The Turks? They should “move their arses” and check out Mehmet Cengiz’s investments, the Cengiz Insaat chairman told local tabloid news portal Magazin Burada as he left an event for big nobs.

Mehmet Cengiz had just attended the 100th anniversary occasion held by Isbank (ISCTR, launched by founding father of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) in Istanbul and the Magazin Burda reporter was catching celebrities at the door as they departed the venue.

Cengiz did not refuse the reporter’s request to have a quick word.

Video: Mehmet Cengiz having a quick word with the press.

“Isbank is Turkey’s backbone. It has served Turkey in investments for our people for hundreds of years. Inshallah [“If Allah wills it], it will keep doing good for our nation for another 200 years, 300 years with the same enthusiasm, excitement,” said Cengiz.

Cengiz’s ‘intellect’

When asked what he had been up to recently, as he had “not lately been caught” by the tabloid press at high-tier events, Cengiz replied: “I continuously do investments. Do not worry. I keep using my whole intellect, my whole energy in favour of the people.”

Move it

When asked for his thoughts on the social media users who target him from time to time, Cengiz replied: “I tell them this. They should follow a little the leads seen in the jobs I do. They should move their arses a little, they should see the jobs I do.” 

“I’ve done jobs that they can’t even imagine. This business is not done with jealousy. It happens with work. They shall work too. Okay?” he added.

Let them eat cake

“I return the stones thrown at me on social media as bread for the people,” Cengiz then remarked.

Shamelessness

“They shall continue throwing stones. However, they shall take some time to bother themselves with touring the jobs I’ve done. They will feel ashamed, ashamed, if they have the feeling of shame,” he continued.

“I tell you this much. I wish a good evening to all of you,” Cengiz said as he bid farewell.

The issue of “shamelessness” remains a big point of contention in Turkey. There is a consensus on all sides of society that the feeling of shame has been lost in the country.

Raking over old coals

What occurred with Cengiz at the Isbank event was generally taken as the first occurrence of him targeting Turks with sweary language before the cameras. However, his ribaldry is nothing new to various inhabitants of Turkey.

During the week of December 17-25, 2013, the Gulenist clan, which at that point was a stakeholder in the Erdogan regime, released tapes of phone calls among stakeholders in the ruling administration.

Cengiz subsequently became the most infamous character among the regime contractors for his frankness.

“We’ll f*ck this nation, don’t you worry,” he told Kolin Insaat chairman Celal Kologlu during one call.

And Mehmet Cengiz is a man of his word. They did it.

F*cking a nation

Turkey’s government has provided as much as $153bn in income guarantees to public-private-partnership (PPP) projects, including $78bn for city hospitals (to be paid from 2021 to 2045), $35bn for the Akkuyu nuclear plant project (2021-2035) being built by Russian contractors, $32bn for highways and bridges (2021-2042) as well as $7bn for airports (2021-2042), according to calculations made by Ugur Emek of Baskent University.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), dubs the Erdogan-affiliated leading group of Turkish contractors the “Gang of five”.

The five he refers to are Cengiz Holding (owned by Mehmet Cengiz), Limak Yatirim Holding (owned by Nihat Ozdemir), Kolin Insaat (owned by Celal Kologlu), Mapa Group (owned by MNG Group) and Kalyon Holding.

There are actually more than five Erdogan-affiliated businessmen but Kilicdaroglu’s “Gang of five” term has become a common idiom in Turkey for all the businessmen thought to be part of the group.

It is notable that the CHP’s new post-Kilicdaroglu management never speaks of Kilicdaroglu’s "Gang of five". The media that are pro-CHP, meanwhile, presently run advertisements for "Gang of five" companies.

In addition to the PPP contracts, the same companies receive government contracts under exemptions in Turkey’s public tender laws.

Moreover, the same companies ‘win’ all privatisation ‘tenders’.  

None of the companies in question pay tax.

And a “last but not least” note. The companies in question are currently transferring their ‘knowhow’ to the countries of the former Soviet Union.