Ankara games

With Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Recep Altepe, one of the three mayors whose resignation President Tayyip Erdoğan had sought days ago, having announced his resignation, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gökçek, who has run Ankara for 23 years and had been the subject of bets as to whether his departure was imminent or he would dig his heels in, has announced that he will resign on Friday. Gökçek, whose request for one final meeting with Erdoğan was granted yesterday, suffered a further blow over the tender for ANKA Park, which he had described as his dream. Before Gökçek had yet made his way up to the Palace, the Parliamentary Planning and Budgeting Commission removed the ANKA Park tender from the omnibus law under a proposal by AKP members. Shortly after Gökçek announced his intention to resign, Erdoğan Tweeted, “We set out on this road with a passion for serving and not a passion for office or a passion for position.”
 
Melih Gökçek, having waited for days for an appointment from the Palace, went to the palace for the last time as mayor yesterday and spoke with Erdoğan. The discussions held at the Palace at 4 pm prior to the Central Administrative Committee meeting at AKP Headquarters lasted for around two hours. Following the meeting, Gökçek said on Twitter to which he makes frequent recourse, “God willing, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipal Assembly will convene extraordinarily on Friday and I will bid my farewells to my Assembly member colleagues.”
 
Message from Erdoğan
 
Subsequently, President Erdoğan posted the message, “We set out on this road with a passion for serving and not a passion for office or a passion for position” on his Twitter account. Erdoğan commented, “Because of this, we have never been nor will be people who fear the young, who are wary of the young and who do not think of relinquishing their posts to the young. God willing, when the time comes, our young people will take over important duties that have been entrusted by our hallowed people. I trust the young. I sincerely believe that the young will use the resources they possess to their utmost.” Erdoğan posted these messages that he gave the at the Youth Council held the day before yesterday in Istanbul immediately after Gökçek announced his resignation.
 
Celebration warning!
 
Çankaya Municipality also joined in this salvo of Tweets. The pronouncement, “Dear Çankaya residents, the use of fireworks in celebrations injures birds and scares feral animals. Please steer clear of them” was posted on CHP Çankaya Municipality’s official Twitter account.
 
Further blow from the commission
 
Ominous news came from parliament before Gökçek had made his way up to the palace. The article in the omnibus law being discussed in the Parliamentary Planning and Budgeting Commission popularly known as the “Gökçek article” concerning the tender for the ANKA Park to be set up on the Atatürk Forest Farm was removed from the draft. The provision in question included in the omnibus law had not been discussed in the Parliamentary Planning and Budgeting Commission when its turn came, but had been left for later. With the commission concluding its discussion of the omnibus law yesterday, when discussion turned to the article concerning the ANKA Park tender, the article in question was removed from the omnibus law under a motion by AKP MPs.
 
It was alleged that Gökçek, his resignation sought by Erdoğan, had wanted the relevant provision for the holding of the ANKA Park tender to be enacted and wished to resign after the ANKA Park tender had been held. The removal of the article in question from the omnibus law by the AKP was interpreted in political circles as being a message with reference to Gökçek’s resignation saying, “Don’t wait too long and hand in your resignation.” CHP MHP Barış Yarkadaş, noting that Gökçek was waiting for the article in question to be enacted, commented, “There is talk of Gökçek wanting to give this tender to a force that will be able to protect him when he ceases to be mayor. He also does not want to hand over this earner to the tune of one billion dollars to anybody.”