ANKARA, 10 August 2007 — The mayor of Turkey’s capital Ankara is facing growing calls for his resignation and for government intervention after a fourth day without water in the city of four million people. Ankara began water rationing nine days ago after levels in reservoirs feeding the city fell to just 4 percent of capacity. This means there is only water for two more months.
The municipality then had to turn off the taps completely after a major pipe burst earlier this week. It now says water will be flowing again to the whole city by today. “In a normal country, a mayor who lacks so much foresight even though he has been in power for 13 years apologizes to the people and resigns immediately,” said Meral Tamer, a columnist in liberal Milliyet newspaper.
Newspapers asked Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was a popular mayor of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, in the 1990s, to intervene in the crisis. Mayor Melih Gokcek belongs to Erdogan’s center-right, Islamist-rooted Justice an Development, (AK Party).
Gokcek has blamed the water shortage on global warming, but his critics say he failed to invest in new dams over the years despite repeated warnings from experts.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Parliament yesterday elected AK Party’s candidate, a non-Islamist conservative, as its speaker after he secured backing from the secularist opposition.
The AK Party nominated Koksal Toptan on Wednesday in a conciliatory move toward Turkey’s powerful secular elite, which includes army generals.
Toptan, a veteran lawmaker, has served in several secular center-right governments, including stints as education and culture minister. “This is a fine step,” said Erdogan, whose AK Party swept back to power in July parliamentary elections after a tense showdown with the secular establishment.
