The government's lame duck plan

Having won 11 metropolitan and 21 provincial municipalities in the March 31, 2019 elections, the CHP increased the number of municipalities to 14 in metropolitan areas and 35 in provincial municipalities in the elections on March 31, 2024. Having emerged as the first party with 37.8 percent of the vote in the March 31, 2024 Local Elections, the CHP gained the opportunity to govern 60 percent of Turkey's population with the municipalities it won.

The AKP, whose election failure in March 2019 further deepened in March 2024, implemented punitive policies against CHP-led municipalities. Financial sanctions against CHP municipalities were followed by trustee appointments and investigations, while the opposition commented, "The AKP is punishing voters who did not vote for it."

PUNISHING PRACTICES

The legal regulations and practices implemented after March 2024 have also demonstrated the validity of the comments, "The AKP wants to sever the connection between opposition municipalities and the electorate by tying their hands and arms." As of March 2024, almost all of the regulations targeting municipalities constituted usurpations of authority . These regulations also multiplied the financial burden on municipalities. BirGün has focused on the regulations that restrict opposition municipalities.

In 2024, the stray animal regulation, described as a "slaughter law," was passed into law in the Turkish Grand National Assembly with the votes of the AKP and MHP, despite widespread opposition. The regulation, which led to the deaths of stray animals, also included provisions that would increase municipalities' financial burden. While municipalities were required to establish animal shelters, the task of collecting stray animals was largely left to municipalities.

The omnibus bill submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October 2025 also included regulations that will increase municipalities' financial burden. It envisioned increasing municipalities' share of general lighting expenses, paid to electricity distribution companies for the "illumination of streets and avenues," from 10 percent to 30 percent.

Social Security Debts

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a statement following the cabinet meeting on December 9, 2024, raised the issue of CHP-run municipalities' SGK (Social Security Institution) debts. While the government was pressing charges against CHP-run municipalities for their SGK debts, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan took action to collect the debts "under instructions from President Erdoğan." The accounts of some CHP-run municipalities were seized due to their debts. Pressure was placed on the SGK to pay the debts of CHP-run municipalities, most of which date back to the AKP era.

The omnibus bill, enacted in June 2025, also extended municipalities' authority to open dormitories for students and issue licenses for private dormitories. Permissions for the construction and operation of student dormitories were placed solely under the responsibility of the relevant ministry.

SCYTHE REVENUES

The practices described as "usurpation of authority" targeting municipalities were not limited to these. An omnibus law submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October 2025 planned to transfer the management of foundations within affiliated partnerships, institutions, and economic enterprises within metropolitan municipalities to the General Directorate of Foundations. This paved the way for the General Directorate of Foundations to collect foundation revenues and rents from properties affiliated with the foundations.

Some of the AKP's other controversial practices towards municipalities are listed as follows:

CHP municipalities' loan requests from the Iller Bank were not met. Their loan applications, which were submitted for approval, were held up for extended periods.

The authority to collect the Virgin Mary House parking lot revenues, which is one of the important income items of the Selçuk Municipality, was taken from the municipality and transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

With Law No. 7554, namely the olive and energy bag, it was possible to grant zoning amnesty for the illegal construction of licensed power plants that municipalities had not approved or had decided to demolish as required by law.