CHP's Sezgin Tanrıkulu: They did not spend earthquake taxes on earthquakes

CHP Diyarbakır MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu made a statement regarding the February 6 earthquakes.

Stating that he asked the then-Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek in 2011, "What have you done in the last ten, eleven years? How much tax have you collected? And what have you done?", Tanrıkulu explained as follows: 

"Do you know what Şimşek said? He was the Minister of Finance at the time. 'The amounts recorded as budget revenue are spent on planned and necessary public expenditures, including earthquakes. They are spent for public expenditures,' he said. For public expenditures. Yes. What are those expenditures? In other words, they did not spend them specifically for earthquakes. They collect taxes from us for earthquakes, they are still collecting them, but they have not spent them to ensure that earthquakes are overcome with minimal damage."

Reminding that more than 53 thousand people lost their lives in the February 6 earthquakes, Tanrıkulu said the following:

"We are in the 2nd year of the February 6 earthquake. More than 53 thousand of our citizens lost their lives in the February 6 earthquake. There are still missing persons, there are missing children. More than 100 thousand of our citizens were seriously injured. There are those whose treatments are ongoing, there are limb losses. And unfortunately, thousands of residences were razed to the ground. Destruction occurred in 11 cities. This destruction was experienced most in Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, and Adıyaman.

The earthquake also occurred in Diyarbakır. 414 of our citizens lost their lives in Diyarbakır. Likewise, 26 buildings were destroyed. It was determined that 64 buildings needed to be demolished urgently, 4 thousand 612 buildings were heavily damaged, and 3 thousand 428 buildings were moderately damaged. But unfortunately, no actions have been taken to heal these wounds of the earthquake in the time that has passed since then. Mass housing projects were not completed. 500 thousand residences were to be completed in one year, only 200 thousand could be delivered at the end of 2 years; such is the picture.

So, were there resources? Look, Turkey experienced the 1999 earthquake. Immediately after the 1999 earthquake, this parliament passed a law regarding the earthquake; it was a temporary law. Additional regulations were made to property tax and corporate tax, and taxes were collected from all of us. However, the earthquake tax later became permanent. This parliament made the earthquake tax permanent.

In 2011, I asked the then-Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek a question. I asked Mehmet Şimşek, the Minister of Finance, 'What have you done in the last ten, eleven years? How much tax have you collected? And what have you done?' In the end, earthquake-resistant cities need to be built. Those collected taxes need to be used for work aimed at ensuring that earthquakes are overcome with minimal damage.

The answer is here, in 2011. Nothing has changed since then. Taxes are still being collected from the phones we use. It is an earthquake tax, but unfortunately, it is not used to prevent earthquakes.

Do you know what he said? He was the Minister of Finance at the time. 'The amounts recorded as budget revenue are spent on planned and necessary public expenditures, including earthquakes.' They are spent for public expenditures. For public expenditures. Yes. What are those expenditures? In other words, they did not spend them specifically for earthquakes. They collect taxes from us for earthquakes, they are still collecting them, but they have not spent them to ensure that earthquakes are overcome with minimal damage.

Do you know what he said? To the question of where the earthquake taxes are, the Minister said, 'We built dual carriageways. We spent it on airlines,' and that is still being done.

It is written in the tax revenue column, and from that revenue column, it is not transferred specifically for earthquakes to cities or to municipalities and local governments to ensure that earthquakes are overcome with minimal damage. It is spent on the general expenses of the AK Party, on the general expenses in the budget they prepared."

News Source: 12punto