Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer was the guest of the live broadcast of the "Gündem Special" program with Aslı Kurtuluş Mutlu, which was broadcast on KRT TV, Kanal 33, İçel TV and Sun RTV. Making the evaluation of 3 years, President Seçer said, “Mersin deserves much better things. All will be,” he said.
“The state should also give importance and value to social policies”
Describing Mersin as a city of opportunities, Mayor Seçer said, “Actually, this is a summary of Turkey, a miniature city”. Stating that the city is not known enough in terms of tourism, Seçer said, “Imagine you are a rare flower, you are an exceptional flower, but you have not been discovered. I liken Mersin to him,” he said, adding that they had to promote Mersin.
President Seçer mentioned that both agriculture and tourism are costly sectors with very high initial investment, and said that it is not possible to keep these areas alive if they are not supported by the state. Explaining that agriculture and tourism make very important contributions to the country's economy, Seçer said, “Of course, everything is not about the economy when managing a city or a country. Because the state is not a merchant, the state is social. The state should also attach importance to social policies, value them and have employment policies. That's why I care about tourism and agriculture," he said.
Mentioning the political climate that emerged after the mayors of CHP won the March 31 elections, especially in many important cities such as Adana and Mersin, Mayor Seçer said, “There has been a tremendous improvement in the municipalities with the Republican People's Party in places that are members of the Nation's Alliance or won out of the alliance like me during the pandemic process. effort was made. In order not to see this, either your heart must be sealed or your eyes must not see biologically," he said. “Have you been blocked in these 3 years?” To the question, Seçer emphasized that they are experiencing difficulties, but that they want justice, not discrimination.
“Metro means adding a new value to the city”
Mayor Seçer, who shared the details of the metro that they laid the foundation of by saying, “The metro is the most important local government project in history in this region,” said, “Metro means adding a new value to the city. If you want to turn a city into a brand city, you can turn that city into a brand city with such vision projects. If we want to make Mersin a brand city, we need to do extraordinary things. It has been reached so far; 'We will build a subway, we will build a rail system'. Years passed, the citizens had expectations, but nothing could be done. We're here to do it," he said. Expressing that it has been 4 months since the Parliament received the authority to borrow for 900 million lira of the 9 billion lira they will spend for the metro in the first place, President Seçer said that the procedures waste time. President Seçer said, “The foundation has been laid, the construction has started. Here, I want to announce to the people of Mersin. There are also some misrepresentations and false propaganda. 'I wonder if the subway does not, what happened, the foundation was laid?' saying. Our first station number one continues from the area we call the old bus station. Our second station is the area where the current train station is located. We needed a permit from the Conservation Board. Last week, it was released. Our second station will continue there. The third station is the area where the Free Children's Park is located. It will go on like this. I need financing and I will borrow. If I wait for a signature for 9 months, my job will be in trouble. It needs to be done immediately. If the Presidency has included this in the Investment Program, the Treasury should sign the necessary signature and clear my way as soon as possible.”
“Municipalism; I guess it must be to enter people's heart"
Stating that Mersin is a city where there are gaps between the poor and the rich, Seçer said that they support those who are below the poverty and hunger line. Seçer said, “Municipalism is probably to enter people's hearts. We act with this philosophy. If your citizens are hungry, the path you make for them is of no value. We saw this fact in Mersin," he said. President Seçer said, “We actually did what should be done” for services such as free bread, hot meals, home care for sick citizens, cleaning of their homes, food aid, and said, “It seems wrong to me to call them social aid. After all, everyone has a right to the taxes collected. In a sense, we, as the municipality, as the mayor, are intermediaries in order to distribute the shares that come to us from the taxes collected by the central government, that is, the rights of that citizen, in a fair manner. That's exactly what we're doing," he said.
“The ratio of our female employees has exceeded 22%”
Emphasizing that they were the first municipality to implement the Local Equality Action Plan, Seçer reminded that they included a clause in the Collective Agreement they made with the employees, stating that they would part ways with the personnel who perpetrated violence against their spouses. Seçer emphasized the necessity of including women more in working life and said, “When we came to the management, the rate of our female employees among our total employees was not even 18%. Currently, that rate has risen to 22%, or even slightly higher. We want to increase it every day," he said.
“We have public transportation for students 2024 TL until 1”
Stating that there are all kinds of opportunities in the city for a student to choose Mersin, Seçer mentioned the services provided by the Metropolitan Municipality to the youth. Seçer stated that there are Neighborhood Kitchens at 30 different points, and that the mobile truck goes to a district every day, and that there is a Neighborhood Kitchen at the university gate. Saying that 3 kinds of meals are given for 3,5 TL, Seçer stated that they offer food to students 2 days a week, free of charge, due to the month of Ramadan. Seçer also touched upon the issue of public transportation for students and said, “We have public transportation for 2024 TL until 1. We will continue to pay 1 TL to our students," he said.
Stating that the construction of the Digital Library in Kültür Park is continuing, Seçer emphasized that they have opened a very different page for education, and touched upon many issues from Education and Training Support Course Centers to meeting the exam fees of the students, from tuition aids to the dormitory. Seçer emphasized that they contribute to equality of opportunity in education and said, “This is what the social state and social municipality are all about.”
Stating that agriculture has emerged as an important field with the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia War that followed, Seçer said, while evaluating the problems experienced as a country in this field, “Production costs are very high. Talk about fuel; It has tripled in 1 year. Talk about the price of pesticides and fertilizers. The producer cannot add fertilizer. Because there is a huge price increase. As a state, you will take action against this. 'Prices have increased in the world, dear, what should we do? You can't say that," he said. Mayor Seçer explained that they created an awareness by sending the lemons they bought from the producers to Ankara, Istanbul, Tekirdağ and Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipalities. Emphasizing that it is very important and valuable for them to be together as 3 Metropolitan Mayors from CHP, Seçer announced that they will host 11 Metropolitan Mayors in Mersin between the 13th and 15th of May.
“Mersin is the shining star of the world, not Turkey”
Stating that he never got tired while serving and that receiving the blessings of people made him happy, Seçer said, “Mersin deserves much better things. All will be. It will be a more organized, greener city. This is a city where all living beings live in peace. It will be much more peaceful and prosperous. I say this to Mersin; Mersin is the shining star of not only Turkey but also the world” and invited investors to the city.
Addressing the problem of Syrian guests, President Seçer said that the European Union should allocate resources for them under the coordination of Iller Bank within the scope of FRIT II. Explaining the important projects they have done in this context, and emphasizing that despite the work being done, no resources have been allocated, Seçer said, “I have been on duty for 3 years, 39 million Euros; We also signed the protocol for this; We also had very important projects. We did not receive 39 Euros more than 39 million Euros,” he said.
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