Democratic “water”

The inescapable conditions for countries to leave feudalism behind and become states from the end of the XIX century are: 1) Local self-government bodies (of course, elected); 2)The press. As municipalities are elected bodies created to meet the daily needs of citizens, candidates take full responsibility for the promises they make during the election campaign.

Municipal services are primarily responsible for cleaning works and water supply. Therefore, the authority to determine the costs of these works to be paid by citizens also belongs to the municipalities that provide cleaning services and sell water.

Today, even small-town municipalities of Turkey have relevant departments to supply water to the population. In the metropolises, relevant head offices have been established to bring water to the city, determine its price, and sell it according to the population. For example, since the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ) of the Istanbul Municipality is responsible for planning the water needs of the 20-million-strong metropolis, laying pipelines, and then delivering water to the population without interruption, which body other than İSKİ can have the authority to close water clocks, determine the price of water, and collect water fees?

Those who have watched Turkey since the early 1990s will remember that the issue of "bribes in the sale of chlorine" occurred in the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration of the Istanbul Municipality in July 1993 was one of the arguments that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used most frequently during the election campaign and that played a decisive role in his election as mayor of Istanbul in the March 27, 1994, elections.

In the re-election held on June 23, 2019, the promise and slogan of the opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, "I will reduce the price of water by 40%", played a very important role in his election as mayor of Istanbul.

One of the biggest concessions made by the Istanbul municipality to the population during the epidemic, which has been going on for 11 months, has been to keep water prices as low as possible. In other words, the body responsible for bringing water to the city determines its price and does not have a law unto its own because it knows very well that it has a maximum responsibility to the population.

It is natural that the price of water varies depending on the cost price in different cities of the country. If the relevant department of the municipality lays pipes and brings water to the city and puts a clock on houses, offices, and companies and says, "Hey, Tariff Council, come, you determine the price of this water," it would not be related to the area of the city administration, but to the area of psychiatry.

In the world of the last 150 years, if a pair of eyes given by God is enough for everyone to see such a naked truth, in what century should we live to not see it? In other words, which country would instruct the Tariff Council to increase the price of water "produced" by local governments to deliver to the population? What kind of state governance is this, where can you see the analogue of this attitude towards citizens?

I have to remind you of such a simple truth after the Tariff Council of Azerbaijan increased the price of water in the country by 100%. Because this increase inevitably brought a lot of questions with itself so that we can repeat some of them again and again:

• Which state body "produces" the water quoted by the Tariff Council?
• Do municipalities have a role in providing water to the residents of cities, districts, and settlements?
• What is the role of the Tariff Council in the delivery of water to residents of cities, districts, and settlements?
• In countries with free-market economies, the prices of basic consumer goods are regulated and announced by NGOs. For example, in Turkey, the price of fuel is regulated by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, the price of bread is determined by the Chamber of Bakery, etc. Which "instrument" of the economic system is the Tariff Council: the market or the state economy? Or another system that is not yet known to the world?

When I say "water", I think of former President of Turkey, Celal Bayar, and former Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Ogtay Asadov. In 1955, the Menderes government appointed Süleyman Demirel as the Director of the Department of Dams in the State Water Works (DSI). After the military coup of 1960, while former President Celal Bayar was serving his sentence in Kayseri prison, and Süleyman Demirel came to power through elections and became Prime Minister. Celal Bayar used to say every day that “If İsmet Paşa was alive, he would have forgiven us, but our water director will not forgive.”

"Our water director" was the chairman of the Milli Majlis for 15 years.

All of them are examples that have left deep traces in history...

Mayis Alizade