Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer He explained his projects, which set an example for Turkey and will shed light on the future, at the press conference held by the Izmir Branch of the Economy Correspondents Association. President Soyer, in his speech, gave the good news that the Izmir Economics Congress will convene again for Turkey's second century, and announced that they will launch the Izmir World Peace Prize. Soyer said, “After the centennial, Izmir will be a city remembered for peace.”
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyermet with the representatives of the Izmir press at the meeting titled “Izmir Metropolitan Municipality's Contributions to the Urban Economy” organized by the Izmir Branch of the Economy Correspondents Association (EMD). EMD İzmir Branch President Murat Demircan, İzmir Journalists Association President Dilek Gappi, municipal bureaucrats and representatives of İzmir press attended the meeting at İsmet İnönü Cultural Center.
100th Anniversary Economics Congress convenes in Izmir
President Tunç Soyer In his speech, he gave the good news that the Izmir Economics Congress, which steers Turkey's destiny, will meet again in Izmir in the second century of Turkey. Expressing that the Economics Congress is of great importance not only for Turkey but also for the history of humanity, President Soyer said, “The Economics Congress met to determine the economic policies of a state before the republic was established. The organizers of the Economic Congress decided how the state should intervene in economic policies. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk brought together the representatives of 4 different social strata at the Economics Congress a century ago. Traders, industrialists, workers and farmers. Between 200 February and 17 March, 4 delegates discussed what kind of society they dream of and what kind of economy they want. We will bring these 4 social layers together with the same number of representatives. From 1 August, these layers of society will negotiate for 3 months. We, as the organizing committee, will present the 5 questions to them. We will ask them to determine all 5 questions. We will ask them to reveal the answers to 10 questions at the end of 3 months. They will determine what arrangements they can make. In the second part, 4 different tables will discuss the issues coming from 4 different community groups under 4 different headings. The first table is the 'We say goodbye to each other' table, the second table is the 'We say goodbye to our nature' table, the third table is the 'We remember our past' table and the fourth table is the 'We meet our future' table. The committee, which we call the High Consultation for now, puts all these manifestos and declarations on its desk between February 17 and March 4 and reveals what should be the economic policies of the next century. And we put them before all political parties, all NGOs and anyone who requests it. In summary, we want to turn the economics congress into a meeting where the economic policies of the second century are discussed and enlightened.”
“September 9 will be the biggest organization in Turkey”
Mayor Soyer expressed his excitement for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the liberation of İzmir at the meeting and said, “We will celebrate the centenary with many events for 1 months starting from August 9st. On September 9, we will host the biggest organization of the Republic of Turkey. What we're going to do is we're going to make a documentary about it. We will leave his documentary to the next generations. We will leave as a legacy how İzmir celebrated its centenary. There will be an extraordinarily large reenactment and concerts in Gündoğdu. I definitely invite everyone. On September 10, we will sing the folk songs of İzmir. Because September 10 is the anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's arrival in Izmir. We were always celebrating September 9, from now on İzmir will celebrate September 9 and 10 together.”
“İzmir World Peace Prize begins”
Stating that they will organize the centennial events of İzmir with the theme of peace, Mayor Soyer said: “We want to express more strongly the peace that we have maintained for a century. Therefore, the main idea behind all our organizations will be peace. At the end of our Economics Congress, which we will complete between February 17 and March 4, we are launching the Izmir World Peace Prize in April. After the centennial, we are working to promote İzmir as a city remembered for peace, as a city that celebrates and commemorates peace all over the world.”
Mediterranean summit
Mayor Soyer stated that they will host the Union of Mediterranean Municipalities General Assembly in November and continued as follows: “We will host mayors from all over the Mediterranean in İzmir. We will host a series of meetings where we will discuss the troubled process people are going through and put forward the solution proposals by taking resources from the Mediterranean. By feeding on the roots of peace and democracy in the Mediterranean, people will again offer solutions and hope. We will put the manifesto to be prepared here before the mayors coming from the Mediterranean. On the one hand, the 100th anniversary of the Economics Congress and the works we carry out within the framework of peace will continue in parallel with the Mediterranean and the Union of Mediterranean Municipalities.”
