The municipal council in the Turkish city of Bolu approved approved the mayor’s proposal to charge higher fees for utilities like water and solid waste bills in what has been called a racist proposal by critics, Duvar English reported on Wednesday.
Mayor Tanju Özcan was brought to consideration by the council’s members from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and İYİ (Good) Party who gave a “yes” vote. The outlet reports that councilors from the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) dissented as the proposal was submitted to the city’s planning and budget commission. Following a review, it will be returned to the council for a vote.
Özcan, who hails from the main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), reportedly refused permission for AKP councilors to take the rostrum. He also allegedly threw boxes of tea at them in reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s same action in disaster struck regions of southern Turkey.
“Do I have to do just like the President to calm you down? Take this tea, drink it, and calm down,” Özcan said, which got the applause of the CHP councilors, according to Duvar English.
The national party distanced itself from Özcan’s position by saying that his views on refugees were personal and not a reflection of the CHP’s position.
“The prevention of a basic life right such as water, even the discussion of this topic, runs completely against our party’s policies. We believe that the Bolu municipality’s valuable councilors will not take a contrary decision,” the CHP had said on July 27.
Concerns are mounting in Turkey over the risk that migration from Afghanistan will surge as the Taliban and Afghan government continue to clash with greater intensity. This recent round of fighting has taken place amidst a Taliban advance closer to Afghanistan’s largest cities, negotiations in Qatar’s capital Doha, and the continued withdrawal of United States forces after two decades of war.
Afghan migrants have crossed into Turkey from neighbouring Iran in increasing numbers as the fighting persists. Many undertake dangerous smuggling routes across Iran’s north to reach Turkey’s eastern border.
Turkey is already hosting four million Syrian refugees and thousands of Afghans who are fleeing wars in their home countries. This has had the negative side effect of increased public anger against the new arrivals because of the poor state of the Turkish economy and an unfriendly media ecosystem that often maligns these migrants.
On Wednesday, Turkey criticised a U.S. plan to encourage Afghans looking to resettle in the country to reach third countries where they can make their await the results of their applications. The Turkish foreign ministry said that Washington did not consult it ahead of issuing this new policy, and it was risking a new refugee crisis in the region.
The CHP and its Nation Alliance partner, the Iyi Party, are opposed to Erdoğan’s Afghanistan proposal and remain opposed to admitting more refugees onto Turkish territory. The CHP in particular has taken what some observers call the harshest tone against hosting refugees on Turkish territory.
Ahval