Bıyıklı said, “Just as those who owe taxes to the state are not deprived of their right to vote in local and general elections, the voting rights of businesses that owe their dues to the chamber of commerce cannot and should not be taken away from them. The dues debt is paid one day, but it is not possible to make up for the vote that is not used.”
Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce Presidential Candidate İbrahim Bıyıklı reacted to the suspension of membership of Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce members due to their inability to pay their dues. Publishing a press release, İbrahim Bıyıklı requested that members who owe dues due to force majeure due to the Covid-19 pandemic be forgiven and their suspended memberships activated. İbrahim Bıyıklı said that the election of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and the Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce will take place in the near future, and that the members' right to elect and be elected should not be taken away.
“WE APPLIED TO DO WHAT NEEDED”
Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce Presidential Candidate İbrahim Bıyıklı made statements about the members' right to elect and be elected in the chamber and stock exchange elections that will be held in the near future, "We have applied to the Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce to do the necessary. As it is known, many of the members of the chamber of commerce experienced financial problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which left our country, as well as the whole world, with great problems. The current management of our chamber of commerce could not adequately support our members during the pandemic,” he added.
“COMPENSATION FOR UNUSED VOTE IS NOT POSSIBLE”
Drawing attention to the situation of the members whose memberships were frozen, İbrahim Bıyıklı said, “The chamber management demanded full and timely dues payments from our members as if they were going through a normal process, and suspended the chamber memberships of those who could not pay. Aside from the problems experienced by our members, it has been regulated in the second paragraph of Article 10 of the Law No. 5174 that the chamber membership should be active in terms of the right to vote and be elected in the upcoming elections, and the current administration has carried out the suspension procedures based on this provision. Just as those who owe taxes to the state cannot be deprived of their right to vote in local and general elections, the voting rights of businesses that owe dues to the chamber of commerce cannot and should not be taken away from them. The dues debt is paid one day, but it is not possible to make up for the vote that is not used.”