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Mayors left behind as Erdogan steps up the ladder

 


Mayors left behind as Erdogan steps up the ladder

A baker prepares bread in his bakary to be delivered to his neighborhood on April 11, 2020 in Istanbul, after Turkish authorities imposed a two-day curfew to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic caused by the new coronavirus. (AFP)

The pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is ravaging the world, but true cooperation between nations has not been possible. In Turkey, this lack of cooperation has manifested itself in a different form. Ordinary people did their best to help each other, the solidarity between individuals was perfect. Young people in each neighborhood organized to help the elderly meet their basic needs. But while people behaved so well, unnecessary greed between central authorities and a few municipalities spoiled the atmosphere.

The metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara have launched an initiative to raise funds to help the needy, including workers who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. They opened a bank account and invited the public to deposit money to distribute to those who need it. A lot of money had accumulated in the bank account by the evening of the first day.

The day after the initiative was launched, the government announced that such municipal campaigns were illegal. He blocked the bank account opened by the Istanbul council, saying permission from the provincial governors should be obtained for such an action, and instead launched his own campaign to raise funds for the same purpose.

The case is now before the courts. The Istanbul municipality claims that the government has blocked the bank account because it does not want to see the city, led by the main Republican opposition party (CHP), succeed in the eyes of the electorate. The court will now decide whether the governments’ initiative was motivated by political considerations.

The government has taken similar action by distributing protective masks. He announced that large quantities would be produced and made available at a reasonable price. When municipalities in some major cities started distributing these masks for free, the government intervened and announced that it would offer the same service. Even delivery would be free. So this time the competition between central government and local governments served a useful purpose, as people were able to acquire free masks.

Semiha Oyus, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), made her own contribution to the conflict by saying that eating food distributed by the opposition-controlled municipality of Aydin was religiously prohibited (haram).

No memorial government has banned the distribution of food to the poor.

Yasar Yakis

Last week, another municipality, Eskisehir, published an announcement asking benefactors to stop contributing to the bank account it used to finance the distribution of meals to people in need and students. The reason was once again the blocking of the account by the government. The practice of distributing food to the poor is a deeply rooted tradition that dates back centuries in Turkish culture. No government in memory has banned such useful humanitarian action. The mayor of Eskisehir, Yilmaz Buyukersen, was very successful. He has been elected five times in a row and has held this position for over 20 years. This interference by central authorities is nothing more than an attempt to interfere with the performance of another successful mayor of the CHP.

This attitude of the central government is in stark contrast to what the AKP did during its first years in power. One of the first important laws it adopted in the early 2000s saw it entrust much authority to local governments. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a strong supporter of these measures at the time. He argued that local governments were closer to the people than central authorities and therefore needed to exercise more power.

Erdogan was mayor of Istanbul in the mid-1990s and suffered greatly from the slow decision-making process of central authorities on matters relating to municipalities. He complained that he was unable to implement many of the proposed projects due to the obstruction of the central government.

Decentralization is also a major rule within the EU, to which Turkey aspires to join. The principle of subsidiarity means that Brussels should only act in an area if it is more effective than actions carried out at national or local level. Erdogans’ desire to delegate powers to municipalities was also in line with EU rules.

However, after strengthening the AKP, it changed its approach and moved away from the principle of decentralization. He began to restrict the power of local authorities. After the last municipal elections in May 2019, the government dismissed many elected mayors and replaced them with bureaucrats.

It is the application of the famous social science rule which says: Now that we have climbed, let’s remove the ladder.

  • Yasar Yakis is a former Foreign Minister of Turkey and a founding member of the ruling AK party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are theirs and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News

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