Burdur Governor tells AKP deputy 'I'll take you with me', deputy requests protective police

AKP Burdur MP Adem Korkmaz claimed he was threatened by his province's governor Tülay Baydar Bilgihan and filed a request for protective police with the Ankara Governor's Office on September 10, citing "explicit threats" and "vital danger."

The dispute stemmed from water meter replacements in Burdur's villages. Korkmaz alleged that the provincial administration directed citizens to a specific company for the meter replacement and demanded 65,000 lira for the work; when he objected, he claimed Governor Bilgihan said "If I am dismissed, I'll take him with me." Korkmaz said that when he went directly to the governor to ask for clarification, Bilgihan confirmed his words: "Instead of telling me not to take it seriously, he said 'Yes, that's correct' and repeated the same statement."

Korkmaz also escalated the matter to the Interior Ministry; however, he noted that no solution came from the ministry. Speaking to Sözcü Newspaper, the deputy said, "I am not someone who fears death; I would not have wanted to be in the news over such a matter."

Open conflict between a provincial governor and an ruling party MP from the same province is extremely rare in Turkey; while governors are appointed and MPs are elected, both are effectively tied to the same government bloc. The fact that the Interior Ministry has taken no action to date suggests the incident has a political dimension as much as a bureaucratic one.