BTP leader Hüseyin Baş reacts to government's 'privatization' policy: 'It is not the state that is helpless, but those who govern it'

Independent Turkey Party (BTP) Chairman Hüseyin Baş reacted to the government's privatization policy, saying, “They privatized the Port of Mersin. The Port of Mersin is one of the most vital routes and points for trade with Israel. If this place were in the hands of the state, the situation would be completely different.”

Speaking at his party's Mersin Provincial Headquarters, BTP leader Baş addressed the sale of the Mersin and Silifke ports, drawing attention to the fact that the Port of Mersin is a key point in trade with Israel. 

CRITICISM OF MERSIN PORT

Criticizing the government's privatization policy, Baş said the following:

“Today, they privatized the Port of Mersin. The Port of Mersin is one of the most vital routes and points for trade with Israel. If this place were in the hands of the state, the situation would be completely different. That is not enough; they privatized the port in Silifke. They privatized the Silifke Port and the SEKA factory there. I am talking about a 760-decare plot of land that they gave away for 600 million TL. Now I ask you: which one of you could buy 760 decares of land in Mersin today for 600 million? It is not given to the nation, it is not given to the citizens, but they give it to the people they do business with.

'THE STATE IS NOT HELPLESS, BUT ITS ADMINISTRATORS ARE'

Those who bought the Silifke Port say, ‘The Mersin port was at full capacity, there was not enough space for us, so we bought the Silifke port.’ A private citizen comes along, buys a port that the state could not manage to make money from, and operates it at full capacity. Is this state that helpless? The state is not helpless, but its administrators are! When there is such helplessness, look at what they do; everything is interconnected, there is no income, there is no money, so what do you have to do? You have to collect taxes. Your only income becomes taxes.

''WHY IS YOUR DEPUTY NOT TRAVELING THE WORLD AND DOING MARKETING''

Look, this is a country governed by those who boast that the country's GDP has reached 1 trillion dollars... I swear to you, I could hang my jacket and make it 3 trillion. 600 deputies raise and lower their hands morning and night. That hand has no importance; is this your deputy? Why is your deputy not traveling the world and doing marketing? Instead of traveling the world and doing marketing, they have appointed a minister, and the minister is traveling the world begging.”

News Source: 12punto