President Erdogan: CHP wants to sit on top of the debt.

The opening ceremony held in Rize, my hometown, was addressed by President Erdogan, who responded strongly to the opposition's reactions regarding debt collection from municipalities.

Speaking at the Ayder Plateau Protection and Renewal Project, General Urban Transformation and Disaster Housing Delivery and Mass Opening Ceremony, Erdogan said, "I reminded the opposition of the promises they made to our people, especially our retirees, in the squares but did not keep. I told them that it would be more beneficial for our country if they paid their debts to the Social Security Institution instead of making populism. Just because I said this, it was as if doomsday broke loose. Reminding them of their debts seriously unsettled the CHP. They are doing absurd things to avoid paying their debts."

Erdogan stated the following in his speech;

"I am pleased to be in my ancestral land, Rize, after five months. Serving Rize is our duty. We have never neglected our duty so far, thanks be to Allah. We have always received full marks from our fellow citizens. In all the elections we entered, we had the strong support of Rize. Our fellow citizens from Rize supported us in the March 31 elections as well. They did not withhold their support from our party and our alliance. I thank each and every one of you and all my fellow citizens for their support to the real municipal vision of the AK Party. Our love for serving our cities is not temporary, but lifelong. Our connection with Rize will continue to strengthen as long as this soul and body exist. As long as Allah gives us life, we will continue to work, build stone upon stone, and fulfill our dreams one by one for Rize and our other 80 provinces. What do we say in that beautiful saying? The heart does not want coffee or coffeehouse, the heart wants affection, coffee is just an excuse. What is important for us is to renew our bridges of hearts with our people. We do this in our visits. We do this in our rallies. We do this in our mass opening ceremonies. We do this in the different programs we participate in. We run day and night to be worthy of the trust of our people."

"WE HAVE COMPLETED OUR HOMES AND SHOPS FOR OUR DISASTER-AFFECTED BROTHERS"

Today, we are here in Rize to deliver the keys of the disaster housing and inaugurate the completed projects. In 2021, Rize was hit by a flood disaster. We had casualties in the flood disaster that occurred on a holiday. I once again extend my condolences to our brothers who lost their lives in the flood. Our promise to our brothers who experienced the pain on the holiday was that their wounds would be healed and their homes would be built in the highest quality. We immediately rolled up our sleeves, laid the foundations, and our colleagues worked day and night without stopping. We have successfully completed the village houses, residences, tea purchasing houses, infrastructure, and landscaping that we built for our disaster-affected brothers, just as we promised.

Our Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, together with TOKI, completed a total of 108 houses and 10 shops, along with all the infrastructure and superstructure, in Çayeli Büyükköy and Merkez Muradiye. Today, we are delivering the keys to these. I pray to God that He does not let us experience such pain again in Rize and our country. Of course, we did not only work in the disaster area in Rize. We have implemented urban transformation projects in many parts of our city. We have truly accomplished magnificent works. TOKI has built 133 houses and 20 shops in Rize Merkez Taşlıdere and 127 social houses in Rize Güneysu. We have completed the construction of 260 houses and 21 shops in our urban transformation projects. I wish the new, warm, and safe homes to be auspicious and lucky for my brothers. Thus, we are delivering a total of 368 houses and 31 shops.

"WE HAVE INVESTED A TOTAL OF 2 BILLION 687 MILLION LIRA IN AYDER"

Another project we officially inaugurated is the Ayder Renewal and Protection Project, which includes the construction of an underground parking lot, infrastructure, and landscaping. Our underground parking lot, which can accommodate 1800 vehicles, was built underground with green areas and trees, which is rarely seen. Now, cars are parked here. Our citizens get in their cars, visit, enjoy, and return to their cars. There is no human-induced pollution anywhere in Ayder. I wish this important infrastructure investment, which we have put into service with a total cost of 517 million lira, to be beneficial for our city and our country. In this way, today we are bringing an investment of 855 million lira to our city in the field of environment and urbanism alone. Our contributions to Ayder, which is the apple of the Black Sea's eye, are not limited to these. We have saved Ayder from pollution and ugly construction with infrastructure renewal, landscaping, and many other works. We have built a thermal hotel and 6 apartment hotels in place of the demolished irregular buildings. All the construction materials of these hotels were made with natural materials that are suitable for the region's local characteristics and colors. Previously, the dirty water from all the hotels and houses in Ayder was flowing into the Fırtına River. We prevented water pollution by building a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant. By investing a total of 2 billion 687 million lira in Ayder, we have restored its former beauty. I congratulate our Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Mr. Minister, and his team for their contributions to all these projects, and I also thank our architects, engineers, and workers.

In addition to these, we are officially presenting to you today the completed projects of other ministries and municipalities. We congratulate our municipality and institutions that have contributed to bringing these services to Rize. We are officially opening the four different projects implemented by Rize Municipality in the city center, the kindergartens and primary schools built by the Ministry of National Education in Merkez, Pazar, and Ardeşen, the works completed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Güneysu, Ardeşen, and Kalkandere, the works, projects, and construction works brought to our city and districts by the Provincial Special Administration, the arrangement and construction works completed by the 12th Regional Directorate of National Parks and our State-owned Bank. In this way, we are bringing a total of 32 service projects and investments worth 1.6 billion lira to our city. I also congratulate our municipality and institutions that have contributed to bringing these services to Rize.May our Lord grant us the blessings of the good prayers of our brothers and sisters from Rize and allow us to make many more openings. What do we always say? Love, work tirelessly. As long as we serve our country, our nation, and our fellow citizens from Rize, we do not get tired, and we will not get tired.

