Last minute … An investigation has begun against Imamoglu!

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), received his first certificate on April 17, 2019, after the counting and appeal crisis in the local elections of March 31, 2019, and officially began his duty on 18 April until May 6, when the election was canceled.

İmamoğlu, who was elected president of the IMM twice due to repeated elections, answered SÖZCÜ’s questions on the first anniversary of taking his first certificate.

Assessing the epidemic process of the coronavirus that has affected the past year and the world, İmamoğlu made surprising statements about the blocked aid campaign and the field hospital, the construction of which began at Atatürk airport.

“THIS PERIOD IS MORE DIFFICULT”

A year has passed since you received your first certificate. At that time, Istanbul was at the center of the crisis due to local elections. Today, it is the center of the crisis due to the epidemic. What is more difficult for you when you compare the 2 periods? How did you plan a year later on those days?

* This period would be our departure period. After the period we received with our budget, problems, deficiencies, or stopped the Istanbul construction sites, we were overcoming those problems and now we are thinking of a period to start the new period. But we are facing an epidemic that never happened to the world. Compared to difficulty, this period is more difficult.

* It was Turkey’s democratic struggles last year. We can evaluate it in a separate state. But what we are talking about today is a problem that concerns the entire world and all of humanity. It is completely out of politics. We are in a historical period. The political history of our fight for Turkey last year was one of the most important milestone in terms of administrative history. But what we are talking about now is an important topic for human history.

“SUMMIT OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE”

On the anniversary of the first local election held on March 31, the donation campaign that began to combat the epidemic was blocked the same day with the Ministry of Interior circular. Did you establish a connection between the two of you, did you think we are going to get into that troublesome process again?

* Unfortunately, we never got out of that spiral. Of course, he did not feel a similar sensation. But someone was a political field fight, but to establish the donation from the heart of the people who need this help completely before trying to provide legal methods, such application in the lands of which we are part of the culture of “competing in goodness “is the peak of political impotence. I had a similar feeling, but it’s actually a more serious and tragic situation.

“THE MINISTRY BEGAN TO CONSULT ABOUT US”

What was the destination of the 900 thousand TL deposit deposited in the blocked account at Vakıfbank?

* Currently, there is still a lock, we made our application legal. The court asked the governor for an answer. 15 days were given. The time has not yet expired. This will eventually be resolved. Now it is a lawless and fearful process that banks do. The fearful transaction is the black mark in the history of banking.

* The letter written by the governor is also a black mark. It is a shame to prevent society from donating to the municipality in this way. Whoever signed that signature should be ashamed. If you are being treated incorrectly, open an investigation against the President of the IMM. But it cannot block the donation of the citizen. In addition, an investigation was opened against us.

* The Interior Ministry opened an investigation into the donation process. An inspector from the ministry came to investigate. You can make an inquiry. But getting up and blocking a citizen’s money in the bank is a very helpless and very poor attitude. Whoever intervened from top to bottom, who gave instructions, who signed, is part of that weakness, that weakness.

When did the investigation start?

* It was released on Friday last week. We hear that it was also released in Ankara. Probably an inspector will go to other municipalities that organize campaigns. The investigation was not only opened to me.

“WE ARE LOOKING, WE ARE CHECKING THAT IT IS TRANSFORMED WITH ITS PHRASES”

What is your request to the Istanbul Governorate to organize an aid campaign on behalf of the Istanbul Foundation within the IMM body? Why was a request made on behalf of the foundation, not on behalf of IMM?

* The Istanbul Foundation was established in the Nurettin Sözen period of IMM, and was actively used in the name of solidarity during the reign of Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Every day I wonder why the governorate, which has issued daily permits to dozens of foundations, which you can imagine while that foundation’s request for assistance has been going on for over a week, keeps up our request. Am I asking because I don’t know the answer? No. I know the answer and I question it saying that I have to question these feelings that sometimes reach the bottom of my country. I am actually fulfilling this question. There is a process that goes through the sentences “We look, we examine.”

