The 6th City Council Meeting Took Place in Yalova with Participation of Representatives from 41 Provinces 11.11.2014

The 6th City Council Meeting Took Place in Yalova with Participation of Representatives from  41 Provinces

Selim CEBİROĞLU, Governor of Yalova; Vefa SALMAN, Mayor of Yalova; Prof. Dr. Hüseyin YILDIRIM, Vice-Rector of Yalova University; academicians, Presidents, Secretary Generals and representatives  of 41 City Councils  attended the 6^th City Councils Meeting held in Yalova on 25^th October 2014. Dr. İhsan İKİZER, UCLG-MEWA General Coordinator, Hasan Ali ŞÜKÜR, Director of Financial and Administrative Affairs of UCLG-MEWA, and Sedrettin KONUK, UCLG-MEWA City Council Officer were also present at the meeting.

Şükrü ÖNDER, President of Yalova City Council, Dr. İhsan İKİZER, UCLG-MEWA General Coordinator, Yusuf DİŞLİ, President of Urfa City Council and previous President of City Councils Union, Vefa SALMAN, Mayor of Yalova, Selim CEBİROĞLU, Governor of Yalova, Hasan SOYGÜZEL, Secretary General of Yalova City Council who was elected to President of City Councils for the new period, made their speeches at the opening ceremony. Dr. İhsan İKİZER, the General Coordinator of UCLG-MEWA, gave information about UCLG-MEWA actions and works. İKİZER emphasized the need to increase the recognition of City Councils and stated that traditional media and social media should be utilized. İKİZER continued his speech by saying: ‘’City Councils should gain independence. In order to achieve this, I believe, municipalities and City Councils should sign a mutual compact. Moreover, the participation to the City Councils must be increased and there must be cooperation between universities and City Councils.’’

After the opening speech, the meeting continued with the handover ceremony of Presidency and session on Urban Workshop (Şehir[li Atölyesi]) . In the afternoon session, group works took place in which the topics of ‘’the major issues of the previous periods in the light of City Councils’ experiences’’ and ‘’our future vision in the light of City Councils’ experiences’’ were discussed. A family portrait was taken at the end of the meeting.