
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) laid the foundation of the project that will rebuild the old Adalar Municipality, which served for approximately 50 years and lost its resistance to earthquakes. The groundbreaking ceremony of the structure, which will cost 340 million TL, will be built on an area of 2.360 square meters, and will include various social and administrative areas such as an 84 square meter shelter, a parking lot for 6 vehicles, and a roof terrace, was held with the participation of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, the Union of Turkish Municipalities (TBB) and the IMM President. Ekrem İmamoğlu, was held with the participation of Adalar Mayor Ali Ercan Akpolat. At the groundbreaking ceremony, IMM Deputy Secretary General Arif Gürkan Alpay, Akpolat and İmamoğlu gave speeches respectively.
“THANK GOD, THE ISLANDS SMELL SO FRESH”
Emphasizing that the fate of the Islands has changed since they took office in 2019, İmamoğlu said, “We have a perspective that meticulously shows interest and effort in every problem of the Islands. And thank God, the Islands smell wonderful. There is no bad smell in the Islands. There is no rudeness. There are no ugly scenes left on the streets. Hopefully, our measures, especially regarding the front appearance, will bear fruit by the end of this year. And you will see that the Islands will reach a much stronger level with its visuals, culture, art and every aspect.” İmamoğlu, giving the example of the carriage problem they solved in the Islands, said, “The issue of carriages is an important issue. If you really calculate the budget we solved with the money of that day, in other words, today, it would be 2-2,5 billion in today’s money. But we managed such a humane process because we knew this; in fact, with this innovation we made and that sacrifice, we are transforming the next 50, 100 years of the Islands. “We are very happy about this,” he said.
“WE HAVE SET A GOAL NOW”
“We have set a goal now,” said İmamoğlu, “We will hopefully finish it this summer. Kartal and Beylikdüzü will be our colleagues who will manage the important stages of that stage in Istanbul and the mainland. We also have other districts that we are working on. The zero waste project we have started in Adalar right now… There will be no waste that will go to waste, that we will not use. And we will make Adalar a zero waste district and introduce it to all of Turkey and the world this year. That is why, starting from waste separation at home, at work, at restaurants, everywhere, and until it is collected, our Environmental Protection Department Head, our valuable teacher is here, our managers are here and especially our Adalar coordinator is here in the operation of these processes. With their follow-up, we will come to Adalar again this year, where we will talk about how important the ‘Zero Waste Project’ is, how much it contributes economically and how it is an environmentally friendly method, and we will come here and only talk about zero waste. That day, we will introduce this to all of Turkey from here.”
“I CONSIDER MYSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE 50-100 YEARS OF THE ISLANDS”
İmamoğlu underlined that they were proud to bring the new municipality building, the foundation of which they will lay and which they plan to complete this year, to the Islands, and concluded his speech with the following words:
“I consider myself very responsible in absolutely everything we do on the Islands, to follow the course of these beautiful Prince Islands, the historical islands from the past to the present, and to take into account the next 50 or 100 years, so to speak, to protect themselves, and even to cleanse the poorly constructed structures over time, to ensure that they become one of the most beautiful corners of Istanbul, like a trinket of Turkey, so to speak. We will continue to take steps to ensure that such a beautiful geography is remembered with goodness, both to provide peace to the people living here and to ensure that people coming from outside spend time in accordance with the order and discipline of this place. We love our country. We love our Istanbul. We love every district of Istanbul.”
“WE DO NOT DISTINGUISH ANY OF OUR PEOPLE FROM EACH OTHER”
“We do not separate any of our people from each other. We will bury partisanship in this country together. We are walking on the path as a generation that will take very strong and determined steps in order to eliminate all anti-democratic rules, to never allow partisanship to enter the nation again, to establish a truly strong and new generation politics, a new generation democracy, a new generation local government, a new generation country government in this country. With Allah’s permission, we will achieve this and we will build the happiness of our nation together. We are a team that knows very well that building poverty, irregularity in education, rights, law and justice in our country in the strongest way starts right here, in the Islands, in Istanbul. Therefore, may our services be continuous. May Allah not embarrass us to our nation, may He not embarrass us to humanity. Because we are the people of a sacred geography. I hope that the future of our country, our beautiful Istanbul and the Islands will be much, much better.”
VISITED IMM PROJECTS ON THE ISLANDS
The foundation of the new Adalar Municipality building was laid by Çelik, İmamoğlu, Akpolat, Çekmeköy Mayor Orhan Çerkez, Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, Kartal Mayor Gökhan Yüksel, Kadıköy The ceremony was held by Mayor Mesut Kösedağı, Tuzla Mayor Eren Ali Bingöl and Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş, who stepped on the butts. İmamoğlu, who did not leave the Islands after the ceremony, inspected the IMM projects. İmamoğlu and his delegation visited the Büyükada Fisherman's Shelter Coastal Park, the Nizam Neighborhood Nizam Bridge restoration area, and the İETT Adalar Garage and horse stables, respectively. İmamoğlu completed his tour of the Islands by visiting tradesmen in the Büyükada bazaar.