The approval for the grant provided to the Okçular (Archers) Foundation, which aims to promote traditional archery and train competitive archers in Turkey, was based on a six-month agreement between the two organisations, it said.
Mevlüt Uysal, the former Istanbul mayor of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), who preceded opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, approved the payment, according to Sözcü.
The AKP has come under increasing criticism for allegedly providing large sums of money to party-affiliated foundations and associations over the 25 years of the party rule in Turkey’s financial hub.
Since stepping into office in June, Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu has vowed to place the municipality’s past extravagant spending under the spotlight.
Sözcü earlier this year reported that Istanbul spent almost 848 million lira ($151 million) to support foundations, associations, and schools during 2017 and 2018, with the largest share (74.3 million lira, or $14 million) going to the Turkey Youth Foundation, TUGVA, another foundation Bilal Erdoğan sits on the board of.