Statement from CHP Minister in front of Kemalpaşa Municipality: 'There is no situation requiring an operation!'

İzmir - Four municipal bureaucrats and one event company official have been detained as part of an investigation conducted by the Kemalpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into alleged irregularities in public spending regarding a Gülşen concert, which the Kemalpaşa Municipality had organized for last year's October 29 Republic Day but subsequently canceled due to the terrorist attack in Ankara.

CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for Internal Affairs and İzmir Deputy Attorney Murat Bakan held a press conference in front of the Kemalpaşa Municipality building alongside Kemalpaşa Mayor Mehmet Türkmen.

"There is no situation requiring an 'operation.' This perception of an 'operation' is something entirely designed to cast suspicion on our municipalities and smear them in the eyes of the public," said CHP's Murat Bakan, as he explained the details of the matter.

"Republican People's Party municipalities are extremely successful; they are creating a significant impact in the eyes of the public, especially with the social services and social municipalism they provide. They are trying to destroy this perception in the public eye and create the impression that a crime is being committed there," said the CHP Minister, adding, "If there is any illegality in any Republican People's Party municipality, the first person to intervene in that illegality is the mayor of that place, as is the case here. Or it is the Republican People's Party Headquarters, as was the case previously in the Menemen example. In other words, we are a political party that has zero tolerance for any act that is contrary to the law."

The statement by CHP's Murat Bakan is as follows:

"If there is any illegality in any Republican People's Party municipality, the first person to intervene in that illegality is the mayor of that place!"

Yesterday around 4:00 PM, police officers came to the Kemalpaşa Municipality and detained our deputy mayor, our accounting manager, and a civil servant colleague. Apart from them, two other people were detained: one is the former culture manager—who had been removed from his post by our mayor—and the other is a company manager. This was reflected in the public as an 'operation against Kemalpaşa Municipality,' but the reality is not like that. It was a press statement that cast suspicion on everyone from the Mayor of Kemalpaşa to the security guard at the door. The fact that the prosecutor's office came and detained our friends from the municipality reinforced this impression. We want to share and explain the situation with the press. The matter was reported to the prosecutor's office by our mayor, and a complaint was filed with the prosecutor's office regarding a tender—a complaint was filed against two people... This is a matter that took place five months ago. For five months, the Kemalpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has been conducting this process. In the final analysis, we learned that those two people were referred to the court today with a request for arrest by the prosecutor's office, and the other three people, against whom no complaint was actually filed and who we believe were unaware of the issue, were also referred to the court with judicial control measures. We want to express this here: if there is any illegality in any Republican People's Party municipality, the first person to intervene in that illegality is the mayor of that place, as is the case here. Or it is the Republican People's Party Headquartersas was the case previously in the Menemen example. In other words, we are a political party that has zero tolerance for any act that is contrary to the law. Our Kemalpaşa Mayor and all our bureaucrats here are impeccable. Our Kemalpaşa Mayor, having served as the Mayor of Ulucak, then as Deputy Mayor of Kemalpaşa, and today as the Mayor of Kemalpaşa... is a mayor who has won the love and respect of Kemalpaşa with both his philanthropic identity and his identity as a bureaucratic statesman, and he is the one who immediately reported an oversight he noticed here to the prosecutor's office. We would like to share with the public that all our bureaucrats are the same.

It is something designed to cast suspicion on our municipalities and smear them in the public eye this perception of an 'operation'

It is aimed at criminalizing Republican People's Party municipalities, that is, making it look as if a crime has been committed... Starting with Istanbul, the operations carried out against our other mayors, especially the arrest of our friends, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, who should not have been arrested according to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office... All of these are unlawful. There is a goal being pursued here; Republican People's Party municipalities are extremely successful, and they are creating a significant impact in the eyes of the public, especially with the social services and social municipalism they provide. They are trying to destroy this perception in the public eye and create the impression that a crime is being committed there. What was done in Kemalpaşa is actually something similar. Why? First, permission for an investigation must be obtained here. There is no complaint regarding these three people; if that investigation permission is granted, then this investigation permission is appealed to the First Criminal Chamber of the Council of State. In other words, this is how this business should proceed, and the investigation should be conducted according to the situation that comes from there. Civil inspectors and Court of Accounts auditors examine and investigate these issues. However, now, by coming directly to the municipality when there is no complaint about these friends and when the mayor had applied five months ago; you create a perception in society when you come to the municipality at 4 o'clock before it closes. In other words, the work done by the Kemalpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in this sense is not the right thing to do. As a lawyer, I see it as an action aimed at strengthening the perception of an 'operation.' There is no situation here regarding Kemalpaşa Municipality. There is an application made by the Mayor. In fact, there is no situation 'requiring an operation.' It is a routine legal matter, an application made to the prosecutor's office, and the work and procedures that should follow as a result... This perception of an 'operation' is something entirely designed to cast suspicion on our municipalities and smear them in the public eye.

We use the nation's money much more sensitively than our own, because the responsibility...

Kemalpaşa Mayor Mehmet Türkmen said the following:
“We set out to hold an event for the October 29 Republic Day, and our culture directorate is managing it. But as you know, the TUSAŞ incident happened, we had martyrs, and we gave up on such an event. In other words, we did not bring the artist, but we continued our other events related to Republic Day, our events in our district. We made an agreement with a firm regarding this, and that firm also paid deposits on behalf of our municipality. As a result, we handled this amicably so that the firm would not suffer losses, but our municipality would not suffer losses either. Because we had a contract between us, and as a result, we had ended these incidents. But then I received a tip-off, they said 'such and such...' An accusation came regarding the culture director, and as a result, when I investigated it, I saw some things there that also bothered me, and I initiated both an administrative investigation and filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office to initiate judicial proceedings by judicial authorities. This was an incident from five months ago. Today, our prosecutor's office conducted its investigation. In this country, we use the money of this nation much more sensitively than our own money. Because the responsibility... I am using the money of 120 thousand people, and everyone living in Kemalpaşa knows this, and if they didn't trust us, we wouldn't be here anyway. But I also trust our nation, I trust the judicial authorities, and I believe they will make the right decision. I filed a complaint regarding two people. One of them is the company official and the other is our culture director at that time. The other friends are the deputy mayor, the accounting manager, and a friend who prepares documents... There are responsibilities given to all of us by municipal laws here; in fact, they should be tried according to the law regarding the trial of civil servants if there is such a crime... Therefore, this is not an operation against Kemalpaşa Municipality. This is a procedure we have carried out regarding a subject, and it is wrong to extract an 'operation' from this, but unfortunately, these things can happen.”

News Source: 12punto