Turkish gov’t to begin foreclosure against municipalities with unpaid insurance debts

Duvar English

Turkey’s Labor and Social Security Minister on Nov. 13 stated that the insurance debt of municipalities, which was 96 billion Turkish liras, has risen to 150 billion liras, and that foreclosure procedures would be initiated for municipalities that have made no efforts to address the debt.

Minister Vedat Işıkhan particularly targeted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) municipalities, and said, "The municipalities that have failed to pay their debts the most are the CHP-run municipalities. The Ankara Metropolitan Municipality owes 8.5 billion liras to the Social Security Institution (SGK), while the debt was 209 million lira when it was handed over from the previous mayor."

When CHP win Ankara Municipality in 2019, the average exchange rate was 5.6 lira per dollar, whereas it is currently 34.3 lira per dollar.

"On July 24, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) group meeting, referred to the CHP chair, "If you have the power, tell your mayors to pay off their accumulated debts to SGK if they want to benefit retirees. Currently, our Treasury and Finance Ministry will begin collecting these debts from the municipalities' resources."

As a response CHP leader Özgür Özel had stated that a "financial coup attempt" was being carried out against CHP-run municipalities under the instruction of President Erdoğan.

On the same day with Minister Işıkhan’s remarks, Turkish authorities in the capital Ankara and Istanbul launched investigations into the expenditures of CHP-led metropolitan municipalities in these provinces for events they organized.

The Turkish government has increased its pressure on opposition-led municipalities after its dramatic vote loss in 2024 local elections. It has appointed several trustees to municipalities controlled by the CHP and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.