EXPO 2028 Malatya Launch Program was held by Malatya Metropolitan Municipality. Governor of Malatya Hulusi Şahin and Hanımefendi Şahin, Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality Selahattin Gürkan and Ms. Gürkan, as well as Malatya Protocol and Metropolitan Municipality Management staff and local and national press members attended the Launch Meeting.
The guests entered the launch meeting, which was prepared for the first time in a different concept in Malatya, from a hall prepared as Aspuzu Gardens, where bird sounds and different hologram displays are presented.
The program in the Launch Hall, where a magnificent stage and light shows were presented, started with a moment of silence and the singing of the National Anthem. Afterwards, a Battalgazi-themed dance show was performed in company with the movie about Seyid Battalgazi's horse Aşkar.
Then, a short theatrical show on Evliya Çelebi was held. During the performance, Evliya Çelebi's words about Malatya in his Travelogue were sung and the guests were greatly appreciated.
Afterwards, the Introductory Film, which includes sections from Malatya's history, culture, tourism values and life, was shown to the guests. At the end of the introductory film, which was highly appreciated by the guests participating in the program, Bilge Altıntaş, who took part in the promotional film, appeared on the stage and thanked the Metropolitan Mayor Selahattin Gürkan for the promotional film prepared and his services to Malatya.
After the Promotional Film Show, Aspuzu Poem, which belongs to Necati from Malatya and was composed by Malatya musicians only for the Launch Meeting, was performed by Metropolitan Municipality Soloist Sena Altıntop.
Afterwards, a short presentation was made with the EXPO promotional film. While the social, cultural, historical and economic benefits of EXPO to Malatya were explained in the presentation, AIPH Secretary General Tim Briercliffe participated in the program with a video.
In the video he sent, AIPH Secretary General Tim Briercliffe wished success to Malatya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Selahattin Gürkan and said, “It is a great pleasure for me to be able to address you on this day when you come together for this important moment. First of all, as AIPH Secretary General, I would like to congratulate you for receiving the approval of AIPH to host the International Horticultural EXPO in Malatya in 2028. It is a great success and a great gain for Malatya to host this great event in your city. I sincerely believe that the vision you have presented to us will bring great benefits to your city. The EXPO area you have chosen is a beautiful place and we are sure that with careful planning and development it will really make a difference in Malatya. Hosting an EXPO is an opportunity to advance Malatya's Green City development, to create a more beautiful city for citizens by embracing green, nature and the environment, and to create a great EXPO site and will set Malatya city apart from other cities for a long time to come. In addition, hosting such an international EXPO will position your city as a global leader and will make Malatya even more recognized around the world. Malatya is already a very beautiful city and I experienced it personally when I visited it. Bringing an EXPO to Malatya will allow the rest of the world to discover the undiscovered beauties of the city. In this way, Malatya will become much more known and appreciated not only in Turkey but also all over the world. Organizing an EXPO in 2028 will bring great benefits to Malatya in real terms and I would like to congratulate you again on this issue. I was particularly pleased to be able to visit the Arslantepe archaeological site, and by combining your great historical wealth with the beauty of an EXPO, you will create a magnificent visitor attraction that will attract hundreds of thousands of people to your city. I wish you success on this road to 2028 and the EXPO in Malatya. We look forward to working closely with you on behalf of AIPH and supporting you in the future.”
Chairman Gürkan: EXPO 28 Malatya was unanimously accepted
Following the publication of the video sent by AIPH Secretary General Tim Briercliffe, Malatya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Selahattin Gürkan made a speech. Expressing that it is a very important day for Malatya, President Gürkan summarized the following in his speech:
“We are the shahr'ül sure of a city where the EXPO, where world exhibitions will be held, will host 2028. When we describe Malatya, we describe Malatya as the epic city where the civilization of humanity started and which made Anatolia the homeland. From time to time, a discourse called Göbekli Tepe's zero point in history developed on television. The ground zero of history may be Göbekli Tepe, but Malatya is the place where civilization developed in history. The first state life, the first bureaucratic life, the first accounting transactions, the first customs clearance, the first temples to be moved to a separate place from the state administration, the evolution from the stone age that opened an era to the iron age, and the use of iron as tools and weapons, that is, the place where civilization developed. Therefore, it was destined for EXPO to come to Malatya. We had no other choice. When I expressed it at the board in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 'I am the şehrül eminem of Malatya. I have a duty to serve it. As a member of the world of humanity, you have to protect that city,' I said, and Malatya EXPO 2028 was unanimously accepted.
Malatya is also an important city in terms of Turkish-Islamic history. Being shahr'ül sure in this city is a different feeling. In other words, if our ancestors wrote epics of civilization, heroism and knowledge, we are obliged to write epics of service to this city.
EXPO is the world exhibition. It was first held in London, England in 1851, and 44 countries participated and had 6 million visitors. London stood out in the meantime. It was made in Paris, France in 1889. Let's take a photo at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is the product of EXPO. At the same time, EXPO builds buildings, which are called image makers, and important structures wherever it goes. We look at the population of Malatya, it has a population of 810 thousand. We look at the number of passport holders in statistics, 62 thousand people. Of these, 52 thousand received passports to fulfill the pilgrimage, and 4 thousand received them for other travels. A small number for Malatya. This is a very low figure for Malatya, which is a world city. Here, we are showing this effort and effort to make Malatya a world city by making it stand out with EXPO.
