Speaking on Kıbrıs Postası TV programme Sabah Postası, hosted by Gökhan Altiner, Arikli responded to public criticism and claims surrounding the Fiber Optic Protocol, addressing its content, legal basis, the status of employees and the absence of a tender process.
“Claims of handing the project to a foreign company are unfounded”
Arikli rejected allegations that the project was being “handed over to a foreign company,” stating that the entire existing telephone and internet infrastructure in the country had already been built by Türk Telekom. He noted that Türk Telekom is still owed 48 million TL for past projects and has never made this an issue.
He argued that some of the criticism was politically motivated and some ideologically driven, and called on critics to trust Türkiye rather than overshadow a major investment with controversy.
Response to constitutional concerns
Addressing claims that the protocol violates the Constitution, Arikli said: “If it is unconstitutional, they should be at ease and let the Constitutional Court annul the unlawful provisions.”
He added that neither he nor the prime minister, after consulting legal experts, had found any constitutional violations. Arikli said the protocol had already entered into force and that Türk Telekom officials would arrive in the coming days to work on an additional protocol to clarify ambiguous points.
“Telephone Department staff will not lose their jobs”
Arikli dismissed claims that employees of the Telecommunications Department would become unemployed, saying such arguments were intended to provoke workers. He stressed that there was no direct link between introducing fiber infrastructure and job losses.
Why the project was not put out to tender
Responding to criticism that the infrastructure had been handed over without a tender, Arikli said the project was strategic and international in nature. He argued that opening it to tender could have drawn in international actors and created security and timing risks.
For this reason, he said, he personally requested President Erdogan to assign the project to Türk Telekom. Arikli added that Türk Telekom had initially been reluctant but joined the process following Erdogan’s instruction.
On the role of local companies
Answering the question of whether the project could have been carried out by local firms, Arikli said this would have posed serious problems in terms of time and cost. He warned that the process could have dragged on for years and that reaching a result would have been almost impossible.
He concluded that the chosen method was the most realistic and efficient way to deliver the project for the country.
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