Tanju Özcan, the controversial mayor of the northern Turkish province of Bolu, sought to make good on his promise to erect a statue of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The mayor, from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), vowed to fulfill his promise if the incumbent president won May 14 elections. Confident of the opposition victory, Özcan faced protests by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) members following Erdoğan’s win. The Erdoğan supporters even left bags of cement to “help” Özcan.
Recently, Özcan tweeted his regret about making a bet but insisted he would fulfill his pledge. “But the regulations say that you need the consent of a person to erect his/her statue, so I asked for Mr. President’s consent by writing him a letter. Metin Kıratlı, head of Administrative Works at the Turkish Presidency, responded to Özcan’s letter. Kıratlı said the president did not consent to the erection of his statue. “Mr. President emphasized that statesmen should not be remembered through their statues but rather, their services, but advised that it would be more appropriate to spend the money allocated for the statue to be delivered to people in need,” the letter said.
Özcan said in a written statement on Friday that he would follow the advice and deliver the money he allocated to needy people in a fair way.
