23.10.2026 18:20
Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Murat Kurum, in response to a question asked by noting that an impression had been created that mayors who transferred to the AK Party had met with him before joining the AK Party, said, "I do not invite any mayor saying, 'Come, let's meet.' Requests for meetings come from them, and we meet with every mayor who wants to meet. As if we are summoning everyone and applying pressure on everyone."
Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum met with general publication directors of media organizations in Istanbul. After his statements, answering questions from press members, Minister Kurum gave the following answer to the question “Transfers of mayors are very much on the agenda recently. The fact that many of them meet with you before switching to the AK Party is both reflected on cameras and served to the press. There is an image as if they meet with you and then switch to the AK Party. How does the meeting traffic work in this regard? That is, does the request come from you or from the mayors”:
“I DO NOT INVITE ANY MAYOR SAYING ‘COME, LET’S TALK’”
“I do not invite any mayor saying ‘Come, let’s talk.’ Meeting requests come from themselves, and we meet with every mayor who wants to meet. We should meet with those who want to meet. Look, for example, this climate issue is an issue that concerns 86 million people. The earthquake issue is an issue that concerns 86 million citizens. Remember the previous period; especially opposition parties were putting forward a politics like ‘We are being blocked, our works are not being done, they are not being made to be done.’ We stated that this was not realistic, but perhaps these meetings this period have actually clearly revealed this reality. Therefore, we meet with everyone on such sensitive issues, and we will continue to meet. Within the framework of these meetings, we talk about the city’s needs and expectations, and we make decisions.
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO MEET”
The fact that we are building 500 thousand houses in the earthquake region has actually concretely shown our will, our determination, and how quickly we realize our dreams for the city together with that team. I think the point the opposition misses here is this: Each mayor, for example Izmir, said, ‘I want to serve my city, I want to invest in my city. Therefore, I want to work more closely with you.’ Now, here, actually the opposition needs to turn the mirror and look at this: Why could it not carry this work forward in this harmony with its council member, headquarters, and MPs while in opposition? Why could it not take these decisions? Why could it not implement these decisions? While it needs to question this, they touch on other issues. As if we are inviting everyone, applying pressure to everyone, taking everyone into our back room and threatening them... The mayors who come and go are all here. They can state it very clearly themselves. All of these are lies and slander. In the end, we will continue to meet.”
When asked about the rental housing project, Kurum stated that they would realize 15 thousand rental houses in Istanbul and that they had completed 2 thousand of them, and said, “In December, we will draw the lottery with the attendance of our President.”