İSTANBUL - Noting that the only responsible for the corruption in the municipalities where the trustees are appointed is the ruling party, HDP Co-Chair of Local Administrations Salim Kaplan said, "There is a perception that the trustees will not be asked account one day."

 

Since 2016, trustees have been appointed to 95 municipalities, especially metropolitan municipalities such as Mardin, Diyarbakır and Van. While the frauds and the corruption of the appointed trustees were revealed later, the prosecutors did not initiate a single investigation, journalists who reveal the irregularities are in the jurisdiction. Indicating that the trustees who have been appointed since 2016 have caused serious damage to the municipalities, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair of Local Administrations Salim Kaplan, said that the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) which has been managed by the AKP-style governance for 25 years, is in depth of 28 billion TL. Kaplan recorded that the municipalities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin metropolitan municipalities have become indebted for around 3,5 billion TL during the 30-month trustee period. 

 

'TRUSTEES ARE THE CONTINUATION OF 100 YEARS OLD POLICY' 

 

Expressing that they do not evaluate the trustees only as the extortion of the right to vote and stand for an election, but also as a part of assimilation policies Kaplan stated, "Trustees are the continuation of the former public inspectors. It is a continuation of the assimilation policy that has been continuously conducted for 100 against all peoples who have been fighting for democracy and freedom together with the Kurdish people. This trustee regime is building Kurdish hostility and targeting a policy of slaughter."

 

'THEY DID NOT MAKE THE SLIGHTEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE'

 

Kaplan stated that the trustees left huge debts to the municipalities and in contrast they did not made a contribution to the public service as slight as a nail on the wall. Stating that Siirt Municipality is the most indebted municipality in Turkey based on the population density and its total debt ammount is around 255 million, Kaplan also indicated that while the amount of debt left to a small town like Yüksekova reaches  682 million TL, even if all the municipalities would work just to pay the debts, it is impossible to pay it all. Kaplan stated that the trustee of Diyarbakır paid 1,5 million TL for the lighting system of the streets even though the such a lighting system would cost around 354 thousand TL.

 

'THE GOVERNMENT PARTAKES CORRUPTIONS'

 

Underlining that it is the government itself that paves the way for corruption in the municipalities where trustees are appointed, Kaplan said: “It is the government responsible of all the corruption that was exposed by the corruption operation on December 17-25 and is now being revealed at most via the trustess. Regardless of whether there is a trustee appointed or not, local civilian officials are especially in Kurdistan rake off explicitly. A perception has begun to emerge that they would not be asked for an account one day. However, this trustee regime will definitely give an account of what they have done before the public, noone should doubt that."