Opposition-run Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) has followed the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality in what has been dubbed the “overcharged concert scandal” after authorities launched an investigation for “unlawful” spending on celebratory events.
The Turkish public was rocked in recent weeks 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.
The claim, swiftly rejected by Mayor Mansur Yavaş, a member of the main opposition’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), sparked outrage and pushed authorities into action over suspected profiteering.
While the Interior Ministry assigned two inspectors to the case as part of the investigation by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara, Yavaş sought to set the record straight in a news conference detailing his administration’s concert spending over the past three years.
He said his municipality was investigating the claim and that payments had been suspended.
“Ms. Gündeş has been paid, along with her crew, a total of TL 4.7 million for the concert,” Yavaş told reporters Monday.
TL 44.9 million were invoiced according to the progress payment and general acceptance documents, the mayor said, citing a team of 146 people who set up the venue for the said event.
But the mayor’s explanation did not satisfy the public, spurring instead similar claims regarding the CHP municipality in Istanbul, which was accused of causing public damage with illicit spending on municipal concerts and other events.
The city’s chief prosecutor’s office on Wednesday said it had launched an ex-officio investigation in coordination with the Interior Ministry to address the concerns.
Seizures loom
A total of 411 CHP municipalities countrywide are also facing legal action over unpaid debts to Türkiye’s Social Security Institution (SGK) running into the billions.
Although some municipalities run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) also have outstanding debts, opposition-run municipalities pull the lead, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan said Thursday.
Official figures released before the March 31 local elections showed municipal companies had accrued TL 96 million in premium debt rather than the city itself, but the number has increased to TL 150 billion, Işıkhan said at a parliamentary briefing.
“And 67.5% of this debt belongs to CHP-run municipalities,” the minister said.
He warned if the municipalities continued not taking action to address their debts despite persistent calls, authorities would begin a confiscation process.
“We have to start with the highest-owing municipalities,” Işıkhan added.
According to the minister, Yavaş’s municipality owes the SGK TL 8.4 billion in premium debt, which was TL 200 million when the CHP took over from the previous administration in 2019 and TL 4.5 billion in March when the issue was first raised.
AK Party municipalities own 25% of the SGK premium debt, followed by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) municipalities with 3%, the minister noted.