision and enact a law that ensures this debt is paid in an appropriate manner. We are saying this from here.

"THE CITIZENS WILL SUFFER FROM THIS"

The Minister says there is around 900 billion in SGK debt. Perhaps not even 1/20th of this belongs to CHP municipalities. So, you don't see the 850 billion. You see three or five billion, or 20 billion. 

Who are we serving? We are not the mayors of Tanzania, gentlemen; we are the mayors of the Republic of Turkey, and we serve every segment of the Republic of Turkey. Among those we serve are people who voted for the AK Party, who voted for the MHP, who voted for the DEM; there are people who voted for every party. 

Therefore, the citizens will suffer from this. Services will be cut. The citizens will not be angry at us. We will say, 'look, the one who made the decision is over there.' They will react to them. It will not do any good either."