ANKARA: In a surprise move, the Turkish Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into the metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara over their campaigns to help the most-vulnerable during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The campaigns were set up to collect donations to help low-income residents in the two municipalities, which are both governed by secular mayors from Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas are set to submit their pleas to the public authorities on Monday.
The Interior Ministry alleges that the campaigns do not conform with state regulations issued on March 31 — the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), launched a nationwide donation campaign to aid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic — which state that all provinces (which include metropolitan municipalities) wishing to launch campaigns for donations have to first get permission from the relevant government-appointed officials.
However, legal experts opposed to the government’s decision — which they see as a partisan political move — say that Turkish law grants authority to mayors to accept donations.
Baris Yarkadas, a journalist and ex-CHP MP, told Arab News: “They are launching an investigation against Imamoglu just because he collected donations for the needy people. They are trying to create a basis for appointing trustees to the cities. I’m warning the AKP: Do not (obstruct) the Turkish people. Helping the poor and the needy is not a crime.”
The state-owned Vakifbank has frozen the money collected by the municipal aid campaigns.
“How the banks are proceeding now is unlawful and out of fear. It’s a (stain on) the history of banking. If you see a wrong procedure, you can launch an investigation into the Istanbul mayor, but you can’t block the donations belonging to the citizens,” Imamoglu said in a statement issued to the press.
According to Emrah Gulsunar, a political scientist from Lund University in Sweden, the investigation is an attempt by Erdogan’s government to undermine the efforts of opposition-led municipalities in the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investigation is an attempt by Erdogan’s government to undermine the efforts of opposition-led municipalities in the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emrah Gulsunar, Political scientist
“From the beginning of the process, the Turkish government has been trying to establish a monopoly on the state’s social policies that aim to lessen the negative impacts of the pandemic,” he told Arab News.
“From his past as a mayor, Erdogan is well aware that local governments and municipalities are closer to society than the central government (and that) their social policies touch people’s daily lives directly, such as providing health products and free food, and helping the elderly.”
Gulsunar believes that Erdogan does not want credit for these policies to be given to the opposition, as this could pose a serious threat to his power.
“The government aims not just to deprive municipalities of one of their income sources, but also to intimidate them in their potential future attempts to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic by (instigating beneficial) social policies,” he added.
However, Gulsunar does not think that the investigations will result in prosecution or arrests. In the current situation, he believes, an investigation is as much as the government would risk.
Just two weeks before the March 2019 municipal elections, Turkish prosecutors prepared an indictment against Yavas over charges of fraud and forgery when he worked as a lawyer. A week later Erdogan threatened not to allow Yavas to serve as mayor even if he won the election, saying: “We will not hand Ankara over to a random person, to someone who forged signatures on checks. We want Ankara to continue to be governed by good people.”
In the end, however, both Yavas and Imamoglu won mayoral races against their government-backed rivals — the first time in almost 25 years that the opposition had won municipal elections in Turkey’s two major cities.
Gulsunar claims that the Turkish people resent the government’s interference in local politics in a case like this where the mayors were actually trying to help citizens.
“In Turkey’s polarized society, the opposition is already furious about this investigation, as expected,” he told Arab News.
“However, I do not think that this kind of investigation would be considered legitimate even by Erdogan’s more-moderate supporters, because there is no strong argument for preventing the municipalities from helping people.”
