İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu explained the backstage of the incident at the İZBAN ceremony in Selçuk. Stating that they learned about the program in Selçuk from the press, even though they are 50 percent partners in İZBAN, Mayor Kocaoğlu said, “The program reached us today, on September 8, when the ceremony was held. So it was obvious that something was wrong. But we did not want to make this the agenda and stretch the environment, ”he said.
Reminding that he was booed by some groups when he appeared on the podium and that voices such as 'down' and 'speech' were raised, Izmir Metropolitan Mayor said, “On the other hand, the President was cheered. I did not react to this cheer, nor did I show it. This is incompatible with my personality. But Mr. Prime Minister, as if he was not there and had not heard of the taunts made to me, attributed my reaction to the cheers to the President, which I strongly reject. "I could not match the Prime Minister," he said.
Mayor Kocaoğlu continued:
How is this partnership?
“After taking office in 2004, the next biggest project was the Aliağa-Menderes Rail System project. Attempts were made before, but it was abandoned. We continued negotiations with TCDD, the Ministry of Transport and the Prime Ministry to implement the project, and finally, İZBAN was established with a 50 percent partnership. As a joint project of the local government with the formation of a state-owned public for the first time in Turkey, we always talk about the pride.
But strange things started to happen that we could not understand. At the opening ceremony of İZBAN in Alsancak Station, supporters other than the guests were taken and that state ceremony was turned into a political platform and the environment was tense. I also faced similar harassment during the groundbreaking and opening ceremonies of İZBAN in Torbalı. They made it a tradition. We learned from the press that the Prime Minister will come to İzmir on 8 September and will open the train from Selçuk in İZBAN. Although we are a 50 percent shareholder of this project. work ground was not created.
Later, TCDD General Manager called me and said that the program was not yet clear. On September 8, today, on the day of the ceremony, we received the program from the Governorship of İzmir. In this context, we welcomed the Prime Minister at the airport and switched to the program in Selçuk. Although there has been a political tension with İzmir for a long time, I welcome the President, the Prime Minister or the ministers. I also participate in ceremonies concerning the city.
I don't know what their purpose is here. But as an elected mayor, as a politician, I believe that I do not deserve such an attitude with my stance and behavior. Those who brought their supporters there every time should have said that a mayor would not be booed. I have never seen this from any AKP politician. Nobody even tried to silence those who shouted during the ceremony. I found this very odd.
Everyone will remember what happened at the Open Air Theater at the opening of the Izmir International Fair in the past years. When there was a protest against Nihat Ergün, the Minister of Industry and Trade of that time, I jumped to the podium and silenced everyone and apologized to the Minister. After that, I made every effort to prevent such an incident from happening again, and I never made it happen again. This is statesmanship, politicism; to show how to behave to the guest, the partner, the state leader. "
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