As he highlighted the austerity measures of the government, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday criticized Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu for a controversial trip for journalists to Italy.

Imamoğlu, who secured a second term in the metropolitan municipality for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), drew public ire for accompanying a group of journalists to Rome aboard a private plane recently. All expenses paid from the municipality’s budget, the trip came under fire from critics of Imamoğlu, who claimed the mayor wined and dined in the city’s best restaurants and hotels.

Addressing an event at the Turkish Court of Accounts, which inspects expenditures of municipalities and similar public institutions, President Erdoğan said the court’s work was more important now than ever amid austerity in public spending. "No institution can waste its resources. We cannot tolerate some people spending the meager resources of the nation for their own publicity. We recently witnessed municipal resources to be used for personal gain, along with the appointment of municipal staff related to mayors," he said, referring to nepotism allegations against some CHP-run municipalities.

"There is no justification to take journalists on a tour of Rome out of the pocket of the public. Every person in authority, whether appointed or election, should be more sensitive toward public resources," Erdoğan said.

Answering criticism last week, Imamoğlu told reporters there was nothing wrong with the trip, whose main purpose was signing a deal for the city hosting the 2027 European Games.

"It is only natural that we invited journalists. Next time, we will see to it that we won’t have any shortcomings (while arranging those trips). There is nothing wrong (with the trip)," he said.

Imamoğlu also highlighted that it was the first time that they had organized such a trip during his tenure.