Minister Işıkhan's 'CHP municipalities are lying' outburst: He spoke about SGK debt

Stating that they have done what is necessary for municipalities that want to pay their SGK debts, Işıkhan said, "The AK Party is a party that has been a role model for all other parties at every level of politics. One of these is the understanding of municipal governance. Our nation has seen that one of the biggest reasons for the debt quagmire of CHP municipalities is the astronomical figures paid for concerts," he said.

'UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE LYING'

"Because CHP municipalities are always the most indebted municipalities, they do not want us to bring up this issue," said Işıkhan, adding the following:

"Is it our fault that the most indebted municipalities are CHP-run? Unfortunately, they are also lying about us discriminating between municipalities. We provide convenience to every municipality that provides us with security within the framework of the legislation.

For example, the municipality with which we carried out the largest single real estate swap in the history of the SGK, worth 1 billion 65 million liras, was the CHP-run Küçükçekmece Municipality. Is this discrimination? Most recently, there were real estate offers from the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality and the Bolu Municipality, and we are taking positive action in response to these steps. Where is the discrimination? When the foreclosures arrived and the regulation on deductions from resources was issued, municipalities that were not paying or attempting to pay their debts started to apply to the SGK one by one.

This is a positive development. This is our goal as well. Despite this, I would like to state here that we will collect the debts of every municipality that does not take action from the source."

'THEY CONTINUE TO ENGAGE IN POPULISM'

Criticizing the opposition, Işıkhan said, "For you, the youth who will build the future of our country, and for our dear nation, one of the greatest threats today is the irresponsible clamor of the opposition and the swamp of populism into which it is being dragged. They are trying to deceive the nation with baseless, empty promises in the economy, employment, and social policies. They continue to engage in populism, knowing that it will be a burden on your shoulders in the long run and knowing that it will harm our development and stability. God forbid, if what they say happens today, the economy will collapse, the social security system will collapse, the health system will collapse, and our foreign policy and fight against terrorism will also collapse.

God forbid, Turkey would return to the darkness of the 90s. It is not easy to fight against populism. That is why our youth should not allow such cheap interests and opposition to be conducted over their own future. As the AK Party, while we build the future of Turkey, we are not chasing short-term gains, I underline this, we are chasing permanent prosperity and development. Our goal is for you to take steps toward a future full of opportunities, in stability, in a stronger Turkey," he said.

WHAT HAPPENED?

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel criticized the amount of the raise given to retirees in July and called for the lowest pension to be raised to the level of the minimum wage. Upon this, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the group meeting on July 24, called on CHP-run municipalities to pay their premium debts to the SGK and stated that if they did not pay, they would 'deduct the debt from the source'.

President Erdoğan's instruction to Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan during his speech on December 10, saying "It is useful to shake up the municipalities that have premium debts to the SGK," officially started the debate in politics over the 'SGK squeeze on municipalities'.

Following President Erdoğan's 'shake up' instruction, blocks were placed on the accounts of the CHP-run Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, and Mersin Metropolitan Municipalities, as well as the Şişli Municipality in Istanbul.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security announced the most indebted municipalities as follows:

Companies affiliated with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality: 5.7 billion TL

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality: 5.3 billion TL

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality: 3.3 billion TL

Adana Metropolitan Municipality: 3 billion TL

Mersin Metropolitan Municipality: 1 billion TL

Şişli Municipality: 1.8 billion TL

News Source: 12punto