‘This is only the beginning’: Istanbul’s new mayor cuts funding to some pro-govt groups

Istanbul’s new opposition municipality canceled the transfer of funds to some pro-government foundations, Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Tuesday, in one of his first moves against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since his election.

Imamoglu, of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, won a decisive victory in a June 24 rerun vote, ending a 25-year rule by Erdogan’s AK Party and its predecessors in Turkey’s largest city and commercial hub.

Throughout his election campaign, Imamoglu vowed to uncover what he said was the wasteful transfer of millions of lira to pro-government foundations by previous administrations, Reuters said.

“We have completed the cancellation of a total of 357 million lira ($62 million) of resources that were given or transferred to foundations,” the mayor said on Tuesday. This figure included 56 million lira of “food support” and 165 million lira on building. “It’s incredible. On what are you spending the people’s money?” he said. “This is only the beginning.”