* Currently, an attempt is being made to establish a set against the concepts related to the IMM campaign. This does not mean that IMM cannot receive aid or collect donations. We still receive donations. If the municipality is an institution with so many problems, we said to request the aid campaign with the foundation. We are waiting for the result.

“THIS IS NOT A FIELD HOSPITAL, ESTABLISHED IN ISTANBUL”

The field hospital at Atatürk airport caused much controversy. Do you know why existing buildings are not used and why the construction location was changed, IMM was informed about this?

* Make sure you don’t know the process there, calming your soul. But believing I know the process there increases my anger. There cannot be such incorrect process management. First, the place where construction started was completely wrong. We showed our reaction, they gave up. They went to the other side of the airport. They destroyed two runways. They also don’t know what they are doing. A job that will go down in Istanbul’s history as a disgrace. They are doing something else under the name of a field hospital in an area where entry and exit are impossible and never intervene.

* They downed the airport firewall at two points. There are soldiers there. They do it at great cost. In my opinion, the Ministry of Health is one of those who fear looking from afar.

* Because this is not a field hospital. We cannot intervene. We have made our applications where necessary, and I will fight legally. Istanbul is betrayed. They will say that we would withdraw the airport. Is this today’s topic? Do you think we should shoot two birds with one stone? The location in Sancaktepe is also problematic. A military area transferred to the Ministry of Health. I think your transportation is at an irrelevant point. Even his local authorities expressed their unease. Two very wrong points. I don’t know what mindless mind is at work.

THE EFFECT OF PREVENTION ON THE BUDGET 5.5 BILLION TL

What type of damage table emerged due to the IMM outbreak?

* Based on our budget study, we believe the pandemic will cause a loss of approximately 5.5 billion lire in the 2020 budget. There is one metropolitan municipality that has declining revenue and a loss every day. This should not be perceived only for Istanbul.

* Of all the businesses and operations touches the citizens of Turkey are running a large part of the municipality. Perhaps the IMM loss of 5.5 billion is a third in Ankara, slightly less in Izmir, but it is also lost in Bursa and the loss in Gaziantep. Union of Municipalities of Turkey in this sense no attempt unfortunately failed.

* You may be a member of the ruling party, but remember that you are the mayor of your city. It is a very bad point of view not to advocate for such a process that will put you or any local government in trouble.

* A package of contributions should be prepared for local governments. District municipalities will emerge from this process with greater damage than metropolitan municipalities.

“I hope they surprise us”

The extraordinary meeting of the assembly is on the agenda to increase the participation of social aid in the IMM budget. Has a consensus been reached with other political parties? When will the assembly meet?

* There is not much compromise on the opposite side. I hope they surprise us. We patiently explain why we want it. All the problems we want to raise are related to social assistance and the budget.

* We are fighting not to lose some of the external loans, which we make urgent decisions and insure outside. We transfer the problems to the commissions.

* In fact, as far as I can see now, we await a political decision. I hope you make a positive decision. As a method, we could go directly to the governorate and submit an application. But I made an effort to go with the political consensus. We will compromise and go to the governor and take our letter of permission. But even if this is not a commitment, we will send our request to the government.

“IF THERE WERE US, THERE WOULD BE NO HOME WITHOUT A MASK IN ISTANBUL”

Are there any obstacles for IMM regarding mask distribution?

* No, we try to give free at public transport points. But the ministry blocked the mask action in Turkey, it took them away. We can’t find masks from time to time.

* We started working with ISMEK to produce approximately 1 million skins. As you have stored the mask, it is a great burden to deliver it to the citizen when declaring it from PTT. Why not use your largest vehicle? Its largest vehicle is the municipalities. It has a metropolitan municipality in Istanbul and 39 district municipalities.

* Send it in, let us distribute it to our citizens in the field. We have millions of citizens who have applied for 10 days and have not received a response. If they had given us that day, there was no masked house in Istanbul today.

“WE HAVE RESISTANCE IN THE FIELD”

Health professionals have hotel rooms assigned by IMM. Health workers are told that there is pressure from IMM not to make a request at this address, did you receive information at this address?

* We have a bed capacity of more than 3 thousand, we open our calls to health professionals. Unfortunately, we see resistance in the field that this does not happen.

* I heard that doctors, deans, and hospital rectors are struggling to find beds for healthcare professionals. It’s our job. Let’s deal with it. Try to improve hospital conditions and health problems. But other emotions come into play here. The source of those emotions is polarization in Ankara. If Ankara is installed in Turkey it will give you a better test.

“WE HAVE NOT BEEN LIKE THE MUNICIPALITIES IN THE NEWSPAPER”

The free distribution of the Sözcü Newspaper, which suddenly stopped last weekend, which had a distribution problem, caused a lot of unfair criticism. Why and under what conditions did the newspaper Sözcü distribute?

* The Sözcü newspaper left the newspapers to Halk Ekmek’s buffets under its own power. The citizen bought the Sözcü newspaper if he wanted, of his own free will, while buying his bread. Some municipalities also distributed it. But none of us made money and bought the Sözcü newspaper.

* We have not acted as municipalities that have been instructed to buy and distribute millions of newspapers for years. In other words, the newspapers were left to us free, and the citizen took the newspaper at his will. It was a contribution to communication on this extraordinary day.

* I think it would be interpreted differently in the following way; The psychology of thinking that people who have done this philosophy throughout their own administration do the same with others. Neither our spokesperson nor such psychology. They called us with sincere feelings and said, “We printed the newspaper, we didn’t know about the curfew.” Even we did not know about the ban. It was a search for a cure for the way the newspaper was printed. We contribute to the search for this remedy.

“1 MILLION PEOPLE ARE ON THE WAY OF PROHIBITION”

What were the positive and negative effects of the 2-day curfew on the weekend in Istanbul?

* It already started badly. Time will show how that bad atmosphere damages health. I hope you have not. I hope it has not reached anyone. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. It was a bad job. Today, we have made our preparations for a previously announced curfew. We will announce our citizen. According to scientists, the 2-day curfew is not a healthy solution.

* Almost 1,100,000 people traveled by public transport on Monday, when the curfew ended for 2 days. Compared to the previous Monday, there was a 20 percent increase. When we look at large cities like Istanbul, we know that the process can be managed with strict isolation.

“VERY SUPERIOR OVER THE ASSOCIATION”

When he was selected as the elected IMM president of the opposition party, he thought he would have trouble with the central government. Is your communication with the central government and the president now better or worse than you expected?

* I am a mayor who lived a similar period in my district. I had events in Beylikdüzü that were not on a level that could not be told to a newspaper, or rather, to a newspaper. But I am in good faith “on the subject in Istanbul, Turkey and the largest city in Europe. We will definitely meet at some point.”

* Political struggle exists everywhere, always. But when it came to Istanbul, I thought there was a middle way. But whatever the trauma of the election, we face political power on another agenda every day.

* Sometimes it is reflected in all CHP municipalities with the effect of Istanbul and sometimes Istanbul. I am sad for Turkey. Because after a point, everyone should be able to fight the public. I should think about how I can benefit my country and the city. We are in a new regime. There are ministers appointed within the presidential system.

* The ministers also appointed a political representative and, beyond a very unfortunate period for conducting business with the efforts of political speeches Turkey. In fact, we are going through a period of partisanship far beyond what I think.

“CITY of Turkey and reconciliation in NO”

How do you evaluate the management of the outbreak process?

* The crisis can be managed with absolute and absolute consensus. Currently there is no consensus in Turkey and in the cities. In other words, an institution should not fear satisfying the need to accommodate İBB doctors. Or an institution will not be afraid to ask the metropolitan municipality for help. It is difficult to manage a crisis in such politicized terrain. On the contrary, commitment is very important. When you achieve consensus and a shared mind, you build trust in society.

* For the reconciliation of society, an agreement must be reached in Ankara for the successful management of the crisis. He is the person who handles this. There are countries that can manage the pandemic process at a table without distinguishing between the opposition and the government. We are at the top of countries that cannot manage. Even today, we are discussing the opposition-power relationship. We even discussed a period when the government blames the opposition.