The financial bottleneck that Izmir Metropolitan Municipality was in was also reflected in the reports. According to the 2025 review of the audit commission elected among İZBB Assembly members, the municipality’s income, which was 42.3 billion TL in 2024, reached 65 billion TL in 2025. 77.2 million TL of the 85.7 million TL tax accrual was collected. While the total debt burden exceeded 52.9 billion TL, 42.36 percent of this debt consisted of external financial debts. Its short-term debts were 28 billion 660 million TL, and its long-term debts were 24 billion 316 million TL.

IZSU’S DEBT INCREASED 3 TIMES IN 1 YEAR
The debt of IZSU General Directorate, whose internal and external debt was 5.1 billion TL in 2024, tripled and reached 8.4 billion TL in 2025. It was observed that ESHOT’s total debt reached approximately 9.1 billion TL as of December 31, 2025. The fact that the total debt of the Metropolitan Municipality and its subsidiaries is 80 billion lira caused comments like ‘İZBB is Bankrupt’. According to the report, the district municipalities that received the most investment support from İZBB were Çeşme with 144.4 million TL and Konak with 126.1 million TL. While 39.6 million TL investment support was given to Denizli Bozkurt Municipality, 10.1 million TL resources were transferred to Adıyaman Municipality. The least contribution was received by Karşıyaka, where Tugay was previously president, with 5 million TL.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was a candidate for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor from the Welfare Party in the local elections held on March 27, 1994, finished first with 25.19 percent of the votes and became the president of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Erdoğan’s term as mayor is full of projects that change the texture of the city and improve the quality of life. During Erdoğan’s term as mayor, Istanbul underwent transformation in many areas, from infrastructure to transportation, from green areas to cultural heritage.

HE BROUGHT SOLUTIONS
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was elected Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the local elections of March 27, 1994, accurately diagnosed and produced solutions to the chronic problems of Istanbul, one of the most important metropolises in the world, with his political talent, the importance he gave to teamwork, and his successful management in human resources and financial matters. During the reign of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, radical solutions were brought to Istanbul’s infrastructure problems. The city’s infrastructure was strengthened by implementing major sewage and water supply projects. Additionally, solutions were produced to Istanbul’s traffic problem with transportation projects such as metro and highway. The Marmaray project was also started during this period.

BRIDGES WERE BUILT
The water problem is solved by laying hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines; The garbage problem was solved by establishing the most modern recycling facilities of the period. While the air pollution problem ended with the natural gas transition projects developed during the Erdogan period, more than 50 bridges, passages and ring roads were built to overcome the city’s traffic and transportation dilemma; Many projects were developed that would shed light on the following periods. During Erdoğan’s term, Istanbul’s green areas were increased and breathing areas in the city were expanded. Hundreds of new parks and recreation areas were created.

HE SAVED ME FROM THIRST
As soon as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, he solved the water problem of Istanbulites who lived through Karbala. He implemented the Melen Project, the largest drinking water supply project in the history of the Republic. Istanbul’s drinking water needs are guaranteed until 2071. Citizens who carry water from tankers with canisters and buckets have access to drinking water thanks to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s projects.

In Izmir, the social balance compensation crisis broke out after the CHP municipalities of Buca and Karşıyaka and in the Bayraklı Municipality. When an agreement could not be reached in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations that had been going on for a while between the Tüm Bel Sen Izmir No. 2 Branch Management organized in the municipality and the employer, civil servants working in various units of the municipality revolted. The action that the officers started on Monday continued on its third day. News of an action also came from Buca. Civil servants in Buca Municipality, who have not received their social balance compensation for 7 months, went on a half-day work stoppage.

WE WILL NOT COMPROMISE OUR RIGHTS
No consensus could be reached in the Collective Labor Agreements carried out between the municipality and Tüm Bel Sen İzmir Branch No. 2 in İzmir’s Bayraklı district. This being the case, the action started last Monday by the Tüm Bel Sen Union Izmir Branch No. 2, organized in the municipality, continued on Wednesday, April 15th. The civil servants, whose social balance compensations were requested to be lowered below the legal limit, protested the decision. Tüm Bel Sen No. 2 Branch President Nihat Filiz said that they will definitely not give up the vested rights that were obtained as a result of great struggles. Stating that they absolutely do not accept imposition in Bayraklı Municipality, Filiz said, “The mayor is trying to withdraw the collective agreement. We definitely do not accept a figure below the collective agreement we signed. This is not the first time, we have been signing collective labor agreements for 33 years. While we were fighting for unions in the 90s, many of today’s laws did not exist at that time. Many of our friends lost their lives while fighting. There is sweat under our collective agreements. From here, I would like to send a message to CHP Bayraklı Mayor İrfan Önal. “We call once again: Do not play with the vested rights of Bayraklı Municipality employees. We have no income other than salaries,” he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the AK Party TBMM Group Meeting. Erdoğan briefly said the following in his speech:

