IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu'23. Organized by ITU Management Engineering Club. He spoke at the Management Sciences Congress. Emphasizing that the gap between the dreams of young people in Turkey and their experiences has widened, İmamoğlu invited young people to 'participate'. Noting that they established IPA for this purpose, İmamoğlu said, “Remember that now is the time to take responsibility, it's time for you to speak up, and it's time for you to show your will. Please feel free to be a part of the mechanisms we have established and will create.” Pointing out that the decisions to be taken in IPA and similar state institutions will affect the lives of children and young people the most, İmamoğlu gave the example of 'Canal Istanbul'. İmamoğlu said, “We are investigating the society, 80-85 percent say, 'No, it cannot be done.' But one person says; 'I will make Kanal Istanbul.' It is likely that you all want the channel very much. (Laughter.) That's the best response. It's a laughable job. But if you don't want this ridiculous business to be a big problem in your life, we have to ensure that you are involved in effective decision-making processes.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Management Engineering Club organized the “23. He made the opening speech of the Congress of Management Sciences. Speaking at the event held at ITU Macka Campus Mustafa Kemal Amphitheater, İmamoğlu stated that Turkey and Istanbul have an important potential for young population. Saying, “As of the moment I became the Mayor of this city, I believe in this power and I find great support from this power,” İmamoğlu emphasized that despite all this potential, Istanbul and Turkey are not in the place they deserve. Sharing striking figures on youth unemployment rates in Turkey and Istanbul, İmamoğlu said, "We are perhaps facing the highest youth unemployment rate since the founding of the Republic."
“THE SCISSORS BETWEEN YOUTH'S DREAMS AND THEIR LIVES”
If you ask, “What is the point where the scissors open and put us in trouble here?”, the gap between the dreams of young people in Turkey and their experiences opens up. Saying that this is the biggest problem, İmamoğlu said, “In other words, we need to catch up with the problems of realizing their dreams, feel them and find solutions accordingly”. Emphasizing that the young population in Istanbul, defined as "neither in education nor in employment", is based on 500 thousand, İmamoğlu pointed out that the negative process experienced leads young people to "dream abroad". Saying, "The fact that the placements based on merit in the state cadres, especially in the practices of our state, towards the belief of young people in democracy and the judiciary, are made with other feelings rather than purchases, becomes a source of despair for all young people," said İmamoğlu.
“YOU HATE THE MONOCHROME AND FAVORITE ENVIRONMENT”
“Young people hate such a monochromatic, oppressive clientele; they don't want this. On the contrary; They want an environment that is inclusive, where everyone gets the value they deserve. The thing that bothers the youth the most in the society is the existence of the torpedo feeling. There is an incredible resentment among the young people against the torpedo. We follow all of these. I want you to know that your happiness is the most important factor to me. We are aware that all of these naturally cause some feelings such as disappointment, guilt, regret. Our young people definitely don't deserve this. And none of this is due to young people. Therefore, we should look ahead with more hope. I would like to underline that it is very important to never give up here. So never give up and never think that you are the loser of the struggle. On the contrary, you are at the beginning of the work.”
“AUTOCRACY IS BORN WITHOUT PARTICIPATION”
Stating that ITU is one of the first technical universities in Turkey and the world, İmamoğlu said, "We want to benefit from this potential as well." Noting that they established the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) in this context, İmamoğlu said:
“We want you to know about the IPA. We want you to be included. We especially want my young friends from ITU to be included. Life in the city actually encompasses many things in life. In other words, while you are leaving your home or dormitory, coming to school, living at school, walking on the street, breathing, drinking your water, and meeting your needs, the local government actually offers you services that cover a large part of life. In that respect, an institution that is so involved in life says, 'There is an institution far away, there is a mayor, there are administrators; Please know that there is no institution that can be said to be 'we'll see in the elections after 5 years, no matter how they manage it. We don't want it to be like this. As such, an autocracy is born there. In other words, on the contrary, I would like to remind you that we have to establish a sustainable society, administration and institution relationship at all times, in order to avoid the emergence of authoritarian concepts, and that this must be the case in order to organize strong democracy, resilient democracy into sustainable democracy. In that respect, I care about the Istanbul Planning Agency and I want to work with you here.”
“TIME TO REVEAL YOUR WILL”
Emphasizing that the economic crisis in our country has deepened the problems of life, İmamoğlu said, “It is very annoying. In particular, we see that some wrong policies and wrong methods unfortunately increase some of the stuckness in the society. Of course, we need to know this: Of course, you can blame the administrators in Ankara, us, all of us at this point. This is your right. But when we look at the cause-effect relationship, remember that now is the time to take responsibility, it's time for you to talk, and it's time for you to show your will. Because it is not acceptable for a generation with a high level of creativity and talent to look at what is happening only as a spectator. In that respect, please do not hesitate to be a part of these mechanisms that we have established and will create. Besides, the existence I'm talking about is your existence. The environments I am talking about are your environment. The decisions taken and the policies to be made there will affect you more than I do, when we look at the average life expectancy. It will be a part of your lives in the future.”
“85 PERCENT 'CAN'T BE DONE', 1 PERSON SAYS 'I WILL'”
Pointing to "Canal Istanbul" as an example, İmamoğlu said, "We are investigating the society, 80-85 percent say, 'No, it cannot be done.' But one person says; 'I will make Kanal Istanbul.' I mean, do you know whose life this channel will affect the most? It will affect your life. Of course, it will affect the lives of the next generation. It is likely that you all want the channel very much. (Laughter.) That's the best response. It's a laughable job. But if you don't want this ridiculous business to be a big problem in your life, we have to ensure that you are involved in effective decision-making processes. We have to produce mechanisms where you can raise your voice and show your power in a democratic and legal way. We produce it and you can freely express your words, voices, writings, thoughts and feelings in these legal mechanisms. You have to put them in and we have to implement them. It is that clear.”
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