Double blow for mayor of future capital capital

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

As the March 29 local elections in Turkey approach, the inevitable skirmishes between the various party candidates are starting to gain pace.

The latest mud slinging involves the Republican People's Party, or CHP, Istanbul parliamentarian Çetin Soysal, who has accused the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş, of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, of transgressing the law in renovation work done on a family-run cafe.

Soysal said the 45 square meter, one story building in Istanbul’s Rumeli Hisarı district that belongs to Saray Muhallebicisi, a restaurant-cafe owned by Topbaş and his family, and Sütiş, a pastry shop, had been expanded to 150 square meters, in a rushed renovation.

Soysal said Topbaş was breaking the law and bestowing privileges on his son who runs the Saray Muhallebicisi. Soysal asked Topbaş how many restaurants he had opened since becoming mayor, "There were only four Saray Muhallebicisi in Istanbul when he became mayor."

According to the restaurant’s Web site there are now 13 branches in and around Istanbul.

The land around the property of the 45 square meter building, owned by Topbaş, is protected by a special order, according to Soysal. "The name of the landlord is important because under the guise of restoration work, a brand new structure has gone up in the area, which used to be a simple tea garden. Covered with a roof and awning, the construction now happens to be a steel and concrete 150 square meter building," Soysal said.

Construction work began in June 2008, according to Soysal’s statement. "Yet, with the privilege of being the mayor the requested authorization for restoration was given 90 days after an application was made. Istanbul’s Sarıyer 71 Island land where construction is forbidden could be used for new construction when it was a case is related to the mayor’s son. For ordinary people restoration authorization is restricted to the painting of walls and changing furniture. But Topbaş’s son could get authorization for construction," Soysal said. "I wonder if Topbaş permitted the construction as a father, an architect, or a mayor. His being mayor and not knowing the zoning law is not possible."

According to Soysal, the authorization documents do not include dates.

Bid to be investigated
According to daily Cumhuriyet, another argument arose with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s insect disinfecting tender. Two companies, willing to take on the contract to disinfect the whole city, participated in the bid. The company named Sağlık-Istanbul, owned by the municipality, won the bid offering 8.3 million Turkish liras.

When Sağlık-Istanbul supplied the insecticide, for 4.4 Turkish Liras and hired the other company Cesa in the bid to do the rest of the work, the bid was objected to.

According to a Public Procurement Council decision of Dec. 1, 2008, three companies were called on to participate in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality bidding process. "After complaints from the public the municipality did not want to delay the disinfection and opened the bid to two applicants. The bid was given to the company Sağlık-Istanbul for 8.25 million liras. Later, Sağlık-Istanbul held another bid and assigned the company named Cesa Medical Environment Health to carry out operations. After suspicions of budget variance after the Sağlık-Istanbul’s bid, the Public Procurement Council decided to report the matter to the administration organizing the bid. According to law, there has to be competition.