AKP municipality forces staff to attend Erdoğan’s rally

The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, run by the ruling AKP, has instructed the personnel to attend Erdoğan’s rally in the province scheduled for April 24, according to reporting by the online news outlet Diken.

Sunday April 23 2023 11:01 pm

This file photo shows Erdoğan addressing citizens at a rally.

Duvar English

The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has sent a message to its staff, instructing them to attend President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rally in the Gemlik district scheduled to take place on April 24.

According to the reporting by the online news outlet Diken, the municipality’s message read: “As you know, Mr. President will be at the Gemlik Square at 12.30 on Monday. And we will be there with all of our personnel, except the personnel assigned to run the compulsory services. Therefore, I ask all units to immediately do the personnel adjustments and run the preparations in a way that will ensure collective departure on Monday.”

Erdoğan will address citizens at a ceremony in the district for the groundbreaking of a factory that will produce batteries of the domestically-produced car TOGG.

Birleşik Kamu-İş Labor Union’s Bursa provincial head Özkan Rona reacted against the municipality’s instruction, by asking Bursa Mayor Alinur Aktaş: “Who are you to force public workers, who have the duty to run state services, to go to a political rally?”

Rona said that such an instruction to the municipality staff jeopardizes their job security and called on the personnel "not to bow to oppression” and “resist this fascism.”