IT WILL PROVIDE GAS FOR 17 MILLION HOUSES: If our industrialists, producers, farmers, tourism operators and transporters have no concerns about access to energy despite the wars in our region, there is a 23-year effort, struggle and labor behind this. We made the biggest revolution in exploration and drilling activities. We established the world’s 4th largest deep sea fleet. We literally broke the devil’s leg with our discovery in the Black Sea. We currently meet the needs of 4 million households from Black Sea gas. We will increase this number to 8 million households in 2026. In 2028, we will be able to meet the natural gas needs of 16-17 million households from our own resources.

PEACE DESPITE THE ZIONIST REGIME: We see that tensions are rising again in the Strait of Hormuz. As I said before, there is no negotiation with clenched fists. Weapons should not be allowed to speak instead of words again. The Israeli government, which is known to be dissatisfied with the ceasefire, should not be allowed to arson the process. If there will be peace in our region, it will be despite the Zionist regime. If stability is to be achieved in our region, it will be achieved despite the Israeli government acting with the delusion of the promised land.

THEY CANNOT SILENCE THE BRAVE HEARTS: When the slightest hope of peace appears, Israel will try every way to sabotage it, as it has done many times before. It will continue to arrogantly target countries that raise the voice of peace, especially Türkiye and Spain. Hitmen will try to silence those with conscience with their pens, media, and tools they use as apparatus. But no matter what they do, they will not be able to silence the brave hearts or chain the hearts that defend the right and truth. I wholeheartedly congratulate my dear friend Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, who took a firm stance against the threats of Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza.

President Erdoğan chatted with the citizens and took a souvenir photo.

BABY MURDERERS WHO AGAINST ME AND OUR COUNTRY: We will continue to call the oppressor ‘cruel’, the bandit ‘thug’, and the murderer ‘murderer’. We will continue to be the screaming voice of the innocent children of Gaza. Unlike those who owe their existence in our geography to someone’s benevolence 100 years ago, we will continue to act with a sense of responsibility in the light of our thousand years of experience in these lands. I would like to remind some facts to the baby killers who criticize me and our country on social media: The Republic of Türkiye is not an ordinary state. No power can point a finger at Türkiye and the President of Türkiye. No one should interpret our meekness and common sense as docile sheep. We see it as the greatest honor to lie honorably underground when necessary, rather than living dishonorably above the ground. As Tayyip Erdoğan, I and all my colleagues are the children of a heroic nation whose National Anthem begins with the cry ‘Don’t be afraid’.

THE ENEMY OF TURKISH, KURDISH AND ARAB IS THE SAME: With every new development, we observe again that the enemies of Turks, Kurds and Arabs are the same, and that the issue is not our ethnic origins, but rather our faith, faith and thousand-year-old brotherhood. In this period when dirty intentions are exposed one by one, the strongest line of resistance as a nation is the terror-free Türkiye process, which is in its 18th month. They ignore the blood of 73 thousand Gazans on their hands and faces and shamelessly slander our country through our Kurdish brothers. We will not fall into this trap. We are of the opinion that we have no unresolved issue as long as we act on reasonable and legitimate grounds under the guidance of our thousand-year-old brotherhood.

THE OPPOSITION IS DOMINANTING OUR NATION TO INCOMPETENCE

I want it to be known that we will work with all our resources to ensure peace prevails in every inch of our region. We are always ready to be the voice of peace and to lead peace efforts with the principle of peace at home, peace in the region, and peace in the world. In this process, we do not forget this reality of our country. Unfortunately, Türkiye, which is making a great breakthrough abroad, does not have a main opposition party compatible with this vision. While the complex opposition against the West embarrasses our country in international meetings, it condemns our nation to incompetence in domestic politics. Türkiye, which is in a period of resurgence in global politics, is unfortunately experiencing a literal interregnum in municipalities governed by the main opposition.