“As a local government, we filled the gap left by the government”
President Soyer also talked about the local agricultural policy, which was put forward by the Izmir Agriculture studies, and the support for the producers, within the framework of the slogan "Another Agriculture is Possible". Soyer said, “We are giving 14 liras in İzmir to the base price of wheat, which was announced as seven liras this year. Since March, we have bought 16,5 million lira worth of ovine milk through our cooperatives and made cheese from it. Our cheeses were produced by our cooperatives again. We spent 5 million liras in production costs to process them and make cheese. We had a total of 40 million lira of cheese. We created an added value of 18,5 million TL in just four months and through only one item of product. Moreover, we did this through our municipal companies, without wasting a single penny of public resources. We have surprise cheeses and these cheeses will be launched under the İzmirli brand very soon. We supported milk producers with 277 million 129 thousand 600 liras in three years. In the last three years, we have provided 73 million liras of support to our producers by purchasing products from 540 producer cooperatives without intermediaries. Our Dairy Processing Factory in Bayındır, which has an investment cost of 140 million TL and a daily milk processing capacity of 100 tons, is about to be finished. We will be opening at the end of the summer. Although we are a local government, we filled the gap left by the government. We have fulfilled the duty of fair regulation of the public.”
“We are working to create a fragrance master plan”
Sharing the strategy created for the cleaning of the Izmir Bay with the aim of a Swimming Bay, President Soyer said, “As soon as we took office, we first discussed the strategy and activities implemented to clean the Bay. We have identified three main reasons why the bay is unfortunately still polluted. There is a very clear, scientific roadmap for how to clean up the Gulf. We implement this plan patiently and with full determination. Parallel to the problems related to the Gulf, this strategy has three pillars. The first is to separate the sewer and storm water lines flowing together in Izmir. The second leg is the rehabilitation of the Çiğli Treatment Plant and the sludge dumping site. The third and final step is to move the exit point of thousands of cubic meters of fresh water from the Çiğli Treatment Plant from the inner Gulf to the middle Gulf and to prevent the inner gulf from becoming shallow. Despite all the perception operations, we are carrying out this task, which no one has undertaken until now, together with my team in İzmir. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of our city and my mission. For this reason, I gave the order to build İzmir's rain water channels as of the month I took office. We have done 196 kilometers so far, we will do another 200 kilometers in two years. We are bringing together all these efforts with the Chamber of Environmental Engineers, relevant expert organizations and academicians to create a fragrance master plan.”
“IzTransformation project for harmony with nature”
Underlining that they are the first municipality in Turkey to accept green infrastructure as an infrastructure issue, Soyer said that at the end of the period, 35 Living Parks surrounding İzmir city center will be put into service, and the amount of green space per capita in the city will increase from 16 square meters to 30 square meters with recreation areas of millions of square meters. expressed. Underlining that they are also working on a household scale in order to make İzmir compatible with nature, Soyer explained in detail the İzTransformation project, which put an end to the concept of garbage in İzmir, and said, “With our İzTransformation project, we put an end to the concept of garbage. Because we reintroduce garbage as a raw material to the economy and our nature.”
“Our goal is to build 20 thousand houses”
Giving information about the practices within this scope in İzmir, the world's first Cittaslow Metropol, Tunç Soyeralso explained the urban transformation model of İzmir in all its details. Stating that the construction works in the urban transformation gained speed again with the cooperation of the municipality company and the cooperative, which was carried out for the first time in Turkey, Mayor Soyer said, “Our constructions have started all over İzmir with three basic principles, namely on-site transformation, one hundred percent consensus and the guarantee of the Metropolitan Municipality. Transformation continues simultaneously in six regions: Gaziemir, Ege Mahallesi, Uzundere, Ballıkuyu, Çiğli Güzeltepe and Örnekköy. The construction of 3 thousand 958 independent units continues, while 2 thousand 500 independent units are ready for the construction tender. Our goal is to build 20 thousand houses," he said.
Explaining that they implemented the Halk Housing project for earthquake victims, which was implemented for the first time in Turkey, Soyer said that they signed a partnership protocol with the cooperative established by the residents of Dilber apartment, one of the apartments destroyed in the earthquake.
“1 billion 485 million lira savings”
Stating that 114 million TL savings were achieved thanks to the investments made within ESHOT and electric buses, President Soyer talked about the IZETAŞ project, which is a first in Turkey. Soyer said, “We established the İzmir Electricity Supply Joint Stock Company, i.e. IZETAŞ, within our IzEnerji company. With İZETAŞ, we started to meet the energy needs of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and its subsidiaries in the first phase. Since the establishment of IZETAS, we have saved up to 22 percent in energy costs within the Metropolitan Municipality. At the end of five years, we will have saved a total of 1 billion 485 million liras at today's prices," he said.
“In 2022, it will host thirty percent more tourists than before the pandemic”
Giving information about the projects and works aimed at the development of Izmir tourism, Soyer said, “We do not have a future for a tourism approach that fills international chain hotels and beaches only, and does not benefit the city center, small shopkeepers or locals at all. For this reason, we opposed the Çeşme project. We cannot strengthen the city's economy with a tourism approach that transforms the country into a cheap destination and gives importance to quantity rather than quality. We have taken many steps in Izmir to change this picture. Our goal is to turn İzmir into a city preferred by qualified tourists and in which the per capita tourist expenditure is increasing every year by 2024. We are working to increase the number of tourists coming to İzmir to four million with our tourism vision in twelve months and thirty districts. Right after the pandemic that lasted for two years, we started to see the results of what we did for İzmir tourism. Figures already show that İzmir will host thirty percent more tourists in 2022 than before the pandemic.
