Some 411 municipalities run by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) across Türkiye have racked up in total TL 116 billion ($3.29 billion) in debts to the Social Security Institution (SGK), a report by Turkish newspaper Sabah has revealed.
Some 1,402 municipalities in Türkiye’s 81 provinces owe a combined TL 160 billion to the SGK in premium payments, with 70% of it belonging to the CHP-run administration, Sabah wrote.
In contrast, some 541 municipalities run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) nationwide owe 25% of the SGK premium debt.
At TL 9.8 billion, the metropolitan municipality in western Izmir, Türkiye’s third-largest city, tops the list of indebted city administrations run by CHP Mayor Cemil Tugay, who was elected in the 2024 local elections.
Izmir is followed by the capital Ankara at TL 8.7 billion, run by Mansur Yavaş, and Istanbul at TL 6.4 billion, administered by Ekrem Imamoğlu. Both mayors have governed Türkiye’s top two cities since 2019.
According to Sabah, the Ankara municipality had TL 200 million in total debts but none in premium debts to the SGK when AK Party Mayor Melih Gökçek handed it over to Yavaş.
Similarly, when Imamoğlu took over Istanbul, the city was in debt of only TL 70 million. Imamoğlu’s office saw debts jump 100 times over the course of five years, jumping to TL 6.5 billion as of December 2024.
The debts are accrued by municipal companies, which are considered corporate bodies directly owned by the municipality. The heads of municipal companies are directly appointed and instructed by mayors. If a debt is unpaid for a certain period, the mayor is aware of it.
Refusing to pay the debt could even lead to the confiscation of the mayor’s personal properties, Sabah wrote.
The municipalities, per law, have been granted the right to restructure their debts for up to 120 months, including 36 months of installments for those unable to pay.
Continued negligence of the city administrations has sparked public debate over starting a confiscation procedure, which would only cover the accounts of municipal companies.
Similarly, the Social Security Ministry last week blocked the deposit and corporate accounts of the metropolitan municipalities of Istanbul, Ankara, western Izmir, southern Adana and Mersin, and Istanbul’s Şişli district, due to debts to the SGK.
The AK Party often accuses CHP-run municipalities of wasting their resources instead of improving public services and economic incompetence. The opposition municipalities also faced criticism of nepotism following the March 31 local elections when it emerged that several mayors appointed their next of kin to top positions in city halls.
CHP’s Istanbul and Ankara municipalities are also currently under probe for “unlawful” excessive spending on celebratory events. The Turkish public was outraged by the news that the Ankara city administration had paid Ebru Gündeş, a prominent pop-folk singer, a staggering TL 69 million for a concert to mark Republic Day on Oct. 29.
Although Yavaş swiftly dismissed the claim, authorities said they were investigating suspected profiteering.