CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu: What Happened to 34 Billion Dollar Earthquake Tax?

* Source & Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke at the weekly group meeting of his party today (January 28).

Indicating that CHP's municipalities provided the victims of Elazığ earthquake in eastern Turkey with a considerable amount of humanitarian aid, Kılıçdaroğlu underlined that the people living in this geography work together to heal their wounds, regardless of their political views.

Reminding the audience that a total of 65 billion lira earthquake tax was collected from the citizens between 2004 and 2019, CHP Chair indicated that this figure meant 34 billion US dollars.

People paid this tax to heal the wounds of the earthquake and to make their cities earthquake-resistant, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu further underlined and added that the citizens bear the brunt of this tax to prevent losses of life and property in case of an earthquake.

'It is the government's shy bone that got broken'

"Citizens ask 'You are in power for 17 years and collecting an earthquake tax. What have you done to prevent earthquakes?'", CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu said and continued as follows:

"And they tell the citizens, 'Who are you to ask this question, how do you ask that?'. It is the citizens who pay this tax. What did you do in Elazığ, in Malatya? Did you take precautions against the earthquake that someone objected? 'Is it right time to ask this question?' When are they supposed to ask it? They have been already asking it for years.

"You collected 34 billion dollars, what happened to this money? Citizens did their part, they paid their tax. It is the government's job to take the precautions. You collected 34 billion dollars, what happened to this money? Citizens ask this question. Citizens did their duty, but the ones who have been in power for 17 years have not done their duty."

"It is not the fault line that has broken, it is the shy bone in the government's body", Kılıçdaroğlu stated further.

'Everyone should ask themselves...'

Reminding the audience that the Parliamentary inquiry regarding the precautions to be taken against earthquakes was rejected three months ago by the MPs of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Kılıçdaroğlu said, "The sins of the ones who lost their lives in the earthquake fall upon their shoulders."

Arguing that this issue was not discussed before, during or after the earthquake, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stressed the importance of a rational and scientific approach if there was a problem.

"Scientists did their job and said that there is a fault line", Kılıçdaroğlu indicated and added, "If there is a fault line, does the municipality does its duty while buildings are constructed along this line? No, it doesn't.

"Everyone who has a conscience should ask themselves this question: For what have you spent the 34-billion-dollar earthquake tax that you collected from this nation?" (AÖ/SD)