Former HDP Deputy: Second house should be heavily taxed

In Turkey, the biggest terrorist organizations are the construction gangs, which also finance the political parties, and to fight these gangs, the opposition should unite to change the whole policy and culture of urban planning and reconstruction, a former HDP deputy said Friday.

In a live debate on TV in Turkey's Halk TV, Sirri Sureyya Onder said radical changes were needed, such as heavy taxation on people who own more than one property or a complete ban on inheriting more than one house.

“Nothing is as organized, insidious, contagious and destructive as the construction gangs. It is a large chain, not just the construction planning commissions. We know of incidents where people have shot each other to get on these commissions. You have to look at who got rich in these places and increased their wealth,” Onder said.

He explained that throughout history, governments in Turkey have never properly fulfilled their role as regulators, so people who have migrated to big cities have built slums to meet their own housing needs, resulting in an economy of unearned rental income.

"This is something that extends to funding of political parties. Two more floors have always been approved, and new master plans are created. If you approve two more floors, you can steal everyone else's rights to wind and oxygen, steal their time in traffic, and turn that into income for just one person. You can call it a construction gang. No party is exempt from this. Let us talk frankly. The fastest compromises are zoning ordinances. Things will never get busy there."

Onder also said that councils should be established in cities where all sectors are represented and that the people should decide on the planning of the city.

According to Onder, heavy taxation should be imposed on second houses, and these houses should not be left inherited.