Melih Gökçek
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İbrahim Melih Gökçek (born on October 20, 1948, in Keçiören, Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish politician and a former MP. He is the honorary chairman of Ankaraspor. He has been the mayor of Ankara since 1994. Gökçek has won the last 2009 municipal election amid many corruption claims. [1].
Gökçek has made it to the headlines many times over claims of corruption, [2][3], the latest being that he had bought natural gas counters for an inflated price, and sold them to Ankara's inhabitants for a even higher price. During a live TV Debate, Istanbul MP Kemal Kilicdaroglu pointed out that "Gökçek paid $224.50 for each counter and sold them at $300, despite an Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) decision for the price not to surpass $150." [4]
Contrary to the opinion of the architects and city planners, he has among others replaced all crossings with underpasses in Ankara in order to solve the traffic problem [5]. According to Chamber of Civil Engineers of Ankara, the underpasses did not solve the traffic problem of Ankara [6].
In 2003 Mr. Gökçek tried to ban the pedestrian crossing in the city's busiest crossroads, demanding that pedestrians walk through the underpasses. Activists protested the city center being closed off completely from pedestrians [7] and declared that unilaterally taking such a decision is against law. Mr. Gökçek announced that he would make a referendum. The higher election authority of Turkey, YSK declared that municipalities don't have the authority to make referendums [8], however, it took place. Using the buses of the municipality, thousands of people from the outskirt slums of Ankara, of whom almost none had been in Ankara's center before were carried to Kizilay to vote in the referendum. The court eventually decided that both Mr. Gökçek's decision and the referendum were unlawful [9].
He has also closed the middle 4 lanes of a major road and constructed a recreation complex on them (called 'Gökkuşağı', Rainbow). [10]. Partly caused by being placed in between the city's busiest lanes, the cafes and shops in the complex has never been put in use. The complex has cost 3.610 million Turkish liras, (approximately 2.11 million dollars), and has been sitting empty since 2005 [11].
Mr. Gökçek was in the headlines during the 2007 water crisis of Ankara. As a solution, he insisted the water be transported from Kızılırmak [12]. Eventually the faculty of Middle East Technical University's Department of Environmental Engineering tested the water and concluded that the samples contained toxins and were not suitable for drinking [13][14]. Meanwhile, Mr. Gökçek claimed that the proper construction plans for many of the university's buildings are not complete, and declared that he would demolish unlicensed buildings in the university campus. This claim was seen as the new phase in the quarrel between Gökçek and METU by Radikal newspaper [15]. It would be necessary to point out that these plans were incomplete for many government buildings too, but they didn't get Mr. Gökçek's attention [16].
Melih GÖKÇEK graduated from Gazi University, College of Journalism. He worked as Parliament Correspondent and newspaper representative. Performing his military service at Cyprus, Güzelyurt as a Reserve Officer, GÖKCEK got into business life after he returned from the military service. Working as the Mayor of Keçiören between the years 1984-1989, Melih GÖKÇEK performed his duty as the General Director of the Social Services and Child Protection Society between the years 1989-1991. He entered the parliament in 1991, as Ankara deputy of Refah Party. While he was a deputy during local elections in 1994, he stood for the Mayor Office of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and won the election. He was elected for the same duty again in 1999 and became the first person to be successively elected as the Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality for two times in the history of Ankara. He was elected for the same duty for third time in 2004 and became the first person to be successively elected as the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality for three times in the history of Ankara. Soccer and photography is the greatest hobby of GÖKÇEK, who is married with two children.[[1]]
While Gökçek's achievements are questioned among certain circles in Turkey, the city of Ankara received certain international prizes during his office. These awards include the European Flag of Honour (2001), the European Plaque of Honour (2003), and the 2009 Europe Prize.[17] Gökçek is also the first mayor in the history of Ankara who was elected four times in a row.
[edit] References
- ^ Hürriyet Newspaper | Ruling AKP wins in Turkish capital amid opposition claims of blemishes
- ^ Today's Zaman | Kılıçdaroğlu, Gökçek clash over corruption claims
- ^ Turkish News Agency | Gökçek accused of real estate corruption
- ^ Hürriyet Newspaper | Corruption stays on Ankara agenda
- ^ A press release from the Architects' Chamber of Ankara about the underpasses
- ^ Chamber of Civil Engineers of Ankara: "underpasses are not a solution to Ankara's traffic problems"
- ^ Article from the website of an activist group "Ankara Platform"
- ^ http://www.aksam.com.tr/arsiv/aksam/2003/10/24/icanadolu/icanadolu1.html
- ^ Radikal Newspaper, "people from Ankara's rural areas were transported to vote in the referendum", "referendum declared invalid"
- ^ Map of Rainbow in Google Maps)
- ^ Hurriyet Newspaper | Gökçek's Rainbow Project Became a Fiasco
- ^ Consumers' Association, "Kızılırmak water is not drinkable"
- ^ Press release from METU's Environmental Engineering Department
- ^ METU's president Ural Akbulut: "Kızılırmak water contains 2 times more Arsenic than the limit"
- ^ Radikal newspaper | Gökçek takes revenge from University over arsenic claims
- ^ Milliyet newspaper | Will Gökçek also demolish the Ministry buildings?
- ^ http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Press/StopPressView.asp?ID=2169
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vedat Aydın |
Mayor of Ankara 1994–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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