IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's response to Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin on 'daycare centers': 'It is a statement that could go as far as closure'

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu reacted sharply to the directive issued by the Ministry of National Education for the closure of municipal daycare centers.

"Your letter means nothing to me," said İmamoğlu, adding, "Our daycare centers defeated your Kanal Istanbul. Go ahead and close them. If you have the courage, I am waiting."

RESPONSE FROM TEKIN

A response to İmamoğlu's words came from Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin.

Speaking on A Haber, Tekin said, "I truly feel sorry for Özgür Özel. He is caught in manipulation within his own political party. The essence of the matter is this; the letter we sent to the municipalities is not related to daycare centers, it cannot be related to daycare centers. Daycare centers are outside the scope of our ministry's authority and responsibility. We are in no position to tell any municipality to close a daycare center or to open one according to a certain criterion. They are saying this to manipulate the public, they are lying," he said.

'WE HAVE NO SUCH LETTER'

"When we write a letter, we do not write it based on whether it is CHP or another party," said Tekin, adding, "We write a letter based on the content of the legislation. We have no letter regarding daycare centers. The letter we are talking about is regarding kindergartens and preschool classes."

İMAMOĞLU RESPONDED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA THIS TIME

IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu shared the official letter and used the following expressions on social media:

The Minister of National Education said, "the letter we sent is not related to daycare centers, it is related to kindergartens." Here is the official letter. From the very first line, it mentions the municipalities' daycare centers. 

Writing 'daycare center' in an official letter and then saying "I didn't say daycare center, I said kindergarten" is fitting for this mindset. Furthermore, the phrase "aforementioned provision" in the last line is a statement that could go as far as closing down daycare centers.