Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spent a record amount of TL 1.8 billion ($59.4 million) from the discretionary fund allocated for his use ahead of the local elections scheduled for May 31, the Birgün daily reported on Thursday, citing data from the Finance Ministry.
Erdoğan spent TL 1,897,000,000 in February alone from the discretionary fund. The amount of money spent by Erdoğan from the fund in February 2023 was TL 373.3 million ($11.7 million).
The president spent TL 2,182,000,000 ($68.4 million) from the fund during the first two months of the year, marking a 238 percent increase compared to TL 561,900,000 ($17.6 million) spent during the same period of 2023.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Deniz Yücel said the 238 percent increase in the president’s discretionary fund expenditures compared to the same period last year is “contrary to the natural course of life.”
He said the fund cannot be used for the personal expenses of the president and his family or election campaigns, adding, “Unfortunately, in a country where all supervisory institutions are under the control of one person [the president], this is not at all convincing.”
The MP also posed a parliamentary question to Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz about the issue. He wanted to know the reasons behind the 238 percent increase in expenditure last month and how much of the fund was used for areas other than national security, especially for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s election campaign, during the January-February period of this year.
Discretionary funds are allocated to the president, the government or state organs from a yearly state budget. Users of discretionary funds are offered some guidelines as to how they can use these funds but also enjoy flexibility in their use. The funds are not for a particular project. Discretionary funds can be used without approval from parliament or any other state institution and are seen as a tool to help the government achieve its goals without spending much time working through the bureaucracy.
Opposition parties accuse President Erdoğan of misusing the discretionary funds, the amount of which within the state budget has steadily increased over the past two decades, when Erdoğan’s AKP has been ruling the country.
The Finance Ministry regularly releases information about the amount of discretionary funds on its website under the heading of “Secret Services Expenditures.”
While the amount of discretionary funds in the state budget was TL 155 million in 2005, it has recorded an increase in the years since with the exception of 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.