President Tugay: ‘I will not bow down to pressures’

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay attended a meeting organized by the ‘Izmir’s Perspective to the World Platform’. Tugay, explaining that he will spend all his energy effectively to provide services, stated, ‘I will try not to drown in imposed agendas. I will never bow to the pressures imposed on me. This will be the proof of my love for Izmir. I love this city very much. Wholeheartedly. This is an honor story for me. I will fulfill the requirements of this story.’

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay attended the meeting organized by the ‘Izmir’s Perspective to the World Platform’. The 39th meeting of the 4th season organized in Cesme included important figures from the business world and civil society organizations, alongside Cesme Mayor Lal Denizli, former Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Aziz Kocaoğlu, former CHP Izmir MP Alaattin Yüksel, and former Mayor of Cesme Muhittin Dalgıç. The first session of the meeting was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Göksel. The second session of the meeting, with a presentation titled ‘The Chemistry of Love’ by Prof. Dr. Oğuz Ersin Köylü from Ege University, was moderated by the Chairman of the Izmir City Values Preservation and Development Association, Uğur Yüce.

Describing the roadmap of local governments
In the program, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay, speaking under the title ‘The Importance of Local Governments in Turkey’s Future and the Democratization Process’, stated that cities are now competing with each other rather than countries. Mayor Cemil Tugay, explaining that policies are formed through local governments, said, ‘Being a mayor is to some extent political, but in my opinion, it is largely a public responsibility. It is beneficial to start by thinking about what people expect from the municipality, municipal work. When you do not fulfill the basic services expected of you, your efforts above that are not rational for people. The mayor should first hear and understand what people expect from you and fulfill it.’

The importance of planned growth of cities
Emphasizing the necessity of establishing a municipal mechanism that works very well in basic services, Tugay said, ‘If possible, you need to continue the correct ones from the past, otherwise you must correct the mistakes as soon as possible. Working on the problems the society faces is necessary. Once you pass this stage, then you have the right to say more. When we look at Izmir, there is a serious urbanization problem in Izmir. There are unplanned areas of urbanization brought about by uncontrolled growth in a period. The city has grown on its own without a plan. There has been such a loss of control that it has become impossible to make sufficient planning efforts. If an earthquake occurs, there are a lot of fragile houses in our city. What happens if these houses collapse? In some areas, there are such poor living conditions that it seems like people are living as if there is an earthquake every day. We are in a city where there is no infrastructure, houses are unhealthy, and there are no social facilities. This is experienced a lot in this city.’

‘I love Izmir very much’
Expressing his love for Izmir, Mayor Cemil Tugay stated, ‘We will progress within the framework of a 5-year plan. However, we must do something to establish a culture of participation, strengthen the ties between society and municipal administrations and politics, and build mutual trust.’ Mayor Tugay also explained his goals for Izmir with the following words: ‘What can we contribute to this city permanently, in terms of culture, socio-politically, how can we make the future better? During my term as the Mayor of Karsiyaka, we put a lot of effort into how to make public administration and public relations healthier. This process has now been transferred to Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. A new process has started here. We decided to conduct similar studies within Izmir Planning Agency. Our goal here is to develop a participatory democracy culture. In every decision the municipality makes regarding public areas, it is necessary to consult the relevant people, to receive those opinions in a healthy and fair manner, and then to make public use decisions and design decisions together. In short, I believe that Izmir Planning Agency will perform important tasks in developing a participatory planning management approach, developing democracy culture.’

‘5 years will pass with a challenging yet effective struggle’
Expressing that he is aware of Izmir’s problems and will spend all his energy to solve the problems, Mayor Tugay said, ‘I will try not to drown in imposed agendas. I will never bow to the pressures imposed on me. This will be the proof of my love for Izmir. I love this city very much. Wholeheartedly. I do not want votes or anything. People in this city really loved me. I could never leave this love unanswered. Therefore, I left my profession at the peak of plastic surgery. I have no regrets. The next 5 years will pass with a challenging yet effective struggle. To preserve the value of every memory I have lived and shared since my childhood, to repay the trust people have placed in me, I embarked on this path. This is an honor story for me. I will fulfill the requirements of this story. I hope luck will be on my side. At the end of this process, without being in a situation to run for candidacy again, I will contribute to our city in a 5-year period. I have a promise to Izmir. We will make investments within a sustainable planning framework without wasting any resources or money.’