Two mayors from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), are under the spotlight for their potential shot at the country’s top office. As their supporters weigh “will they or will they not” questions about their candidacy for the presidency, the municipalities they run appear entangled in mismanagement.
Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, respectively run by Ekrem Imamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, seemingly compete in providing the most expensive municipal services in the country. As a matter of fact, they are among some 30 CHP-run municipalities known for astronomical prices for basic services, from water to mass transportation.
Conveniently walking back on their campaign promises to reduce prices, Imamoğlu and Yavaş often point out a nationwide economic crisis as the culprit in price rises. Yet, CHP-run municipalities already surpass those run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and others in skyrocketing fees. Ankara and Istanbul share the undesirable titles of municipalities offering the highest prices in mass transportation, water bills and bread.
Ankara and Istanbul, where mass transportation woes have piled up over the years due to rising population, saw more transportation troubles under Yavaş and Imamoğlu, who are currently in their second tenure as mayors. Residents complain of a lack of maintenance in buses, transportation infrastructure and metro projects that still continue at a snail’s pace despite being charged highest in their rides.
Imamoğlu’s Istanbul offers the highest mass transportation price at TL 27 ($0.74) for the longest distance, while Yavaş recently caught up with him by approving a price rise to TL 26 in mass transportation. The cheapest mass transportation fee among 30 metropolitan municipalities is in Kahramanmaraş, a southern city run by the AK Party, at TL 13.50.
Two cities also stand out for selling bread at the highest price through Halk Ekmek, or public bread, where municipality companies are supposed to serve as a subsidized bread program offering lower prices than private bakeries. Ankara charges TL 10 for a loaf of bread at Halk Ekmek bakeries, the highest among other municipalities, while Istanbul charges TL 8 per loaf. Though still lower compared to an average of TL 12 at private bakeries in Istanbul, it contradicts early pledges by the mayor for lower prices in municipality-run enterprises. Imamoğlu often promotes cut-price “kent lokantaları” or “city restaurants” of municipalities. Again, Erzurum, an AK Party-run metropolitan municipality in the east, boasts the lower price per loaf of bread at TL 4.
As for water bills, Imamoğlu pledged a 40% reduction in fees before he was elected to the top office of Istanbul. Yet, his municipality gained notoriety for the municipality that increased water bills most. Currently, Istanbul is the sixth city in Türkiye in terms of the highest water fees per cubic meter. Similarly, Mansur Yavaş’s campaign promise was to reduce the price of water, “God’s gift to humans.” Yet, the price of water per cubic meter rose to TL 50.92 in the capital.
Istanbul and Ankara municipalities are only surpassed by other CHP-run municipalities in terms of rising water bills. Muğla, in the southwest, charges TL 89 per cubic meter, ahead of TL 81.04 of the CHP stronghold Izmir municipality.
