Karabağlar Mayor Kınay: There is a System Based on Our Municipalities Not Working

(İZMİR)- Karabağlar Mayor Helil Kınay said, “When we look at the collection of tax and social security debts, savings measures and similar processes, there is a system based on not operating our municipalities. In other words, while the tax debts of those who have made huge commercial profits that have brought the country to this state for years are being forgiven, how right is it to try to collect this debt from municipalities that have a very small share in this economic crisis? But at this point, we will survive no matter what the economic conditions are.”

Karabağlar Mayor Helil Kınay held a press conference at the Kibar District Municipality Service Complex regarding his 100th day in office. Kınay said, “Karabağlar is the old İzmir. It has a great richness with its culture, people and life; but it is one of the districts that has experienced all the destruction, fatigue, poverty and deprivation that Turkey has reached the point it has reached the most. When we look at the figures of this district created out of poverty, it is one of the districts that has experienced the economic violence, social violence and sociological violence that Turkey has experienced the most. Our district is in the third place in terms of area in the İzmir districts ranking. Our 58 neighborhoods, together with our 500 thousand population, are one of the districts that need municipal services the most in all processes. Our work continues with 1,620 colleagues in our municipality. Our words have never changed while we set forth our goals. We are fighting for our right to live for sustainable healthy cities that are fair, planned, resilient and on the side of the people, that value the people, that defend the rights of the people. We will grow this struggle for Karabağlar. While we set forth our goals regarding Karabağlar, we see that it is a growing, developing, sustaining and living city that shares prosperity with its people in Karabağlar in all these processes. “We aimed for a Karabakh that increases its solidarity. While doing all these, we set out on our journey for a social, intelligent, planned Karabakh that is easily accessible. Our biggest goal is a common management approach, we started with a process where we manage by seeing our shortcomings, not by pretending,” he said.

The biggest problem is drugs

Kınay, who continued his words by conveying what the Karabağlar Municipality has done in the last 100 days, said, “We have accomplished a first in İzmir. The biggest problem of the country is drugs, addiction. This is the most important problem that darkens the future of young people and children. It is also one of the biggest problems of Karabağlar. This problem comes up with anyone you talk to. We have established our addiction prevention commission, and our friends continue to work very actively in the last 100 days.”

“If we were governed with the right economy, we could build 3 youth centers”

Regarding the municipality’s investments, Kınay said, “It is very difficult for all of us to talk about investments. I had answered the question of what investments we will make, especially in a region like Karabağlar, which has a great need for investment, as follows before the election, in the processes where we talk about the economy every day and experience very heavy economic violence. Unfortunately, under the conditions we are in, we do not have the chance to make big investments despite our great desire to do so. Because I have never sold dreams. I said that we will put forward works that will touch life with the realities with the means we have. We have two big investments in Karabağlar. One of them is the Atatürk Youth and Sports Center. We plan to complete the work that started in the previous period, which we are proud of, and which will be one of the most important sports areas of İzmir in the fall. When we look at the economic costs of the work when it started and where it is today, if we were managed with the right economy, we could have built 3 youth centers instead of one. The costs have tripled. However, we plan to complete our youth center by next year despite all the difficult conditions.”

“We brought 105 of our furry friends to their new homes in 100 days”

Stating that Karabağlar Municipality has a very strong infrastructure in terms of veterinary services, Kınay said, “We have carried out a serious amount of on-site neutering and treatment work, and we continue to do so. One of our goals is to increase these numbers and increase our capacity. In May, we started a campaign regarding adoption work. We brought 105 of our furry friends to their new homes in 100 days. With the calls we made in May, we actually made a wish for our people to also lend a hand in the adoption processes. We are currently continuing actively. We had said that we personally chose to keep our dear friends in Karadağlar. Therefore, by increasing the capacity of our veterinary services, increasing our work and supporting the adoption processes, we will answer the question of how we can all live in a better city.”

“I do not say these numbers with joy, I say them with shame”

Regarding social municipality, Kınay said, “Social municipality is one of our most important goals. While we have difficulty in providing even basic municipality services in the current conditions of the country, in an environment where we are so poor, out of sight, unable to meet even basic needs such as transportation, food, security, health, shelter, and our children and youth cannot see their future, social and change are gaining much more importance in this period. Especially regarding job opportunities, every time we went out on the streets, everyone said ‘I am looking for a job, my child graduated but cannot find a job, what can you do?’ We would establish a regional employment office. We said that we would not be a municipality employment agency, but we would show solidarity and support to meet the needs of our citizens. We established a regional employment office. The municipality is not a municipality employment agency, but we said that we would show solidarity. 228 citizens got jobs. We aim for a municipality in Karabağlar where no one feels alone, other, or forgotten. That is why we said that we would reach every neighborhood and every house. We are trying to continue our work from previous periods by increasing the capacity and quality. I am not saying these numbers with joy, I am saying them with shame. Because these numbers are an indicator of our poverty in this country. Our goal is to create a people who will not need these numbers. 3,124 people continue to benefit from the social support card. We try to provide approximately one thousand liras of support with that card every month. 488 people receive service from the social boutique, 436 people from our disabled counseling unit. We provided food package support to 3,155 people during Ramadan and Eid al-Adha,” he said. On the other hand, Kınay stated that 5 Halk Ekmek sales points and a Kent Lokanta will be opened in Karabağlar next month.

“Each of us experiences economic violence”

Kınay, who also answered questions from members of the press, noted the following regarding the government’s stance on municipalities’ SSI debts:

“We have been discussing the country’s economy every day for more than 20 years. When we were candidates for mayor, I also shared that while we were presenting the needs and things that needed to be done in Karabağlar amidst all these deprivations, the economy was getting worse, and therefore our dreams and desires were actually very high, but when we looked at the facts, our conditions were very limited. That’s why I said I’m not promising big projects that sell dreams. I’m talking about the facts. I’m talking about touching life. Each and every one of us is experiencing this economic violence. We are experiencing it in our children, our homes, our lives, our municipalities and our services. Therefore, knowing our budgets, knowing our work, we will carry out municipal services by insisting louder that Turkey needs to change and therefore we need to get our rights.

“There is no one in Turkey who is debt-free”

When we look at the processes of collecting tax and social security debts, saving measures and similar processes, there is a system based on not operating our municipalities. In other words, while the tax debts of those who have made huge commercial profits that have brought the country to this state for years are being forgiven, how correct is it to try to collect this debt from municipalities that have a very small share in this economic crisis? I will leave the answer to this question to the public. But at this point, we will survive no matter what the economic conditions are. In Karabağlar Municipality, we are entering this process with a strict financial discipline that we have just mentioned. Look, at this point, starting from personnel management, we have the responsibility to provide better quality service to the whole of Karabağlar without entering into processes such as sales of goods, disruptions in services, layoffs of personnel and similar processes. We are trying to do all these works with very fine and detailed calculations. We will survive under these conditions by presenting the current conditions as much as possible. We will carry out all the processes. But none of us know what the coming days will bring. Even economic experts have become unable to predict this. We know what the process of falling off the cliff is, but from today to tomorrow, you will encounter such things that, although we do not accept it at this point, although we do not prefer it, if there are issues where we are very inadequate in terms of increasing the quality of service or providing service to our citizens, we will necessarily evaluate the available opportunities. Right now, we are operating within our own budget. Of course, we have debts. There is no one in Turkey who is debt-free right now. Everyone has tied their lives to their credit cards. We are taking our steps very carefully in a process where we can pay, make payment plans, plan our investments, and plan our personnel policy. Therefore, we proceed by calculating every penny in all our studies. We hope that the days will come when we will start to calculate how we can transfer these penny-by-penny accounts to the citizens more.