Ali Babacan reacts to Mehmet Özhaseki

DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan, in a statement today, addressed the situation of citizens still facing housing problems due to the February 6 earthquakes, as well as the comments made by Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki during a live broadcast, where he said: "The homeowners whose village houses I have delivered so far and whose guest I have been, tell me this: 'May God be pleased with you. Look, our house was destroyed—if there were no deaths—it was good that it was destroyed, you gave us a beautiful villa.'"

"THERE IS AN EFFORT TO PRODUCE CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSING, BUT ONLY 15 PERCENT OF WHAT WAS PROMISED HAS BEEN COMPLETED SO FAR"

Babacan stated the following:

"Mr. Erdoğan, if he is truly sincere, should abolish this interview system. If he wants to be an impartial president, if he wants to truly perform his duty impartially as he swore on the parliamentary podium, he should abolish the interview system immediately. Whether you provide services to cities that support you or not, or whether you hire those you see as close to you in the state or not... One must be fair; one must govern the country with equal opportunity. He made a statement in Hatay. This statement was a natural one that came from within him. He tries to correct it every day, but it doesn't work. Our citizens got the message. I was in Kahramanmaraş right after the President made that statement in Hatay. Our citizens in Kahramanmaraş are rebelling. They say, 'The municipality is AK Party, but no service has come here either.' The next day I was in Adıyaman. Our citizens in Adıyaman are rebelling, they say, 'The municipality here is AK Party, but no service has come here either.' Yes, there is some effort, we see it. There is an effort to produce construction and housing, but only 15 percent of what was promised has been completed so far. That is, if they promised 100 houses in total, 15 have been built so far. These houses need to be completed as soon as possible, and promises need to be kept as soon as possible. While doing this, they must provide this service with justice and equality to all our citizens, whether they support him or not, without taking sides."

"WHEN THOSE WHOSE MINDS ARE ENTIRELY FOCUSED ON TRADE AND WHO MEASURE EVERYTHING WITH MONEY ATTEMPT TO GOVERN THIS COUNTRY, SUCH STRANGE STATEMENTS UNFORTUNATELY EMERGE"

You cannot put the issue of houses side-by-side with our citizens who lost their lives and perform a commercial accounting. This is disconnected from the reality of this country. Each of our lives is very precious. A single life is worth the total value of all houses in Turkey. First of all, these friends need to understand this. When those whose minds are entirely focused on trade and who measure everything with money attempt to govern this country, such strange statements unfortunately emerge. Moreover, the number of houses you say you have 'delivered' is clear. Furthermore, they put these houses—which in many places were barely better than prefabs—out to tender for 3-3.5 million liras exactly one year ago, when the exchange rate was still 18 liras. With today's money, that is 5 million liras in cost per unit. First, let them explain how much those houses cost and how much money was distributed to certain firms, then let them talk. So far, 15 percent of the promised houses have been finished. Last year, before the elections, Mr. Erdoğan promised, 'We will finish 300 thousand houses.' Today, the number of houses finished and ready for delivery is 46 thousand. All these figures are their own statements. Therefore, he shows the house they delivered, but they should go to Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Adıyaman like I do, walk the streets, and meet with our citizens in random places, not in pre-prepared venues. They should see on-site how many of our citizens have been able to receive a house and how many have not. The distress is very great. There is an effort, we see it; but the effort shown is only 15 percent of the need so far. 85 out of 100 of our citizens are crying out, 'Where is my house?' Houses have been made ready for 15 citizens, 85 of them do not have a house yet. Containers and tents are unfortunately full of people trying to hold onto life right now."