Mayors at the Local Government Academy

The 3rd and 4th weeks of the Local Government Academy 3 certificate program, organized by the Bahçeşehir University School of Government and Leadership, were held at Bahçeşehir University's Beşiktaş campus on Saturday, 29 September 2012 and Saturday, 6 October 2012.

 

In the 3rd week of the program, with the participation of Mayor of Dörtyol, Hatay Fadıl Keskin, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yıldızcıof the Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Mayor of Ümraniye Hasan Can, Mayor of Lüleburgaz Emin Halebak and Mayor of Fatih Mustafa Demir, important topics such as local governments and civil society, urban green spaces, image management (the case of Ümraniye), municipal administration in local governments, and urban transformation were addressed. In the 4th week, Mayor of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality Mehmet Özhaseki, Mayor of Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz , Mayor of Bingöl Serdar Atalay, Mayor of Beşiktaş İsmail Ünaland architect and urbanist Prof. Dr. Ahmet Vefik Alp gave speeches.

 

Mayor of Dörtyol, Hatay, Fadıl Keskin began his speech by saying, "Municipalities handle everything you can think of. They are political institutions, but once elected, you have to set aside your political identity and meet the needs of everyone, whether they voted for you or not." He said that the duty of local governments is to share people's troubles. Describing Dörtyol as a lush, charming district, Fadıl Keskin added that the district needs to become as well known as İskenderun and that there is no Syrian camp in their district.

 

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yıldızcı began his speech with ecological architecture, a new concept. Stating that the green space per person in Istanbul is 4.10 m2, Yıldızcı said, "The pace of green space construction in Istanbul cannot keep up with migration." Citing parks in Paris as examples of green spaces, Yıldızcı said, "What matters is not building parks but maintaining them."

 

Mayor of Ümraniye Hasan Can began his speech by saying, "The intellectuals and thinking people of this country must absolutely take part in politics." Speaking about the changing image of Ümraniye Municipality since 2004, Hasan Can noted that the district had developed significantly in terms of investment without changes to zoning plans and had become the trade, administrative and financial center of the Anatolian side over the last 10 years. Explaining that the municipality attaches great importance to social responsibility projects, Hasan Can said, "Image is planning the future ."

 

Opening his speech with the words "I come from Lüleburgaz, whose surname is Culture," Mayor of Lüleburgaz Emin Halebaksaid under the heading of Municipal Administration in Local Governments, "When governing cities, not only politics but also the financial structure and human resources must be taken into account." Mentioning that they had reduced staff by 60 percent and that Lüleburgaz Municipality has no debt, Halebak added that Lüleburgaz has shown great progress in terms of municipal services and urban development.

 

Mayor of Fatih Mustafa Demir, referring to the historical and cultural importance of the Fatih district for Istanbul, said that Fatih is where world history was written. Emphasizing the importance of transformation projects since it is Istanbul's oldest and most historic area, Demir described the project in the Sulukule neighborhood, home to many Roma citizens. Addressing the problems and criticisms that arose during the project, Demir said, "Everything can be criticized, but our sincerity cannot."

 

Mayor of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality Mehmet Özhaseki stated that one of the most important factors in a city's development is mobilizing its internal dynamics. He emphasized the importance of the ski resorts on Mount Erciyes for the development of Kayseri in terms of winter tourism.

 

Mayor of Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz, as a mayor with a background in highways, focused on transportation problems and said that the main goals in transportation are to shift to public transport, rail systems and away from oil.

 

Mayor of Bingöl Serdar Atalay, drawing attention to technical infrastructure problems in the region, stated that the biggest problem is developing the social dimension of development. As a solution to these problems, he explained that they carry out social and sports projects for young people, women and people with disabilities.

 

Mayor of Beşiktaş İsmail Ünalstated that society in the 21st century should be people-centered. Ünal, who works for women to take a more active role in administration, talked about projects planned for the future.

 

Ahmet Vefik Alpbegan his speech by stating that he would present the Taksim Street Mosque and Museum of Religions Cultural Hub project. Lamenting that mosque architecture in Türkiye lacks variety, he presented different architectural examples from the Islamic world and introduced the mosque and museum of religions he designed for Taksim Square.