President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Ekrem İmamoğlu, spoke at the opening ceremony of the East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair (EMITT), one of the five largest tourism fairs in the world and organized for the 28th time this year, held in Büyükçekmece TÜYAP.
KARTALKAYA, KAHRAMANMARAS, MIDDLE EAST…
İmamoğlu, who placed the hotel fire disaster in Bolu Kartalkaya, the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes and the war environments in Palestine and Syria in particular and the Middle East in general, as the main backbone of his speech, said the following in summary:
“I find it important to remember and share with you the humanitarian aspects of these three concepts, not only the sector but also the resilience of our cities and our country and the sustainability of service as very fundamental issues. While expressing our deep sorrow and prayers for our citizens who lost their lives in fires and earthquakes, I would also like to remember the innocent people, civilians, children, women and youth who died in this war in the Middle East and wish that there would be no wars in the world. If you are aware, while we are talking about three disasters - fire, earthquake and war - we are actually struggling very hard in our country and with tourism, it is necessary to underline the fact that we can not only generate income but also give very deep-rooted messages to the world from this beautiful country, Istanbul and our other distinguished cities. In this respect, we all know that these three threats will and have deeply affected this sector, tourism.”
“THERE ARE THINGS WE NEED TO DO TOGETHER”
“Here are the issues that we all need to do together. And if I were to start with the first issue… The fire issue has actually brought before us the fact that many issues such as inspection, surveillance, and licensing, especially in the tourism sector, need to be discussed in depth. In this sense, we have to address this issue not only by sharing the crises of the day or our pains or keeping the issue within this framework, but by taking daily measures within this scope and somehow asking ‘are we in trouble in the cities?’, not only by focusing on this area and examining it, but by addressing this issue in the tourism sector in a broader way, and how institutions and organizations should act, how problems and responsibilities should be shared, and we have to conduct a comprehensive study in this respect. Of course, the central administration of our country and also the local administration, as well as non-governmental organizations and professional organizations are important stakeholders in this comprehensive study.”
“THE UNDERSTANDING AND EFFORT THAT EVERY ISSUE WILL BE MANAGED THROUGH THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION…”
“In this sense, it is necessary to underline a fundamental problem that Turkey has been experiencing recently. In other words, the understanding and effort that all authorities will be gathered at the center and that every issue will be managed through the central administration, just as it has not yielded results anywhere in the world, in fact, in my opinion, it makes things difficult in our country. The muscles that will be strengthened locally, but through the local administration, but within the cooperation system of different administrations that can be its stakeholders, the issue can be addressed more strongly… There are cities that especially need to specialize in certain issues. For example, when it comes to tourism, Antalya, Muğla and other cities like these, making them stronger in certain muscles, allowing them to be effective actors in this and similar crises, in other words, strengthening even a small town municipality in the event of a fire, and if there is a tourism destination and tourism area there, developing the muscles of that town municipality will benefit this country, instead of leaving the issue open, making the issue its own and strengthening the local administration will pave the way for a democratic development with a very important character for Turkey and our future.”
“ACCOMMODATION TAX” CRITICISM: “IT SHOULD BE PAID TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS…”
“So when you look at a body, we all know that keeping the spine strong, a body that has weakened its limbs and reduced its powers cannot be a healthy body, and this cannot be beneficial to democracy. In this sense, I would like to say that authority, responsibility, localization of many issues and strong work steps to be taken in this regard are essential, both as the President of the Union of Turkish Municipalities and as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and that our cities, metropolitan cities, provinces and districts have serious needs in this regard. For example, if we need to summarize this topic with a very simple example, here is the issue of accommodation taxes, it is a very important problem. While it should be given to local governments to be used properly in this regard, we all know how valuable it is to share a resource locally that will contribute to the tourists it hosts in every field, in culture, art, history, the improvement and modernization of the city. I think that hesitating and staying away from this means usurping the rights of the city. I would like to express that it is essential to take steps in this respect.”
