That mayor, Ökkeş Elmasoğlu, should perhaps run for president.
And the funny thing (not funny but ironic maybe) is it seems people didn't like that mayor and were irritated sometime because "he was always too much by the book." Now I'm sure the people of that town are grateful to have a mayor like that.
> Construction amnesties, which allow owners to register unlicensed properties or ones that violate building codes in exchange for a fine, have made a bad situation much worse. Mr Erdogan’s government passed several such amnesties, the latest in 2018, ahead of general elections. The opposition backed the move, because it was popular with voters.
I can’t imagine how much pressure and intimidation this mayor suffered to refuse bribes from (probably very) well resourced and connected individuals/cartels.
You're probably overestimating the representation of corruption among individuals. It's rare, not common; which is also why it upsets most everyone (if it were actually the common, it wouldn't upset so). Obviously it can also be more common in some places than others, depending on context. And it's a percentage tax - a friction - on progress, not an absolute stoppage.
Mortality is universal yet it manages to upset everyone some of the time.