TKP Central Committee member Arikan: 'They are selling off Ankara'

Communist Party of Turkey Central Committee Member Ali Ufuk Arikan wrote an article for the soL News Portal.

Recalling the public resources sold during Melih Gökçek's years-long tenure as mayor, Arikan emphasized the continuity of the plunder of public resources from the AKP to the CHP.

Pointing to the attacks on the Atatürk Forest Farm, Arikan asked, "Now that the same area, with the conservatory and the school on the site demolished, is being handed over to the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Academy by Mansur Yavaş, is it also out of necessity that not a single CHP council member opposed it, and that they all approved the project hand-in-hand with the AKP?"

The full text of Ali Ufuk Arikan's article is as follows:

They Are Selling Off Ankara

Let us begin with the story of the Atatürk Forest Farm...

We believe the background of the story is known to everyone. Ankara, which was the final center and headquarters of the resistance during the War of Independence and looked like a backward Anatolian town, emerged from this very difficult test of history as the Capital.

Afterward, an urban design emerged where everything was attempted to be planned in the finest detail.

One of the lifeblood arteries of this arid capital became the Atatürk Forest Farm.

The dream began with an urban farm where modern agricultural and industrial techniques were applied, and a very comprehensive project was initiated by Mustafa Kemal.

From a swampy and barren area, a new center emerged where the city could breathe.

Recreation areas, parks, entertainment venues, and swimming pools were built. As the city gained a new face, the Atatürk Forest Farm became one of the most special points of this face.

A fruit juice factory, honey factory, ice cream factory, agricultural tools and iron production and repair factory, dairy production facilities, leather factory, beer factory, and more... All were brought to life in this area.

And what happened after?

Just as the Republic was torn apart and sold off parcel by parcel by this order, the Atatürk Forest Farm suffered the same fate.

First, in the 50s, the way was paved for the legal plunder of the farm, and then the profit greed of the order entered through this door with all its ambition.

This article does not intend to provide a long history of this plunder; we want to point to a specific period of this plunder and the continuity of this period.

When one thinks of the Atatürk Forest Farm, one of the first things that comes to mind is the thousand-room Palace.

The Presidential Complex, built by plundering the farm land, rose in the skies of the capital as one of the greatest symbols of this plunder.

Melih Gökçek and the AKP government showed great effort in the plundering and opening of the farm to rent-seeking.

However, the subject of this article is not solely how Gökçek and the AKP plundered or sold the farm, which is considered Atatürk's legacy.

There is a current development that is the subject of this article...

At the center of that development is the nationalist figure Mansur Yavaş, who was elected mayor of Ankara from the CHP.

On May 23, a section of the Atatürk Forest Farm land located within the borders of the Yenimahalle District is being sold by the CHP-led Ankara Metropolitan Municipality to be turned into a commercial site.

We believe there are those who are at least slightly surprised as to how a section of the Farm project, initiated by the founder of the republic, can be sold by the founding party of the republic to be turned into a commercial site.

We have bad news for them...

This is not the first!

The previous management of the Chamber of Architects Branch, which formed an important part of the urban struggle in Ankara, made a statement in 2022 and stated that almost all of Gökçek's projects targeting the AOÇ were being continued by Mansur Yavaş: "Evils that Gökçek could not dare to do with the roads built in METU and AOÇ and many projects are being turned into projects in this period... Projects that Gökçek drew with his own hands, such as the roads and multi-level intersections in AOÇ and METU, are being brought to life."

The bad news is not over; Ankara is truly being sold off parcel by parcel, just as it was during the Gökçek era.

When the names selling and the names being sold change, the fact that the people's resources are being plundered does not change!

There is a continuity extending from the AKP to the CHP.

Anıtpark Forum announced that on May 23, not only AOÇ land but 161 thousand 915 square meters of land belonging to the public in Ankara will be sold! Just two days later, another 76 thousand square meter land sale will take place.

The same Yavaş sold 19 more of the city's real estate for 2.4 billion liras on February 1, just before the election, and apart from that, the number of real estate sales made during his term approached 100.

What shall we say, does he have no budget, is he forced into these steps because he does not have a majority in the municipality (which he now owns)?

No, the AKP-CHP approve these sales hand-in-hand; they are selling the people's resources in great harmony.

If there are those who want to legitimize the sale of the people's resources by establishing a relationship of necessity, let us also make a reminder. The court had stopped Melih Gökçek, who wanted to build a mosque at the foot of Anıtkabir by demolishing the conservatory, and at that time, CHP council members had objected to this issue and even filed a lawsuit. Now that the same area, with the conservatory and the school on the site demolished, is being handed over to the Diyanet Academy by Mansur Yavaş, is it also out of necessity that not a single CHP council member opposed it, and that they all approved the project hand-in-hand with the AKP?

There is not a single step taken because they were forced to. There is a definite consensus that all these steps are correct. That is why Mansur Yavaş can also say "I am selling it like a boss" regarding the people's resources, just like the AKP mayors before him.

In this picture, what they rely on most is the comfort they feel that no one will oppose what they do. The people of Ankara must show that this is not the case; there is no other way.

Otherwise, Yavaş has shown that he can do more than building a Diyanet Academy at the foot of Anıtkabir, filling the municipality with TÜGVA-affiliated department heads, and filling every part of the municipality with nationalist cadres.

We have to put a stop to this picture, to the plundering of Ankara, and to its continuation with the AKP-CHP partnership; we have to fight against it.