Austerity measures 'left in the air': Erdoğan's NATO convoy burns through 83 million

President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Washington last month on the private Airbus 330-200 aircraft named TC-TUR, while 4 other planes, including a cargo plane carrying his official vehicles, accompanied the journey. 

According to the report by Başak Kaya from Sözcü, President Erdoğan attended the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government held in the US capital, Washington, last month. 

Three days before the summit, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş traveled to the US on a private jet to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Summit.

While President Erdoğan traveled to the meeting on the private Airbus 330-200 aircraft named TC-TUR, 4 other planes, including a cargo plane carrying his official vehicles, accompanied the journey. For this very reason, the NATO summit made headlines more for the Turkish delegation's 'private plane convoy' than for its diplomatic contacts.

'EXCLUDING ACCOMMODATION AND DINING...'

CHP Bartın Deputy Aysu Bankoğlu stated that the flight cost of this trip alone was 2.5 million dollars, or 83 million Turkish Lira. Bankoğlu said, "The luxury hotel accommodations, food, and drinks of ministers, friends, associates, and pro-government journalists are outside of this calculation."

Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek had announced public austerity measures, and these measures were published in the Official Gazette dated 17.05.2024 and numbered 32549, entering into force.

News Source: 12punto