Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer: “Attended the Urban Transformation Information Meeting”

During the Urban Transformation Informational Meeting for the Esenkent and Âşık Veysel Neighborhoods, Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer stated, “Esenyurt has been left facing chaotic urbanization. Under the guise of zoning amnesty, mass graves have been created. Let’s join hands and turn back from the damage, as the saying goes, ‘wherever we can turn back, it is a gain.’ Let’s create a resilient Esenyurt against disasters in the light of science.”

Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer continues his efforts to make Esenyurt resilient against the anticipated Istanbul earthquake. In this context, after earthquake panels conducted with scientists and expert academics, informational meetings about urban transformation have begun in the neighborhoods. The first meeting, which gathered citizens’ opinions and suggestions with a participatory municipal understanding, was held in the Esenkent and Âşık Veysel Neighborhoods. The meeting, which took place in the garden of the Gürbüz Süleymanoğlu Sports Center, was attended by Mayor Özer, political party representatives, muhtars, council members, and many citizens. The program was organized to inform neighborhood residents about urban transformation and to address existing problems related to urban transformation, where citizens also found answers to their curious questions.

“Earthquakes don’t kill, greed and cutting corners do”

Stating that they are working for Esenyurt to be a earthquake-resistant, healthy, and safe district, Prof. Özer noted that they will involve citizens in the decision-making process to produce the best solutions against the issues brought by weak buildings, speculative construction, and high-rise buildings. Mayor Özer continued: “Two weeks ago, I was in Paris with Mayor Ekrem. I went up the Eiffel Tower. From there, I looked at Paris. The tallest building might be five or six stories, but they all look the same. They are neatly arranged, and there are air corridors. It is a magnificent city with its squares, forests, and roads, with a population almost equal to that of Esenyurt. But it is spread over an area at least a hundred times larger than Esenyurt. Esenyurt is squeezed into 43 km. The need for urban transformation has not arisen. As someone who has experienced an earthquake, as someone who has lost siblings to an earthquake, I know how great a pain this is. That’s why I don’t want anyone to live through this pain. In fact, earthquakes do not kill. Greed, doing bad business, cutting corners with concrete and cement kill. Earthquakes will happen, but we can prevent the disaster created by the earthquake from turning into a catastrophe. We turn disasters into catastrophes, and those catastrophes return to us as pain.

“Let’s enter our homes with confidence, not fear”

Expressing that all institutions must work together to find a solution to this issue, Mayor Özer stated, “The solution begins with educating our children properly starting from kindergarten and elementary school. As individuals, families, society, and the state, we need to educate them and strive to raise good people. If we cannot raise good people, they will later return to us as our disaster. That’s why we are saying let’s declare a mobilization in Turkey. This mobilization must include disaster management departments of district municipalities, AKOM, and AFAD. There is no political party in disasters; this country belongs to all of us, we must work hand in hand. If we do not work together, we cannot overcome this. We are discussing what we can do in cooperation with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. We want to carry out as much urban transformation as we can under the leadership of our Mayor Ekrem. Let’s enter our homes with confidence, not fear. Let’s create a resilient Esenyurt against disasters and earthquakes in the light of science. Esenyurt has been left facing chaotic urbanization. Let’s join hands, as the saying goes, ‘wherever we can turn back, it is a gain.’ Let’s make our city earthquake-resistant. The reason we gathered here today is this. We will do this in our other neighborhoods as well. We will take steps one by one. By working together, we will create an Esenyurt with a corrected image, resistant to earthquakes, where peace and brotherhood are revived.”