While there are only a few days left until the most important elections in our country, I wanted to share with the public the view I saw from Ephesus Selçuk, where I have been the mayor for 4 years.

While we have been experiencing many extraordinary situations for 4 years, we tried to create business with investments on the one hand in Efes Selçuk, on the other hand, we tried to cure the problems of our people, and we increased solidarity in all areas.

But solidarity has its limits, of course; Problems such as unemployment, high cost of living and low wages can be alleviated by solidarity, but it is possible to eliminate these problems with the implementation of popular policies by the government with the means of the central state.

In short, the people will be strengthened with solidarity, the populists will come to power and solve their problems. That’s why May 14 will be an election where people’s problems can be resolved or not.

As the Mayor of Efes Selçuk, I can honestly say that for the last 4 years, we have faced political and economic obstacles in every step we have taken to produce service, enlarge the table of our colleagues and strengthen solidarity. Our municipality’s expenses have always increased, our revenues have always been left behind. And we are getting harder and harder…

Because the expenditures of millions of tourists are not staying in our city, Because our shopkeepers are struggling to survive, Because our farmers work hard and earn little and their costs are always increasing, Because our young people cannot be employed in qualified and profitable jobs, Because our families cannot provide qualified and healthy food to their children, And our workers, the increase given by the government they get poorer as they melt in the face of inflation before they even get into their pockets, that’s why we struggle…

In fact, these days, we have not yet achieved results in the collective bargaining agreements that we carry out so that our colleagues in the Municipality can get as much as possible in return for their efforts. Although we propose a wage level that is far above the rate of increase that the government deems appropriate for the working class, we find it difficult to come to an agreement.

Because it is not enough; Neither the economic power of our Municipality nor the breath of the people of Ephesus Selçuk, who show the best examples of solidarity, are not enough to solve the problems such as the economic crisis, unemployment, inflation and income inequality accumulated by the 20 years of power.

The government has adjusted the minimum wage of 5,500 TL to 8,500, we have increased the lowest worker income from 6,615 TL to 15,155 TL by careful calculation, but we have difficulty in reconciling at these levels. We made a 130 percent increase to our colleagues in our municipality, at a rate far beyond the improvement of the government, but it is not enough for our colleagues. They are demanding more than 20,000 TL.

If we were not going to make the workers political material with populist words under these conditions, we had to choose another way.

We would look for a way to increase the wages as much as possible, but we would not engage in insincere shows with promises we could not pay, as was the case in our city in the past; so we did. In our opinion, we have proposed an acceptable level of wage and income increase above larger municipalities.

At the point we have reached now, in the absence of the central state facilities that the government withholds from our people and municipalities, we will continue to both produce services, seek ways to enlarge the tables of our colleagues and strengthen solidarity.

And after May 14, in our government, where the wealth of the people is spent for the people and for everyone, we will establish a country that can solve the problems of our country one by one, develop our cities, ensure prosperity and hand over the rights of the workers to the workers; We will solve our problems from the root.

Even though we had difficulties both as the Mayor of Ephesus Selcuk and as an Ephesus Seljuk until then, I think we should continue to resist, show solidarity and walk arm in arm to May 14 with hope and determination.

Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency