A panorama of Murat Kurum: February 6, İliç, Salda, March 31...

Following Mehmet Özhaseki’s request to be “relieved of his duties” due to health issues, Murat Kurum has been appointed as the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Kurum, who also served as minister between 2018 and 2023, was involved in many controversial decisions and statements during that period.

Here is a look at the Murat Kurum panorama...

Murat Kurum was born in Ankara in 1976. After attending Ankara Mimar Kemal High School, he graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Selçuk University's Faculty of Engineering and Architecture in 1999. He completed his master's degree in Urban Transformation in 2017.

He worked in the private sector from 1999, the year he graduated from university, until 2005. Afterward, he joined the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ). He began working as an expert in the Department of Implementation.

Between 2006 and 2008, he served as the Branch Manager for the European Side at the TOKİ İstanbul Implementation Department. From 2009 until 2018, when he became a minister, he served as the General Manager of Emlak Konut GYO AŞ, a subsidiary of TOKİ.

Kurum, whose career was shaped under the AKP umbrella, gained the trust of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following his tenure at Emlak Konut.

According to the report compiled by Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş from T24; Erdoğan appointed Kurum as the Minister of Environment and Urbanization in the first cabinet formed after the transition to the Presidential Government System in 2018. Throughout his tenure, he carried out social housing campaigns and urban transformation projects with TOKİ. According to ministry data, 365 thousand social housing units were built during Kurum's term.

Known to be close to former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Kurum also took a close interest in environmental issues and the Zero Waste project, which is carried out under the "leadership" of Emine Erdoğan.

Indeed, when the Zero Waste Project ranked first among 21 countries in the Mediterranean, Kurum referred to Emine Erdoğan, stating, "I would like to once again express my gratitude to the Honorable First Lady for her support of Zero Waste, our country's largest environmental movement."

Climate change entered the government's agenda during Kurum's tenure as minister, and the Paris Agreement was also put into effect during his term. In 2021, while Kurum was minister, the name of the institution was changed to the "Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change."

KANAL ISTANBUL

Despite harsh criticism from opposition parties, professional organizations, and non-governmental organizations, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended Kanal Istanbul, which he describes as a "crazy project," with the words, "It is a project that will make Turkey a leading country in the world."

LAKE SALDA

Despite all objections from the opposition and environmental organizations, the decision to implement a "Millet Bahçesi" (Public Garden) project at Lake Salda, known as the "Maldives of Turkey," was made during Kurum's tenure as minister. Although it was claimed that the natural beauty of Lake Salda—which NASA stated should not even be entered with shoes on—would be protected, heavy machinery was brought into the area. During the same period, construction projects also began in the Northern Forests, which serve as Istanbul's oxygen source and water basin.

NATION'S GARDENS

The construction of the Nation's Gardens, which the AKP presented as a campaign promise, also began during Kurum's tenure. During Kurum's ministry, the construction of 484 nation's gardens was initiated. Of these, 39 were in Istanbul, where he was the People's Alliance candidate for Metropolitan Mayor in the March 31, 2024 elections. During his ministry, he completed 13 of the Nation's Gardens.

ZONING AMNESTY

The zoning peace, which drew criticism for increasing earthquake damage risks and sparking debates over rent-seeking, was passed by Parliament just before Kurum became minister.

It was published in the Official Gazette on June 6, 2018, ahead of the June 24, 2018, general elections. Kurum became minister immediately afterward. In December 2018, Kurum announced that 9 million 722 thousand people had applied to benefit from the zoning peace and that the revenue generated from these applications had reached 15 billion 619 million Turkish Lira. Following the permits granted to risky structures, Kurum stated in an announcement one year later, "The zoning peace does not mean that the structures included in the zoning peace are sound and not risky." Kurum also used the expression, "The zoning amnesty is our citizens' peace with the state."

SOCIAL HOUSING AND TOKİ

During the period when Kurum was minister, "urban transformation" projects began in areas such as Tozkoparan, Tokatköy, and Fetihtepe in Istanbul. Within this scope, citizens were displaced from their homes without being given any guarantees. Citizens whose homes were demolished in the early hours of the morning accompanied by riot police were left on the streets. At that time, a small rental subsidy was provided to them by the ministry. Additionally, extra fees were demanded for the new homes to be built as part of the transformation.

Citizens who have been unable to take delivery of their homes for nearly five years under the "100 Thousand Low-Income Group Social Housing Project" launched by TOKİ in 2019 were asked to make payments ranging from 15 to 21 thousand liras. Kurum responded, "Our citizens can cover this cost by tightening their belts a little, and by borrowing a little from their spouses and friends."

FEBRUARY 6 EARTHQUAKES

It was criticized that many buildings destroyed in the February 6 Maraş earthquakes were built illegally and were registered through zoning amnesties. In response to the criticisms, the institution stated that TOKİ buildings in the earthquake zone remained intact. 

He also argued that they are working with Turkey's best architects in the earthquake zone and that they will build the residences with designs that incorporate the culture, demographic structure, nature, climate, and environment of the region.

EZGİ APARTMENT

A photograph featuring former Maraş MÜSİAD President Sami Kervancıoğlu, who is held responsible for the collapse of the Ezgi Apartment where 35 people lost their lives, has also become a subject of controversy. Experts appointed by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Earthquake Crimes Investigation Bureau regarding the collapse of the building in question determined that a column with a diameter of 40 centimeters had been cut in the patisserie located on the ground floor of the apartment building.

Murat Kurum became the People's Alliance candidate for Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the 2024 Turkish local elections. 

MARCH 31 ELECTIONS

Following Erdoğan's decision to nominate all cabinet members for parliamentary seats in the May 14, 2023 elections, he became a candidate from Istanbul.

He built his election campaign around urban transformation projects in Istanbul as part of measures to be taken against earthquake risk.

During the election period, he was accused of using ministerial resources for propaganda. He defended his campaign on Cüneyt Özdemir's YouTube program by saying, "If the ministry's power is the authority, then I am using my authorities. Of course I will use them."

In the asset declaration he announced during the election campaign, Kurum stated that he owned 1 vehicle, two residences in Ankara, one residence in Istanbul, a certain amount of gold and jewelry, 3 firearms, 200 thousand Turkish Liras, 55 thousand US Dollars, and 40 thousand Euros, and also declared a debt of 14 million liras; he received 39.59 percent of the vote in the elections. The incumbent mayor and CHP candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu won the election with 51.14 percent of the vote, a margin of 11.55 percent.

ILIÇ

It has emerged that the capacity of the gold mine in the İliç district of Erzincan, operated by the Anagold Mining company—where 9 workers lost their lives due to a landslide—was increased for a second time in 2020 by the then-Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, despite warnings from experts. During Kurum's tenure as Minister, the mine's capacity was tripled on June 16, 2022, following a decision that an "Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required," just one year after the company's cyanide disaster. In response to a parliamentary question on the matter, Kurum stated, "The waste storage permit was granted after it was determined that the necessary measures regarding impermeability had been taken at the site."