Turkish ministry allocates 97 pct of vehicle aid to municipalities run by AKP, MHP

Ruling AKP and MHP municipalities have received 97 percent of the budget allocated by the Environment and Urbanization Ministry for the provision of official service cars to local administrations, the daily Cumhuriyet reported on Sep. 3.

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The Environment and Urbanization Ministry has allocated 97 percent of its budget for the provision of official service cars for the municipalities to those run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the daily Cumhuriyet reported on Sep. 3. 

Out of the 2,628 vehicles handed to municipalities over the past three years, 97 percent were given to administrations run by the AKP and MHP. 

Some 2,055 cars were handed to 708 AKP municipalities, and 399 cars were given to 193 municipalities run by the MHP over the past three years; meanwhile, only 39 of 247 main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) municipalities received a total of 61 vehicles. 

AKP and MHP municipalities in the Central Anatolian Konya province alone received 165 cars, while the total of all opposition municipalities across Turkey received only 80 cars. 

"This distribution just reveals the level of injustice and partisanship the government has come to," said CHP deputy Seyit Torun upon receiving the data in response to a parliamentary inquiry he filed. 

The Environment and Urbanization Ministry also allocated 432 million liras in cash aid to municipalities after the 2019 local elections, Torun said, adding that the distribution of funds remained veiled by the government.