CHP Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Gökan Zeybek speaks to 12punto

Selçuk Ahmet ÇELİK 12punto.com.tr

President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan targeted CHP-run municipalities in his speech at the AKP parliamentary group meeting. Referring to CHP municipalities, Erdoğan stated, "Our Ministry of Treasury and Finance will begin collecting these debts at the source. Your municipalities should pay their accumulated social security (SGK) debts."

CHP Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Gökan Zeybek responded to this statement by Erdoğan on 12punto.

Gökan Zeybek stated that 208 of the 412 municipalities won by the CHP in the local elections were taken from the AK Party and MHP, and said:

''We took over a total of 208 municipalities that had been governed by the AKP and MHP for the last 5 years. These include metropolitan municipalities and district municipalities. We also won hundreds of district municipalities, including many metropolitan cities, primarily Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Manisa, and Antalya.''

AKP DID NOT PAY TAX AND INSURANCE PREMIUMS

Emphasizing that none of the 208 municipalities taken from the AKP had paid their tax and insurance premiums, Gökan Zeybek said, ''All 208 municipalities we took over had not paid their tax and insurance premiums for 5 years during the AK Party era. For example, as of April 1, the debt of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality is 25 billion TL. In the Balıkesir Municipality, the total debt is 15 billion TL,' he said.

CHP Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Gökan Zeybek gave an example from the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality in his statement and included the following remarks:

''When Mansur Yavaş took over the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Ankara's total debt was 2 billion TL. How are you going to make a municipality you took over in debt debt-free? Especially despite all the difficulties the government creates. It is very difficult to explain this.''

INVESTMENT REVENUES HAVE STOPPED

CHP Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Gökan Zeybek noted that the reason for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statement targeting CHP municipalities at the group meeting was that investment revenues in many items had stopped under the announced austerity measures, and stated the following:

''Just as highway, railway, and airway investments that had already started have stopped, technological renewal cannot be done, and improvements cannot be made. And steps to increase employment cannot be taken. It is precisely in this period that CHP municipalities provided City Restaurants, food support, home care services, social assistance, and scholarships.''

IT DISTURBED THE GOVERNMENT

Noting that the services provided by CHP municipalities disturbed the AKP, CHP Deputy Chair Responsible for Local Governments Gökan Zeybek said, ''These services provided by CHP municipalities disturbed the government. The reason it disturbed them is that the government has not done anything it promised.''

THEY SHOULD COME TO THEIR SENSES

Stating that they are facing a regime that has made it its goal to oppress the nation, Gökan Zeybek continued his words as follows:

''We are facing an administration that tries to take revenge on voters who did not vote for it. We do not find these actions right. We say that they need to come to their senses. If the nation is punished, the nation will turn around and make the one who imposes this punishment pay a very heavy price. In short, the government, which received a yellow card in the local elections, will not only receive a red card for these mistakes it has made, but will also be banned from competitions for a long time, not just for one match, because it acted against morality, ethics, and sportsmanship.''

News Source: Selçuk Çelik