“Why do you always ask me about closing bars and brothels?” said Tayyip Erdogan after his 1994 victory as the mayor of Istanbul. “Why don’t you ask me about buses, rubbish collection, pollution or water?”

Erdogan is a competent and energetic administrator. Even his opponents admit this. Under his leadership, Istanbul’s residents saw the quality of basic services improve. Residents saw new amenities such as new hospitals, and schools and the expansion of the city’s bus system. Judas trees native to Istanbul appeared again along the city’s boulevards with their signature deep-pink blossom.

Erdogan’s mayorship visibly improved Istanbul’s smog problem by expanding the city’s natural gas distribution system as a replacement for dirty coal burning heaters. He also tackled Istanbul’s water crisis

In 1994 less than 15 per cent of Istanbul’s residents had access to waste water treatment. By 1998 this figure had climbed to 65pc. Today 100pc of Istanbul’s sewage is treated before being released into the sea. Every citizen has access to piped water and there are no water bowsers operated by ‘state patronised’ bowser mafia clogging and destroying the streets of Istanbul.

Naeem Sadiq

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2018