President Soyer also said that efforts are continuing to bring Kemeraltı, Kadifekale and Basmane, the heart of İzmir, to Turkey as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
“Our target is at least 10 thousand children”
One of the important topics that President Soyer included in his presentation was the work of the “Emergency Solution Team”. Stating that the Emergency Solution Team has quickly resolved the problems of the disadvantaged neighborhoods in the city center in the last two years, Mayor Soyer said, “In 2021, we opened 3 swimming pools in the back neighborhoods within the scope of the principle of equal opportunity in sports. We gave swimming training to 6 children. This year, we brought together 7 pools in the back neighborhoods with our children. “Our target is at least 10 thousand children,” he said.
People told about the Bread model
President Soyer gave detailed information about social assistance and solidarity practices. Stating that İzmir's People's Bread project is supported not only by citizens who are struggling to make ends meet, but also by bakers who have the same problem, he stated that with the protocol they signed with İzmir Chamber of Bakers and Craftsmen, they have activated thirty percent of the idle capacity of the bakery ovens, and that the daily production supply of 130 thousand units is without the need to establish a new bread factory. He said that they reached 250 thousand in a short time.
”We are building Izmir with iron nets“
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, “We are knitting İzmir with iron nets” and explained the rail system projects. Explaining that the Narlıdere Metro and Çiğli Tram will be put into service in the centennial of the republic, Soyer said that the 28-kilometer Karabağlar Gaziemir Metro, the 27.5-kilometer Otogar Kemalpaşa Metro and the 5 km-long Örnekköy New Girne Tram line are new routes to be brought to İzmir. Soyer stated that the Buca Metro, which they started to build, is the largest investment made by a municipality with its own resources in the history of Turkey, and the largest project in the history of Izmir. President Soyer said, “One of the most important parts of the Izmir of the future will be rail systems. That's why we weave İzmir with iron nets. We started the preparations for the Buca Metro. Buca Metro is the biggest investment made by a municipality with its own resources in the history of Turkey and the biggest project in the history of İzmir. We are making this huge investment with the resources of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, without receiving a single penny of support from the central government. Buca Metro is one of the highest feasibility metro investments in the world. While the average time for a subway to meet its own financing is 30 years around the world, we will do it in half the time.”
Terra Madre and EXPO 2026
President Soyer said, “Izmir was deemed worthy of an extremely valuable award, the "European Prize", last April. Our city was chosen by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2022 as the city that best represents European values. Expo 2026 is a vision project that we will focus on in İzmir in the upcoming period. We aim to host approximately 2026 million 4 thousand visitors from Turkey and abroad with Expo 700, which will enable us to realize Turkey's first big green transformation project. Expo 2026 will not only increase the awareness of Izmir in the international arena, but will also guide Izmir in the process leading to the World Expo. Moreover, İzmir will solve its half-century-old bleeding wound, the Yeşildere problem. Another important organization is the Terra Madre Anatolian gastronomy fair, which we will organize in September in parallel with the Izmir International Fair. At Terra Madre Anadolu, we will bring together small producers from all over Turkey with the world gastronomy market. We will contribute to them being a direct exporter," he said.
“The Metropolitan Municipality is almost like a holding”
Speaking at the meeting, EMD İzmir President Murat Demircan said, “Many inputs in our daily life are foreign currency indexed. Local governments, which have important touches on our lives, are immediately affected by the changes in the economy. It doesn't take a prophet to predict how much the oil prices, which have increased by 250 percent in the last year, have increased the costs of public transportation. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, according to the information on its website; He owns 12 companies from transportation to energy, from technology to fairs, from agricultural investments to tourism and services sector. With its 12 companies and a 12,5 budget of 2022 billion TL, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality almost resembles a holding.”
Why does Izmir get 6 out of 1 shares?
Dilek Gappi, President of Izmir Journalists Association, said, “What is expected from our journalists is to write the facts. We are in a great struggle to write the truth. But unfortunately we cannot do that. Public relations work is expected from us. We must question. Why does Izmir have a share of 6 in public investments compared to Istanbul? Why does Istanbul get 1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product while Izmir gets 30 percent? Why are investments made by the public in big cities, but by the municipality in Izmir? To be able to report correctly, you need to stand right. But first the ground has to be smooth. We do not want the Izmir press to be prevented from being at the point it deserves," he said.
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