Davutoğlu is playing with fire again

“Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has given instructions: Any mayor who spends too much will be scrutinized. An ethical council will be set up and will follow up each spending.”

I read this story at daily Sabah by Ahmet Topal, and the above is the introduction.

It was like this: certain deputies reported that, especially in big cities, municipalities were making unnecessary expenditures. They complained municipalities were buying luxurious vehicles and even though there was no need for more personnel, they were hiring new people, causing significant increases in costs, while resources were spent on daily expenditures instead of projects.

There was also no system to audit the inflated bills.

The deputies had the opinion that mayors should be reporting their spending to the party headquarters. 

Well, Davutoğlu agreed with the thoughts and suggestions of these deputies and has instructed accordingly. 

The aim is to create transparent municipalities, and for this, an ethics council will be formed and experienced people will be appointed to this council. Moreover, Davutoğlu has mentioned “experienced names such as Binali Yıldırım.”

When I read the story, I thought, “Prime Minister Davutoğlu is playing with fire again.” I wondered whether he understood the president’s reaction when he announced the “transparency in public package,” or maybe he had not read the stories.

If you remember, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a banquet for the deputy group chairs and executive committee members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in his palace and said, “We had already done part of the arrangements that are introduced in the transparency package in the 2010 Prime Ministry circular. Attention must be observed when bringing up new topics. The timing and content of such an arrangement is very important. It does not seem correct before the elections.”
 
Moreover, he was claimed to have said, “The way things are, you would have hard time finding province and district heads for the party organization.”

Two weeks have passed since this story was published by daily Hürriyet and nobody has denied it.
Now, the prime minister, as if the president has not said this at all, this time, is after the forming of an ethical body that will upset the mayors very much. It is not difficult to guess that this also will get a response soon from the palace.

The prime minister is again attempting an act that would make the president nervous; let me warn him beforehand.

The city needs parks

The 158-decare plot right next to the Emirgan Grove in Istanbul will be put out to tender by Emlak Konut on March 3.

Emlak Konut is planning to build an about 108-decare structure on the plot in accordance with the Bosphorus preview rules. These will be in use as a hotel and the open space will be used as a shopping street.

Of course, Istanbul needs many more hotels and touristic beds; there is no doubt about this.
But, green space is also a need for Istanbul. The city has been transformed into a cement pile with skyscrapers and malls; there is no place to breathe.

Emirgan Grove is used as a park at the moment. If you go there on a weekend, you will see how crowded it is. For this reason, a smart urbanization policy would have been to annex this plot to the park and enlarge the park.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality can buy the land from Emlak Konut and offer it to the service of Istanbul’s population. 

Do you have to build a hotel or a shopping center on every empty plot? Is it that difficult for you to think about the people and the children of this city?

Can’t you find another place for “pool” contractors who are after “constructions to be erected on precious plots” to make profits?