President Büyükakın, who attended the General Assembly meeting at the Council of Europe, stressed that the central government in the earthquake zone supports local governments

Tahir Büyükakın, the President of the Delegation of Turkey and Mayor of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, evaluated the work carried out in the earthquake zone at the 44th General Assembly meeting of the Council of European Council of Europe Local and Regional Governments in Strasbourg. Mayor Büyükakın pointed out that disasters are the above political dimension. However, some of our friends make different explanations when they appear in front of the cameras, which causes a negative perception abroad. We must put aside political sensitivities in disaster times. ’

Solidarity bazaar from the congress

Congress management, which has been in close communication with Turkey since the first day of the earthquake, organized a solidarity bazaar to help earthquake victims with the support of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the employees of the Council of Europe within the scope of the 44th General Assembly. The official opening of the bazaar was held with the opening speeches of the President of the Council of Europe Tahir Büyükakın, President of the Turkish Delegation and Mayor of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, Leender Verbeek, Chairman of the Council of Europe and Tiny Kox, Chairman of the Council of Europe. Following the speeches, the guests who visited the Turkish Solidarity Bazaar were also the guests of the bazaar organized by the National Delegation of Azerbaijan for the earthquake victims due to the Nevruz Day. The 44th General Assembly of the Congress started with a stance of respect for the earthquake victims who lost their lives in the earthquakes based in Kahramanmaraş in Turkey.

President Büyükakın thanked

Mayor Büyükakın thanked the members of the Congress for their solidarity and said, ’’ Congress members conveyed to us that they want to do a solidarity campaign for the earthquake. I was not thinking of attending meetings in this period due to the conditions in Turkey. But I attended the meeting because they wanted to express their solidarity with Turkey. A high -level participation took place. They conveyed that they were with Turkey and that they were ready to help. ’

They talk to the cameras differently

Emphasizing that the importance of such activities in international relations and emphasizing that solidarity shown gives them morale, Mayor Büyükakın said, ’We conveyed information about the activities carried out in Hatay at the congress. They asked us if there was difficulty in earthquake studies between local governments and central government. I mentioned that we have worked together with the central government, civil society and local governments in the earthquake zone. In Hatay, I stated that the works were carried out in a full coordination in Maraş and that we were working in the same way as the municipalities there. Nevertheless, some of our friends’ statements against the cameras were completely different. Such expressions cause negative perception abroad. Political sensitivities should be left aside at such times and what can be done for earthquake victims should come to the forefront ’’.

Source: (Byzha) – White News Agency