WE ARE STARTING OUR FIRST DRILLING IN SOMALIA WITH ÇAĞRI BEY

Our deep-sea drilling ship Çağrı Bey arrived in this country to start hydrocarbon exploration in the CURAD-1 well off the coast of Somalia. We carried out seismic research in an area of ​​approximately 4,500 square kilometers with our ship Oruç Reis for 7 months and reached promising findings. Now, Mr. Çağrı and I are saying, “What if?”, and hopefully we are starting our first drilling. As I always say, we aim to win together, not to exploit. We wholeheartedly believe that Çağrı Bey will give good news to our Somali brothers.

THE ATTACK STOPPED FIRE IN OUR HEARTS

President Erdoğan made statements regarding the attack in Kahramanmaraş. President Erdoğan made the following statements in his statement on his social media account: “Unfortunately, we lost our bright children and a devoted educator in the armed attack that deeply saddened Türkiye. I pray for God’s mercy on the lives we lost; I offer patience to their grieving families and condolences to our education community. The incident will definitely be brought to light in all its dimensions. As a nation, such an attack, which puts a burning fire in our hearts, will lead to political polemics and political polemics.” “It is a conscientious and moral duty not to be used for ratings concerns. There is no politics in pain. Due to the sensitivity of the incident, I ask all segments of the society, especially our press members, to show the necessary care.” In his statement about the armed attack in Şanlıurfa, President Erdoğan said, “Investigations have been initiated regarding the armed attack at this school, 1 person has been detained, 4 administrators have been suspended from duty. The attack is being investigated in all its aspects. Those who were negligent and at fault in the incident will definitely be held accountable.” ANKARA

PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN MEETS WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

PRESIDENT Erdoğan spoke by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. At the meeting, the leaders discussed Türkiye-Canada bilateral relations and regional and global issues. Erdoğan stated that he attaches great importance to deepening the relations between the two countries and that there is great potential for cooperation in many issues, especially in the fields of energy, defense industry and air transportation. President Erdoğan invited Prime Minister Carney to the NATO Ankara Summit and COP31 Summit to be hosted by Türkiye.

In the statement made on DMM’s NSosyal account, the following was noted:

“The claims that ‘there are children missing as a result of the attack’, which are tried to spread on social media by exploiting the sad incident that took place in Kahramanmaraş, are unfounded and do not reflect the truth. The posts in question are a planned perception operation that aims to create a climate of chaos, fear and panic by targeting the sensitivities of the society, to damage the reputation of our public institutions and to shake the trust in our state. Our citizens should not trust such provocative psychological warfare content targeting our unity, only those made by official authorities.” “They are kindly requested to take the statements into consideration.”

The claims that “there are missing children as a result of the attack”, which are tried to spread on social media by exploiting the sad incident that took place in Kahramanmaraş, are unfounded and do not reflect the truth.

The shares in question are; Chaos, fear and panic by targeting the sensitivities of society… pic.twitter.com/kVi4MuLPZD

— Center for Combating Disinformation (@dmmiletisim) April 15, 2026

The Directorate of Communications’ Center for Combating Disinformation warned citizens against disinformation and provocations regarding the school attack in Kahramanmaraş.

In the statement made by DMM, the following statements were made:

“By exploiting the sad incident that took place in Kahramanmaraş, it has been determined that contents aiming to weaken the state-nation bond, to put our public institutions under suspicion, and to create a social rupture through disinformation and provocations have been put into circulation. All relevant units of our state are on alert in full coordination to protect social order against these focuses that are carrying out a perception operation and psychological operation by exploiting the sensitivities of our people. They threaten social peace by spreading dirty information.” “Necessary judicial processes and technical investigations have been initiated from the very first moment against all individuals and content that incite society to hatred and hostility and produce provocative content. It is of critical importance that our citizens do not rely on posts aimed at black propaganda and psychological warfare and rely only on the official statements made by the competent authorities.”

By exploiting the sad incident that took place in Kahramanmaraş; It has been determined that contents aiming to weaken the state-nation bond, to put our public institutions under suspicion, and to create a social rift through disinformation and provocations are being circulated.… pic.twitter.com/sfM6tSzJow

— Center for Combating Disinformation (@dmmiletisim) April 15, 2026