7 of every 10 gov't loans used to finance ruling alliance municipalities
Loans provided by İlbank, a state-owned lender specialized in financing municipal development projects, poured into municipalities controlled by the ruling AKP and MHP. 63 of the 88 projects for which İlbank provided 100% financing in 2020 were overseen by the AKP and MHP municipalities.
Duvar English
In 2020, a total of 88 projects were fully financed by Ilbank, a Turkish state-owned bank providing financial support to municipalities and villages for their construction and reconstruction projects. 63 of those projects were overseen by municipalities controlled by the ruling People’s Alliance, comprised of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), according to reporting by daily BirGün.
Of the 88 100% funded projects, 56 went to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP, 7 went to the MHP, 5 went to the İYİ (Good) Party, and just 4 went to the main Republican People's Party (CHP). The money was used to craft such large-scale projects as water distribution networks, waste collection, and road construction. In these municipalities, such projects are often then outsourced via tender to holding and construction companies closely linked to the government.
135 million Turkish Lira of the 635 million in loans the bank disbursed in total were to just three AKP municipalities - Bursa, Konya, and Adapazarı.
The data reveals that ruling alliance municipalities are being highly favored over those controlled by the opposition. This, in turn, can have implications for electoral outcomes.