Call from DEVA Party: 'The system of tailor-made tenders must end!'

DEVA Party Deputy Chairman and Tekirdağ MP Cem Avşar spoke on the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure budget being discussed at the Planning and Budget Committee. Avşar called for an immediate end to the 21/B tailor-made tender processes. 

In his speech, Avşar also addressed the revolving-door situation between the Ministry and CEO positions involving former Minister Cahit Turan, which has drawn public backlash. He also raised Tekirdağ's transportation problems and various issues, such as the need for special legislation for a private operator on the Istanbul TEM Highway, the Çerkezköy Logistics Center, and the Halkalı-Çerkezköy and Çerkezköy-Kapıkule high-speed train projects.

 Referring to the core values included in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure's strategic plan, Avşar stated the following: 

“Mr. Minister, when you examine the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, it is stated that it is built on the core values of being human-oriented, innovative, environmentally sensitive, and sustainable,” said Avşar. “But how much of this is reflected in practice? When we look at the implementation; for example, how human-oriented is the burden of Build-Operate-Transfer projects on the nation? How sustainable are the guaranteed payments? How innovative are the tenders awarded via the 21/B procedure?” 

Avşar stated that while comparisons are constantly made regarding the increase in figures between 2002 and 2024, there is no mention of how these projects were carried out, how much they cost, whether they could have been done more affordably, or whether they could have placed less of a burden on the citizens.

ADDRESSED THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE 

DEVA Party Deputy Chairman and Tekirdağ MP Avşar addressed the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, saying, “Mr. Minister, while 4.5 million of our families are living on state aid and the economic situation is clear, it is not right to target growth by increasing the number of foreign currency-indexed guaranteed crossings. The era of continuing with the bargaining procedure and the system of tailor-made tenders must end.” 

Emphasizing that the public procurement legislation applied by the 28 European Union countries should be implemented in our country immediately, Cem Avşar said, “Unfortunately, awarding tenders via the bargaining procedure even when the conditions stipulated in Article 21, paragraph (b) of the Public Procurement Law are not met has become a frequently used method in the last few years.” Avşar also stated that this situation causes public loss.    

'IT IS NOT ETHICAL'

In his budget speech, Avşar drew attention to the unethical situation regarding Cahit Turan, who served as CEO of firms involved in the construction and operation processes of the Northern Marmara Motorway and then as the responsible Minister. Criticizing Cahit Turan—who, during his tenure as Minister, granted impossible-to-meet traffic guarantees to the relevant firms in the operation of the Northern Marmara Motorway, as identified in the 2019 Court of Accounts reports—for becoming the CEO of the Northern Marmara Motorway again, Avşar continued his words as follows: 

“For someone who was the CEO of the same firm before becoming a minister to now become the CEO of the same company again—a company that still has treasury guarantees—is incompatible with any value, let alone political ethics and morality. There is no example of this in any country in the world.” 

News Source: 12punto