When the Istanbul mayoral candidate for an election alliance led by Justice and Development Party (AKP), Binali Yildirim, said March 26, “We have to collect more taxes in Istanbul,” the statement hit a nerve with the public. Efforts were promptly made to remove the statement from the internet so as not to damage his candidacy in the March 31 municipal elections.

But Yildirim was right; the municipality is on the brink of bankruptcy. It is crucial to see the extent of the financial difficulties the city faces to understand why Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP are so reluctant to accept the results of the elections in Istanbul, where Yildirim has been trailing by a margin of some 15,000 votes.

Istanbul, a city of 15 million, has a budget for 2019 of 23.8 billion liras (over $4 billion); this is an 18.4% increase over 2018. The municipality also has two agencies that work as its partners: a directorate responsible for transportation management known as IETT and water and disposal management known as ISKI. When these are included, the total budget reaches almost 35 billion liras (more than $6 billion).

The municipality also has 28 official companies under its umbrella that handle areas such as the city parks, parking lots, city planning or natural gas distribution for consumers. The 2018 oversight report submitted to the parliament shows that the municipality (all of its companies and partners combined) is 22 billion liras (over $4 billion) in debt.