The Electricity Authority Employees Union (EL-SEN) will be filing a case with the Supreme Court regarding KIB-TEK’s contract signed with Turkish electricity provider AKSA, Yeniduzen reports.
In a lengthy interview with EL-SEN’s general secretary Ahmet Tuğcu, he told the newspaper about events that led up to the signing of the contract, which the union says will lead to higher electricity prices and makes no provision for use of green energy.
The union general secretary said that the signing had been carried out in secret and presented as a fait accompli, hence the union decision to get the contract annulled.
Tuğcu also said that the union had been informed that the main opposition party Republican Turkish Party (CTP) will also take the issue of the contract to the Supreme Court, in addition to the lawsuit filed with the Constitutional Court regarding the annulment of the amendment in the Tender Law [which paved the way to the contract with AKSA].
He went on to say that when the articles of the signed contract are examined, it will be clear that consumers will face price increases in their electricity bills every month.
There was no reference in the contract to an interconnected undersea power cable from Turkey, which enables the country to sell back its own electricity to the provider and no undertaking to phase out the use of fossil fuels.
Union Excluded From Consultation on Contract
Tuğcu said the following: “The contract was signed by KIB-TEK’s Board of Directors members and signatory manager Dalman Aydın on the evening of 19 July at the Prime Ministry. Two days before signing; On 17 July, the Prime Minister gave us an appointment and said that the issue of interconnection is now inevitable, that’s why the contract with AKSA should be signed. He told us that this contract will be signed by taking the opinion of EL-SEN and making arrangements in line with our concerns. In this context, he gave a directive to Dalman Aydın, the signatory General Manager of KIB-TEK, who was at the meeting at that moment. [They would] share the draft work with the union, consult with it, and sign the most correct form. We were also satisfied. But two days after this speech, the contract was signed without any consultation with us”.
Contract Signed Without Union’s Knowledge
Tuğcu went on to say that the union only found out about the signed contract through leaked information. No official notification had been given to the union, he said.
“After hearing about the signatures, together with Chairman of EL-SEN Caglayan Cesurer, we called both Chairman of the Board of Directors Hüseyin Pasha and General Manager Dalman Aydın, but they did not answer our calls and did not give any information. The next day, we verbally demanded [to see] the contract, but they did not show it. The next day, we made a written request based on the authority vested in us by the Good Administration Act, and that’s how we got it. The manager was not in favour of giving us the contract. Without our insistent demands, we would not have been able to access the document”, Tuğcu said.
“Either the Prime Minister is lying or the signatory director Dalman Aydın did not listen to the Prime Minister. The second possibility does not seem very convincing to me. Because the contract was signed at the Prime Ministry building. This is purely a childish deception”, he added.
Police Stationed Outside KIB-TEK
Referring to events last week, when police were posted outside Teknecik Power Station and at substations, Yeniduzen asked Tuğcu for his thoughts about this move.
He said that as soon as the contract was signed, three police officers were deployed to all transformer stations and a further two officers the next day.
Tuğcu said: “.…In his statement to BRT, the manager said that senior management had given this instruction and he was not aware of it. But friends who go to the transformer centres daily to repair faults were told ‘get permission from the manager’. Therefore, faults could only be repaired after some hours. From here, we understand that the signatory manager actually knew about it. The police left the transformer stations two nights ago after we announced the action decision [to go to court]”.
Next Steps
Tuğcu said that the union will apply to the Supreme Court by Friday at the latest.
“We have established a team to examine the articles on the contract one by one. This team, consisting of the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, our technical staff, former KIB-TEK managers, and former union presidents, is working on the contract. We will file a case regarding the contract at the Supreme Administrative Court by Friday at the latest”, he said.