Place blame on old mayor, says new one
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 08, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The new mayor of Isparta has placed a huge banner on the municipality building that lists all the alleged failures of his predecessor, who he accuses of costing the city 621 million Turkish Liras.
The banner hung by Mayor Yusuf Ziya Günaydın from the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, says former mayor Hasan Balaman from the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, burdened the Mediterranean municipality with a debt of 125 million liras and sold many of its real-estate holdings at a loss.
Court action
Speaking to the Doğan news agency, Günaydın said: "All this money belonged to the people of Isparta. We will definitely make sure those who are responsible for this are punished. I hung this banner to show what was done in Isparta in the past five years." Balaman, who served from 2004 until this year’s March 29 local elections, dismissed the claims made by the new mayor, saying that he would seek redressal for defamation in the courts.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Balaman said the banner was full of lies.
"If they are decent people, they will also make a list of my achievements," he said, adding that the municipality’s real-estate holdings had been rented out, not sold.
Balaman also noted that Günaydın had previously served as Isparta mayor between 1999 and 2004. "When I won the elections in 2004, I did not do such thing to him," he said.
Court action
Speaking to the Doğan news agency, Günaydın said: "All this money belonged to the people of Isparta. We will definitely make sure those who are responsible for this are punished. I hung this banner to show what was done in Isparta in the past five years." Balaman, who served from 2004 until this year’s March 29 local elections, dismissed the claims made by the new mayor, saying that he would seek redressal for defamation in the courts.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Balaman said the banner was full of lies.
"If they are decent people, they will also make a list of my achievements," he said, adding that the municipality’s real-estate holdings had been rented out, not sold.
Balaman also noted that Günaydın had previously served as Isparta mayor between 1999 and 2004. "When I won the elections in 2004, I did not do such thing to him," he said.