"WHEN THE PORT IS OPERATIONAL, IT WILL BE THE NEW ADDRESS FOR LARGE TONNAGE SHIPS IN THE BLACK SEA BASIN"

The construction of our other visionary projects that will have a significant impact on the economy of Rize and the region is progressing rapidly. We have passed another important milestone in the construction of the Rize İyidere Logistics Port. The realization rate of the port construction has exceeded 50%. We aim to complete this magnificent project, which has a project cost of up to 6.4 billion liras, in 2026. When the port is operational, it will be the new address for large tonnage ships in the Black Sea basin. With its feature of reducing the voyage time from one month to 15 days on some routes, this port will further increase Turkey's share in maritime trade. In addition to all of these, we will bring our region to the rightful place it deserves economically, commercially, and in terms of tourism by presenting many more of our projects.

As you can see, we have mass openings on our agenda. Our agenda is about service, projects, investments. Our agenda is about preparing our cities for the Turkish Century. We are working. We are not producing empty words. We are producing work. We are running. We are taking service to all of Turkey. We are sweating to create works for our country, our nation, and humanity. Look, yesterday we realized the HİT 30 High Technology Investment Program in Istanbul. We presented a truly important program that will make Turkey the center of design, development, and production of advanced technology to our business world. Today, we are here. We are with you. We are making mass openings. In August, we will realize openings in other cities. In other words, without resorting to excuses, without listening to others, without caring about the problems in our region, we are fighting for the construction of the Turkish Century.

"THEY ARE TRYING TO COVER UP THEIR FLAWS BY MAKING NOISE"

So what is the opposition doing while we are doing all these? They are doing what they have been doing for the past 22 years. Instead of doing work and serving, they are making excuses. They are trying to cover up their flaws by making noise and creating chaos. Now, dear fellow citizens, in our group meeting this week, I talked about our efforts regarding our retirees as the government. I presented with numbers how the minimum pension and minimum wage have changed from where they were 22 years ago. I reminded the opposition of the promises they made to our people in the squares but failed to keep. Instead of populism, I told them that it would be more beneficial for our country if they paid their debts to the Social Security Institution.

"CHP-RUN MUNICIPALITIES DON'T EVEN COLLECT GARBAGE"

Just because I said this, it was as if doomsday had come. The management of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was very uncomfortable with this. Reminding them of their debts seriously disturbed the CHP. So much so that their balance was disrupted. Their equilibrium was disturbed. They started boiling. They cannot understand that the words they say in defense actually admit their incompetence. It's like borrowing from a friend and becoming enemies when it's time to pay back. They are doing absurd things to lie on top of their debts. Especially the leader of the CHP embarrasses himself and his party with every statement he makes. What did he say? The government is trying to make a financial coup. What did he say? If they pay their debts, CHP-run municipalities won't be able to do anything. They will even have to collect the garbage themselves. But CHP-run municipalities don't even collect garbage. When you think of the CHP, what comes to mind? Garbage, pits, mud. You managed to reintroduce the people to garbage mountains, mud, and pits in the municipalities you inherited. Are you going to collect the garbage that you couldn't collect with trucks with your own hands?

"THE TOP 5 MUNICIPALITIES WITH THE MOST DEBT TO SGK ARE CHP-RUN"

As we watch the efforts of the CHP leader to not pay the SGK premium debts, we can't decide whether to laugh or cry. Brothers and sisters, we are not slandering anyone. We are just presenting the facts. Now I want to share some numbers with you. These numbers actually tell us why they are panicking. The top 5 municipalities with the most debt to the Social Security Institution are CHP-run municipalities. 65.1 billion liras out of a total debt of 96 billion liras, which is 68%, belongs to CHP-run municipalities and their subsidiaries. The situation is even worse in metropolitan municipalities. 76% of the metropolitan municipality debts belong to CHP-run municipalities. They don't let anyone take the lead in indebtedness to the SGK. Another important point is this. The municipalities with the most debt are the municipalities that the CHP constantly wins. Moreover, the debts of the municipalities that the CHP took over are increasing exponentially.

Take a look at the list of the most indebted municipalities published by the Ministry of Labor. You will see that the debt of the top 5 municipalities has increased between 9 and 883 times in the last 5 years. So, they don't have a culture of debt repayment. Their former leader had bankrupted the Social Security Institution during his tenure as the General Director. The mayors are continuing Kılıçdaroğlu's bad legacy. Apparently, undermining the social security system is a tradition for them. They know how to make promises in the squares. They love to talk big. But when it comes to paying their debts to the state and the nation, they are nowhere to be found. They are not loyal to their words, nor to their debts. "

Details are coming.