By Allah's leave, Malatya will become a world city. Could the horizon cut to Malatya yesterday be the shining star of the East? Not the shining star of the East, not the shining star of Turkey, not the shining star of Europe, Malatya will be the shining star of the world. EXPO is his badge. History has compelled and condemned this to us. If we do not do this, we will be crushed by the plague, but we aspire to vecahat and honor. That's why we expect around 50 million visitors to the world gardens exhibition related to EXPO, which will be attended by about 2 countries. When you look at the practices in Turkey regarding EXPO, we may encounter some negative situations. It has been very far from the city. It is not integrated with the city. In other words, there are places that are not functionally integrated with the city. We are thinking of a 24 EXPO where the place we have chosen is integrated with the city, integrated with the city, living with the city 50 hours a day, where the gardens brought by nearly 2028 countries are exhibited, art structures, architectural structures, cultures, traditions, customs and human lives are exhibited. During the visit of our President to Malatya, we expressed to them that we want to carry out EXPO 2028 Malatya under the auspices of our President. They also gave the necessary instructions to our Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and said that this work should be carried out together under our auspices. Hopefully, Malatya will be the shining star of the world in 2028.
To glorify this city is a sinful obligation for people, both in terms of Turkish Islamic history and human history. Hopefully, we will carry out these works with our universities, all our NGOs, professional organizations, chambers, unions and especially our governor. We will hold our launch meeting in Malatya later in Ankara and Istanbul. I would like to thank the staff of our municipality who prepared the promotion program. Hopefully, Malatya will become Green Malatya. Malatya Aspuzu was already green with its gardens. In Turkey, two cities in 81 provinces are referred to as green. One is Yeşil Bursa, one is Yeşil Malatya. The greenest areas cultivated by human hands are in Malatya. Our apricots, which we call the golden egg of the sun, are the trees that decorate the green areas with their trunks in the best way. Hopefully, this process will play an important role in promoting our apricots, our other trades, our industry, our culture and our history in terms of trade. Malatya will be prepared for the future worthy of its past.”
Governor Şahin: Malatya is a leading city in every respect
In his speech, Malatya Governor Hulusi Şahin stated that they wanted to introduce the concept of new cities from Malatya to Turkey and said, “2028 EXPO Malatya is a great vision, a world project and it will bring Malatya, Malatya's history, Malatya's culture and Malatya. A vision project befitting the claim of . I would like to thank our esteemed Metropolitan Mayor, who brought this vision project to Malatya and to Turkey. We will host the world's gardens in Malatya in 2028, but this is not our only goal. Malatya is a very valuable geography where a great civilization has developed, the starting point of human civilization, and the Turkish-Islamic civilization has grown, developed and flourished. In this geography where there is such a claim, we need to say new things. We see 2028 EXPO Malatya as an opportunity and now we want to introduce the new cities concept from Malatya to Turkey. It's not actually about making huge gigantic structures. Now we have to learn to live simply. Now, the green cities initiative is going this way, Turkey has to do its part in this regard. Because we are moving towards a common future. As members of the human family, we cannot stay away from this difficult and troublesome process that the world is going through. We are facing a problem of climate change, environmental problems and a carbon footprint. Now, a new industry, a new agriculture, a new tourism, in fact, a new city concept is introducing the world and walking towards here. There are 2028 years until 6. We are planning to achieve a new city concept in Malatya in 6 years, which will set an example for Turkey and even the world. Our claim is great. Now we will use our water less and less. At the same time, our citizens have to get used to living simply. In fact, we need to revert to the old one. In the past, there was not even a garbage dump in our villages because there was no garbage. We are now evolving towards it in the world, and we will evolve as well. Now we will learn to recycle, to live simply, to use less and not to pollute. For this reason, we plan to place a city life in Malatya within these 6 years. Whatever work will be done on this, we will work on them in the coming days. We will now separate our garbage, recycle our garbage, and obtain sustainable energy from recycling. Malatya is a pioneer city in every respect. This is our claim to be a pioneer in the concept of green cities by using the opportunities brought by EXPO 2028. We will work for it. 2028 EXPO Malatya will be the beginning of a new claim. We declare this claim here. Malatya will be one of the first examples of green cities, cities that reduce their carbon footprint, and sustainable cities. We will achieve this because we have the capability and capacity to achieve it. Mr. Metropolitan Mayor said that we are not invaders, we are conquerors. We are neither ruined nor ruined. We are the horse whose roots are in the past. We ruled over three continents, we neither destroyed, burned, nor exploited in three continents. We lived and we survived. From now on, we have lived, we will live, we will live, we will grow by developing. Malatya looks to the future with hope, Turkey looks to the future with hope.
After the speeches of President Gürkan and Hulusi Şahin, a countdown was made for the promotion of EXPO 2028 MALATYA Logo and EXPO 2028 Malatya Logo appeared on the screen. The prepared Logo was prepared in the form of a hybrid design in which each of the values that Malatya has with its districts is used as an icon.
The Launch Program, prepared by Malatya Metropolitan Municipality, ended with the performance of the works of Fahri Kayahan from Malatya by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and the songs of Kazakh Composer, Songwriter and Singer Arslanbek Sultanbekov.
The guests participating in the launch program took lots of souvenir photos at the entrance of the hall and the Aspuzu themed hall.
Be the first to comment