As the trustee policy continues in Turkey, a new scandal related to Mardin’s (Merdîn) metropolitan municipality has been revealed. A report prepared by civil inspectors revealed the crimes of Zeyni Teker, one of the key colleagues of the municipality’s trustee, Mustafa Yaman.
Teker is a member of the Mardin Water and Sewerage Administration (MARSU) and the Kent Inc. executive board. He is also a Human Resources Head of Department, a member of the Department of Inspection Board and the Education Inspectorship, and Secretariat General.
Undue tenders
According to Ahmet Kanbal’s report for the Mesopotamia Agency (MA), Teker’s name was mentioned in the civil inspectors’ report due to an irregularity regarding bribery and collusive tendering related to Kamor National Garden. According to the report, the tender was first carried out by rented tendering, before being changed to negotiated tendering.
Negotiated tendering was used to prevent different bidders, according to the report. It was shown that the agreed tender price was not decided in accordance with the procedures and principles of related law. Former staff member Yunus Emre Akça (nephew of trustee Mustafa Yaman) suppressed the tender commission to award the tender to the Nasıroğlu Company.
Two million TL lost
Although the Nasıroğlu Company was authorised to operate Kamor National Park, several documents were unsigned. The report revealed that the company signed a contract, including an article that promised to give materials worth 1,945,000 Turkish lira, and the material would be handed over to the municipality after the company left. However, that article was later removed from the contract. The report drew attention to the fact that the incident caused a public loss of 1,945,000 TL, and operating rights were given to the company for eight years and 10 months. Another fact revealed by the report was that the rent price was too cheap for the rental period. This caused a municipality loss of 295,000 TL.
Municipality staff paid for rent
The report also revealed that after the company rented the business in 2019 and 2020, it did not pay rent amounting to 90,000 TL. Only 19,350 TL of the rent was paid, but 10,450 TL of that amount was paid by the municipality’s staff M.İ.D.
Teker said in his testimony that he knew nothing and merely followed the instructions of trustee Mustafa Yaman.
Trustee policy in Turkey
Turkey’s trustee policy against municipalities run by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) continues to attract scandals. Another report prepared by the Court of Accounts revealed an irregularity in the trustee-governed Diyarbakır (Amed) Metropolitan Municipality, showing the irregular processing of 11 million TL.
The HDP won 65 municipalities again in the 31 March 2019 local elections. However, the trustee appointment policy of the Turkish government continued.
The number of appointed trustees rose by 52 after the last trustee appointment to the Kars municipality. The number rose again with the blocking of election certifications and resignations.
Related News
