{"id":41716,"date":"2019-11-26T12:22:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T12:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41716"},"modified":"2019-11-26T12:22:42","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T12:22:42","slug":"istanbuls-secular-mayor-knocking-on-european-doors-for-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41716","title":{"rendered":"Istanbul\u2019s secular mayor knocking on European doors for funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nANKARA:\u00a0The secret behind the latest wave of European visits made by Istanbul\u2019s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has finally been revealed: To ask for international funding for the urban projects of the metropolitan municipality.<\/p>\n

\nImamoglu announced on Sunday that Turkey\u2019s state-run banks are reluctant to lend routine loans to the municipality \u2014 even for paying salaries \u2014 and that this has led him to ask European countries for funding.<\/p>\n

\nHe added that the municipality is now working on a plan to sell Eurobonds to finance its projects in Istanbul, home to one-fifth of Turkey\u2019s 82 million citizens.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe state banks seem to have shut the doors on us,\u201d he said. \u201cI condemn the officials\u2019 attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHowever, even if it is endorsed by the city council, he would likely need the approval from the Treasury and Finance Ministry \u2014 controlled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s son-in-law Berat Albayrak \u2014 to issue Eurobonds worth $500 million.<\/p>\n

\nDuring local elections in June, Imamoglu, of the secular main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party, took the reins from Erdogan\u2019s AKP which, along with its Islamist predecessors, has run the city for the last 25 years.<\/p>\n

\nHe also inherited a significant amount of debt and wasteful spending from the previous administration of the city, with a budget of 20 billion lira ($3.4 billion) and a debt of 26 billion lira, which obliged him to search for resources to pay it.<\/p>\n

\nThe municipality rounded up and parked hundreds of cars hired for official use by the previous administration to display the squandering of public money.<\/p>\n

\nKarol Wasilewski, an analyst at the Warsaw-based Polish Institute of International Affairs, said that this is a politically risky strategy since Imamoglu may easily get hit by Erdogan who would criticize him using nationalist discourse.<\/p>\n

\nErdogan has always taken pride in ending Turkey\u2019s dependence on the International Monetary Fund in 2013 after paying its last loan installment.<\/p>\n

\nAccording to Wasilewski, the Turkish president could capitalize on the nationalistic feelings of the people by saying that Imamoglu would do exactly the opposite after the latter met with various global creditors and bankers in London.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHowever, Imamoglu not only proved that he is a politician willing to accept the risk, but also made his bones as a person fighting the oppression of the government. If he succeeds in bringing further investments to Istanbul and in improving standards of living, his stance in Turkish politics will be even stronger,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nAlthough Imamoglu, 49, has dismissed claims that he is interested in a presidential bid, his victories on the local front, his popular appeal and inclusive profile as a practicing Muslim elected from a secularist party have led many to think that he could challenge the president, who also once served as Istanbul mayor.<\/p>\n

\nImamoglu has paid working visits to Paris, Berlin and London in recent months.<\/p>\n

\nFollowing these visits, Istanbul has secured \u20ac110 million ($121 million) of financing from Deutsche Bank for an underground transport project on the Asian side of the city. The construction will begin on Nov. 26.<\/p>\n

\nNezih Onur Kuru, a political analyst and a doctoral researcher on political psychology from Istanbul\u2019s Koc University, thinks the debates on Imamoglu\u2019s meetings with European investors is an indicator of the recent tension between the central and local governments.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe government has targeted Imamoglu as a potential presidential candidate after his 9-point lead victory in the June 23 elections,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n

\nKuru added that seeking investments strengthens Imamoglu\u2019s image as a governor who defies the central government for public interest and consolidates his support base.<\/p>\n

\nDuring Imamoglu\u2019s European tour, the French Development Agency also signed an \u20ac86 million loan agreement with Istanbul for an underground metro line.<\/p>\n

\nSo far, the city has secured financing from Societe Generale, Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANKARA:\u00a0The secret behind the latest wave of European visits made by Istanbul\u2019s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has finally been revealed: To ask for international funding for the urban projects of the metropolitan municipality. Imamoglu announced on Sunday that Turkey\u2019s state-run banks are reluctant to lend routine loans to the municipality \u2014 even for paying salaries \u2014…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}