Podcast
Erdoğan's bureaucrats enjoy extra jobs, fat pay checks
Once you get an executive title as a bureaucrat in Turkey, serve your leader – in this case, Erdoğan - job opportunities and privileges will follow. A very popular solution is to get a job as an executive. Erdoğan once said he would run the Turkish Republic like a firm, with the support of his pragmatic followers. Here is a glimpse of what he meant by that and how the wheel works.
Last month, President Erdoğan removed Zehra Zümrüt Çelik from her post as Minister of the “Family, Labour and Social Services”. As the Ministry was split into the “Family and Social Services” and “Labour and Social Security” ministries, few people were appointed.
Yet once you get an executive title as a bureaucrat in Turkey, serve your leader – in this case, Erdoğan - job opportunities and privileges will follow. A very popular solution is to get a job as an executive.
According to the daily Sözcü, Çelik was appointed as Kardemir Karabük Demir Çelik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (Kardemir Iron and Steel Industries in Western Black Sea region) board member. Don’t ask what her job qualifications are: She is an executive AKP member, being sacked does not mean she will be forgotten for her services.
In fact, Kardemir AŞ has many AKP bureaucrats on board. Back in April, CHP Karabük MP Deniz Yavuzyılmaz disclosed AKP bureaucrat names and salaries. It became clear that the Energy and Natural Sources Ministry Deputy Alpaslan Bayraktar, who is the head of Kardemir Board as well, gets 77,140 TL (around 7,700 euro) per month from the company for his troubles.
Recently, Yavuzyılmaz made the salaries of General Directorate for Foundations (VGM) Director Burhan Ersoy public: Ersoy is a Kuveyt Turkish Bank board member, and his salary amounts to 161,928 TL (around 16,000 Euro).
According to Turkish law, a bureaucrat or municipality worker can indeed have a second job in a company.
Almost every AKP bureaucrat has a well-paid bonus job: The Ministry for Transportation Enver Iskurt is a PTT (Turkish Postal Services) board member as well as the biggest internet company TTNet’s head of board.
Head of Presidential Digital Transformation Office Ali Taha and Ministry of health deputy Şuayip Birinci are both TURKSAT board members. Technology conglomerates such as Turkcell, Turksat, TTNet have their boards stuffed with AKP bureaucrats.
They pay well: Turkcell board members include AKP ministers Atilla Koç and Mehmet Hilmi Güler, recently changed to current bureaucrats like Bekir Pakdemirli, Bülent Aksu, Hüseyin Aydın who get a yearly check of 100,000 euros.
The Istanbul Stock Market and State Banks boards are also very popular amongst AKP and presidential bureaucrats.
The list goes on and on. (Here are the names with double and triple paychecks)
The amount of those salaries might not seem excessive in European countries, but in Turkey, where 1 Euro equals roughly 10 TL nowadays, it is a high standard. Not to mention the ethical part of having a second, sometimes third job whilst “serving the country”.
It is clear that the conglomerates and the state are tied together, making decisions for both parties. Whose interest comes first? Can one serve the public while getting fat paychecks from companies?
What is more, the salaries are only the visible part of the scheme. Some bureaucrats might also get an off the grid bonus of bids, projects. Why else should they be present on these boards?
Tayyip Erdoğan once said he would run the Turkish Republic like a firm, with the support of his pragmatic followers. This is just a glimpse of what he meant by that and how the wheel works.