The mayor of Ankara has been elected from the governing AK Party in the last 2 decades and now with the change in the seat and a new mayor from an opposing party at the helm, the expenditures from past mayors are under heavy scrutiny. One of the most scrutinized and criticized expense items is the spending on flowers, plants, and landscaping by Ankara municipality.
Over the years the budget allocated on tulips has risen up dramatically from 50,000 USD for 1 million tulip bulbs in 2012 to 125.000 USD for 2 million tulip bulbs in 2017. Most of the contracts have been won by the same company, named Asyalale located in Konya. Asyalale is known for its creation of the world’s biggest tulip carpet in the world in Sultanahmet, Istanbul. The company has earned 500,000 USD from the local municipality of Sincan province in Ankara alone.
Source: Ileri Haber