İstanbul Municipality’s bread buffets hindered by one more AKP municipality

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Shortly after the Üsküdar Municipality led by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Ümraniye Municipality has hindered the bread buffets of İstanbul Halk Ekmek, a company of the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality selling cheaper bread and bakery products.

While it was reported that the municipal police of the Üsküdar Municipality tried to remove the buffet from their district on April 24 and 25, the municipal police of the Ümraniye Municipality tried to prevent the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality teams from setting up a new buffet in Ümraniye.

Coming to the scene of the incident in Ümraniye yesterday (April 26), İMM Halk Ekmek (People's Bread) Executive Board Chair Özgen Nama spoke to the KRT TV and said, "The İMM sent an official letter to the Ümraniye Municipality on March 30, but no reply... It sent another letter, still no reply... 10 days have passed since then. Therefore, we will set up this buffet here in line with the municipal council decision."

People protested

While the Ümraniye Municipality officials were trying to prevent the İMM teams from setting up the buffet, citizens came to support the İMM teams and protested the Ümraniye Municipality. A woman said,

"We also want to eat a hot bread from the bakery, to buy it from the bakery; sell it for 1 lira as well so that everyone can buy it from there. Enough is enough. You have made people sick and tired of their life. You have taken away people's lives, houses and homes."

Saying that "she is an inhabitant of Kirazlıtepe and the municipality has taken away their home", the woman briefly added:

"Get off our back already. Let people eat their bread. We wait in lines for hours. You, the executives... You come and get in that line."

Yine Üsküdar, yine Halk Ekmek büfesini istemeyen Üsküdar Belediyesi.
Ve bir vatandaşın feryadı... pic.twitter.com/XfdtGKTlWj

— Erdoğan Altan (@erdogan_altan) April 26, 2021

'No problem in CHP municipalities'

İMM Spokesperson Murat Ongun has also tweeted a message about the issue and said: "One cannot play politics with bread. Nearly 100 of 533 Halk Ekmek buffets have so far been set up in CHP municipalities across İstanbul. It is now impossible to understand that the buffets passed unanimously at the İMM Council are hindered in Ümraniye and Üsküdar."

Ekmeğin siyaseti olmaz.

Bugüne kadar İstanbul genelindeki 533 Halk Ekmek büfesinin 100'e yakını CHP'li belediyelere yerleştirilmişti ve hiçbir sorun yaşanmamıştı. Şimdi İBB Meclisi'nden oy birliğiyle geçen büfelerin Ümraniye ve Üsküdar'da engellenmesini anlamak mümkün değil. pic.twitter.com/Lvf3E5bCN5

— Murat Ongun (@Mrt_Ongun) April 26, 2021

(DŞ/SD)