A feud between one of Turkey’s leading business associations (TÜSİAD) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) continues to escalate following comments made by association leaders at a conference last Thursday (February 13).

At the conference, TÜSİAD board chairman Ömer Aras criticized recent events in Turkey, such as the hotel fire at a ski resort in Bolu province that claimed 78 lives, as well as the recent deposition and replacement of elected officials in numerous provinces.

In his comments, Aras blamed the Bolu fire on ‘lack of inspections‘, likening the event to Turkey’s devastating earthquakes in February 2023, the high death toll of which was widely blamed on lax building codes.

Criticising the recent crackdown on opposition officials, Aras said: “Elected mayors are being removed from office and in their place a government trustee........

© Medyascope