President Turkel: ‘I came here to work, not to complain’

Facing with seizures due to debts from previous periods, Atakum Mayor Serhat Türkel stated that he came to work rather than to complain. The 2nd Session of the Ordinary Meeting of Atakum Municipality Council for July was held in the Municipality Council Meeting Hall. At the meeting where the items referred to the commission were decided, Atakum Mayor Serhat Türkel was authorized to use a loan of 87 million 500 thousand TL from Iller Bank and domestic banks. The Municipality Council unanimously accepted authorizing Serhat Türkel to obtain a loan of 87 million 500 thousand TL from Iller Bank and domestic banks for use in investment services and personnel expenses, to obtain usage permission from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, and to use the loan in accordance with the permission. Due to the municipality’s debt of approximately 953 million TL from the previous period, first a 11 thousand square meter land in İncesu Neighborhood was sold at half price through execution, then Mayor Türkel’s office was seized.
Ataçocuk aims to increase capacity In the meeting, the price tariff applied at Ataçocuk Child Development Center was updated. Before the voting of the item discussed in the Women, Family, Children and Gender Equality Commission, Municipality Council members mentioned that the Municipality incurred financial losses due to the expenses of Ataçocuk Development Center, emphasizing the necessity of updating the fees. In the center with five branches, the fees were increased from 4,000 TL to 7,000 TL until December 31, 2024. Mayor Türkel stated regarding the price change, ‘We will target low-income families. Social municipalism is very important, but we also need to avoid losses. We will form a three-person committee here. They will go to Istanbul with our education coordinator. They will examine the models of all kindergartens. If there is surplus staff, we will reassign our colleagues to other places. Thus, we will also prevent losses. We will implement the most accurate model. Personnel expenses should be included in everything. We will never compete with the private sector. Therefore, we need to start with low-income individuals. With this understanding, we aim to increase the capacity to 3,000 students.’
‘We set out to serve Atakum’ AK Party Council Member Turan Mısır brought up the seizure of the Atakum Municipality office, which created a shock effect in the public, during the meeting and asked Mayor Türkel for information about the upcoming works. Mayor Türkel said, ‘The situation regarding the seizure of the office did not happen just today. If it has come to this point, the tradesmen are suffering. We also come from a background of tradesmen, therefore we want to be a lifeline for the tradesmen. We will never allow the tradesmen to be victimized. Everything will be carried out within the planning. In the previous session, I said, ‘If getting on my car becomes my top priority, I would make a mistake; we have also surpassed renting a car.’ We had to prioritize paying the staff salaries. Before the Feast of Sacrifice, I know very well what we went through to pay our staff. While paying the staff salaries every month, we need to add another 30 million TL on top of the money coming from Iller Bank. If the retirement pay of our friend who retired five years ago is 90 thousand TL and is still the same, I will not allow this. It needs to be paid immediately. The retired person’s money has already been eroded against inflation. We have never turned our backs on the tradesmen. We formed a dialogue commission with the tradesmen, but we need to investigate the work done. We want to engage in dialogue, but when we engage, we also need to make payments. Let me say ‘The tradesmen have suffered, they have taken’ but when there is a debt of 21 million TL, I think the issue of the office seizure was not about execution. We always need to be constructive. We are trying to get back on our feet as quickly as possible. When I see tangible public damage, I will present the necessary report to the relevant authorities. To be able to plan the debt of the tradesmen immediately, we need an understanding that will bring resources and revenue. We all set out to serve Atakum, and we aim to complete five years with the same understanding.’