“Azerbaijan – Turkey Local Governments Experience Sharing Program”, organized in cooperation with the Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), the Union of Azerbaijan City Municipalities and the Center for Working with Municipalities of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan, was held via video conference on September 14, 2023.
TDBB Board Members Zeytinburnu Mayor Ömer Arısoy and Deputy Mayor Sait Şahin, representing Şahinbey (Gaziantep) Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu, attended the program as speakers, and 75 Mayors and Local Administrators from Azerbaijan attended.
Temraz Tağıev, President of the Union of Municipalities of Azerbaijan and Narimanov Mayor, who made the opening speech of the Video Conference, stated that they saw the work done by the municipalities in Turkey through the experience sharing programs organized in cooperation with TDBB and that they had the opportunity to implement them in the municipalities of Azerbaijan. Tağıev said, “We have a very strong cooperation with TDBB. We have made very useful and full programs, and we will continue to do so. I would like to thank TDBB managers from here. I wholeheartedly believe that this video conference will be very useful. “I would like to thank Zeytinburnu Mayor Ömer Arısoy and Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu for participating and sharing Turkey’s Municipality experiences with their Azerbaijani colleagues,” he said.
Zeytinburnu Mayor Ömer Arısoy gave information about Zeytinburnu Municipality and explained the work carried out in the video conference. Mayor Arısoy said, Municipalism is a work of determination. We should not waste any time for this. It is necessary to use the resources of the municipality very well and appropriately. It is necessary to set the budget very well. It is necessary to calculate the time and produce projects accordingly. In municipal administration, it is necessary to solve the most urgent issues first and then focus on culture and arts issues. Cities are living organisms and the needs of cities are increasing day by day. It is necessary to move forward by adding something to it every day. When I first took office in Zeytinburnu, there was an area in the district center with 520 old military residences, and we immediately started working quickly by making demolition plans, and by demolishing the residences, we brought a green area, a very large national garden, to our district. I think such programs are important. It is important that we get to know each other and share our experiences, he stated.
Deputy Mayor of Şahinbey Municipality, Sait Şahin, made a presentation in the program and talked about zoning planning and urban transformation carried out by Şahinbey Municipality, infrastructure works, studies to increase the municipal budget, recycling practices, good use of human resources, ensuring population employment, social municipal activities, culture. He gave detailed information to the participants on many subjects such as art and culture.
After the speeches and presentation in the program, there was a question and answer session.