“ON THE ISSUE OF HOW TO RECOVER, STRENGTHEN AND DEVELOP IN AN EARTHQUAKE…”
“Another topic; the earthquake issue. Tomorrow, we will remember tens of thousands of our lives again and if we need to remind you once again that our cities that do not want to experience this pain, and the vast majority of our cities that faced earthquakes are also strong tourism cities, I think that an action plan here is essential, not one where institutions or administrators blame each other, but a culture of working together, a culture of talking together, setting some issues much higher than politics, keeping the bar there, and being able to solve these issues at the tables on how recovery, strengthening and development can be achieved in the event of an earthquake. In other words, I think that using the same language from the highest administrator to the lowest level administrator of a city and acting with the belief that it is possible to act quickly in strengthening our cities without losing any political interest in this matter, will be very suitable for a statesman, statesman, and an administrator who thinks about his state. In this sense, I would like to emphasize that we rush to every responsibility, every issue and every position that falls upon us, and that we are always ready for such solidarity. Earthquakes are really a very important issue for our Turkey, especially Istanbul, in terms of the resilience of cities and the sustainability of life in cities. In this respect, I would like to emphasize that we need to carry out a great mobilization together to ensure that our tourists who come to our cities are safe, especially the resilience of the whole city, but especially the resilience of all the structures that host our people in tourism.”
“IF WE CONSIDER THAT 5-6 MILLION REFUGEES LIVE IN OUR COUNTRY AND THAT THERE ARE ASYLUM SEEKERS…”
“Finally; of course, I would like to state that the Syrian issue, which our country is heavily involved in and right next to us, and the Middle East peace, and Turkey’s role in this direction are also important. Because, I think that the only way for us to reach these great figures, which the valuable sector representatives have just expressed and mentioned, from civil society organizations to Turkish Airlines, from Türkiye İş Bankası to other institutions and organizations, is to contribute with strong solidarity to the establishment of a country where every ethnicity, every lifestyle can be happy and peaceful, with the highest level of solidarity, regarding peace, democracy in the region and especially the establishment of a new country in Syria. I think that this subject and many subheadings within it are important in terms of our becoming a peaceful country in tourism, and perhaps ensuring that the next century is much more prosperous and developed for our country. The EMITT heading is the heading of an expansion called the Middle East. In this respect, I think that it is essential that we are in solidarity at a very high level in this area, and that we are in solidarity with all political bodies of our country, from the government to the opposition, from local governments to different institutions and organizations. You will appreciate that I am not addressing the issue through a 'view of Syria from Turkey'. Considering that there are 5-6 million refugees living in our country, and that there are asylum seekers, with different figures, such a peaceful environment is also a great burden for us in our country, and a great humanitarian problem for those people; I would like to emphasize that this solidarity, such an existence will ensure that these people return to their countries in peace in the Middle East.”
“WHEN WE CAN SOLVE THESE AND SIMILAR PROBLEMS IN SOLIDARITY…”
“When we can solve these and similar problems in solidarity, we should know that this will definitely be the basis for the tourism sector, which is the apple of our eye in our country, which we proudly tell about by putting it in our showcase, which is a very valuable job in serving our country to the whole world with pleasure at every moment, to develop in a way that will perhaps be at the top of the list. In this respect, much better works, collaborations, meetings, meetings that bring cities together, fairs, especially in our cities… It has many different branches; congress tourism, summer tourism, winter tourism… With different plans, without forgetting that we are in a country that really suits the tourism target in 12 cities of our country, ten or twelve months of the year, I have full faith that our works will climb to a very high level together and will bring very large revenues to our country. We welcome the EMITT Fair with our Istanbul. With all this feeling, I applaud the EMITT Fair with the awareness that we will welcome all countries and all humanity to our heart's content, thousands of years of humanity in this heavenly homeland, which is the cradle of history, and proudly host them here, and that it will also contribute to the national income of our people at a record level, in our country, where there is peace, tranquility, earthquake-resistant cities, sectors and structures where all precautions are taken to stay away from disasters, and the beautiful Republic of Turkey where democracy and justice exist.”
