AK Party Deputy Chairman Sen: “There is not a single job created from scratch in Istanbul”

AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Şen criticized the opposition during his visit to Gümüşhane as part of the ‘Turkey Meetings’ program.

The ‘Turkey Meetings’ program, held in a hotel meeting room in the city center, was attended by AK Party Deputy Chairman and R&D President Mustafa Şen, AK Party Gümüşhane Provincial Chairman Mehmet Emin Erdoğdu, AK Party Gümüşhane MP Av. Celalettin Köse, along with AK Party MPs, mayors, party executives, and party members. Speaking here, AK Party Deputy Chairman Şen highlighted the problems experienced in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, and criticized the opposition.

“There is not a single job developed from scratch in Istanbul”

Emphasizing that voters in Istanbul are complaining, Deputy Chairman Şen stated that the sea in Izmir is dying from pollution, saying, “Look at Istanbul. For God’s sake, there is not a single job developed and started from scratch at the scale of Istanbul. Look at the jobs done; they are works that a hardworking mayor of a medium-sized municipality could do ten times over. Now their supporters are crying out. They say, ‘Hey, this water, this water. How can this water be more expensive than electricity? How can it be this much in an empty house?’ You know, gentlemen. Did you not do these jobs? You give the account; you did it. We warned you. Why is this happening? Because there is no problem, friends. There is no problem in our opposition parties. In Izmir, friends, the sea is dead. I’m not talking about a lake, a stream, or a puddle. The sea of God is dead. They killed the sea. Why? There is no problem. That’s the whole point. If the AK Party were not there, I am not trying to scare the people with the absence of the AK Party; I am just showing examples. The question is very simple: If the AK Party were in local power, that is, if we were in the municipality, if the People’s Alliance were there, would the Izmir Bay be like this? Would the Aegean Sea die, friends? A coastal city should smell like ozone, friends. It should smell like oxygen, it should smell like the sea. Izmir smells different. Fish have died. Hundreds of thousands of millions of them have died. What does the president say? The esteemed president says the minister should come and clean it. But did the minister pollute that place? What have you been doing there for years? What did you do for five years? What did you do for the five years before that? What did you do for the five years before that? Why did the people of Izmir vote for you?”

“Our capital has become a main village”

Claiming that there is a traffic problem in Ankara and asserting that the capital has turned into a main village, Şen stated, “At the scale of Ankara, at the scale of the capital, there is not a single project that has been taken from scratch and completed. Friends, our capital, our main city has become a main village. There was no traffic in Ankara. Some people are angry with Melih Bey. Melih Bey did great services to Ankara. Now everyone sees that. There was no traffic in Ankara. There is traffic in Ankara, friends. Why? Because it has turned into a main village. I am just giving comparative examples. Otherwise, there is no such thing as scaring the people. Nobody can scare the Turkish nation. Since we cannot leave our cities and our country in this state, friends, what will we do? We will work harder. We will be more involved with our nation. We will listen to their problems more.”

“We will listen to the citizens’ problems and solve them”

Stating that the criticisms of citizens regarding the economy are correct, Şen said, “We go to the citizens; they say the prices are like this, they are saying it correctly. They say it very harshly. Yes, they say it correctly. The citizens can say it harshly or gently. Is what they say true? True. Prices are high. But we are reducing them; we are correcting the mistakes. Or, indeed, the pensions, the citizens are correct. Yes, we have increased them significantly compared to 20 years ago, but against today’s prices, it remains low. The citizen speaks correctly. They speak a bit harshly. What can we do; that is their character. Therefore, we will agree with them. We will listen and we will solve; we are solving. Indeed, the results of those surveys are with me, and they say that the solution is again the AK Party. The citizens do not abandon the AK Party; while the citizens do not abandon the AK Party, how can the AK Party voter abandon it? They have no such right. While we are doing these, friends, the opposition does nothing; recently, we appointed a commander. We appointed a commander. Space Commander Alper Gezeravcı. Our astronaut was appointed as the space commander. When we established it, the CHP went to the Constitutional Court to shut it down. We established a space agency. While we are dealing with these, they can deal with their petty issues of ‘you gave me a speech, no, I gave you a speech.’ Let them play with their toys like teenagers. We serve our nation, we are at the service of our nation, and by doing what it says, we will hopefully achieve victory upon victory in the elections ahead.”