Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğluvisited Ahmet Kaya, who was elected as the Mayor of Ortahisar, the central district of Trabzon, in his office. Congratulating Kaya, İmamoğlu signed the municipality's memoirs in which he conveyed his feelings. After their congratulatory visit, İmamoğlu and Kaya met with the enthusiastic crowd waiting for them in front of Ortahisar Municipality. İmamoğlu greeted his fellow countrymen with his wife, Dr. Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu greeted Kaya with her wife Tuğba Kaya. İmamoğlu congratulated the Ramadan Feast of his fellow citizens who showed love to him, read the banners in the area one by one and said the following in summary:
“I am proud to be a son of this beautiful city. I am in such a beautiful place right now; God's will. I am a child of both Pazarkapı District and Ortahisar District. Right at the corner of the Ortahisar municipality building you see, we had our paint shop. It stands still; My grandfather had a lumber business on the street just below the town hall. I am a child of this street. I would walk to my school from here and come here from my school. My primary school is Kanuni Süleyman Primary School, right next to this building. So think about it like this: I went out to my village this morning. I am a child from Akçaabat, born in a tiny village house. Yes, as a child of Trabzon, I was born there. I went to primary school here. I went to secondary school at the Mansion High School near the Atatürk Mansion. I went to high school at Trabzon High School. This city is the city where Suleiman the Magnificent was born. “I grew up in this neighborhood where he was born.”
“THIS REPUBLIC FOUNDED BY ATATÜRK GIVES EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO EVERYONE”
“Maybe whatever I have in my life today has been nourished by this. Then, I went to Istanbul to study with my family. Speaking of my business life, I started living in Istanbul, which was conquered by Fatih Sultan Mehmet and started the era that became our homeland. And I became the Mayor of Istanbul. Do you know what this is like? Being born in that 40-digit village, going from Trabzon, conquered by Fatih, to Istanbul, conquered by Fatih, and becoming the Mayor of a Metropolitan Municipality, can only happen in Atatürk's Republic in the world. That's why, my dear fellow countrymen, this Republic founded by Atatürk gives equal opportunities to everyone; to women, children, men... Do you know what democracy does? It equalizes us all. There is a ballot box... We go to the ballot box and vote. That ballot box is the day when we all become equal. Fabricator, laborer, employee, retiree, university student, teacher; It makes us all equal.”
“NOW A NEW ERA HAS STARTED”
“It has its shortcomings. We need to fix this. Do you know what that is? Sometimes democracy, sometimes the Republic, do not reach the level we desire. Unfortunately, he neglects his people. These errors occur due to incorrect applications. Especially if it derails the system, the regime, from its own course, its civilized and civilized process, and tries to put forward another regime, what will happen is that it will oppress women first, children first, young people first, retirees first, and make them suffer. But do you know what we will do together? All together, with the power of our nation, in the search for democracy, in the search for freedom, in the maturation of a process dominated by love and respect, you all put your seal on a new quest, a new hope, on March 31st... Now it is a new era, a new quest, a new era. "A service approach and a new management approach have begun: We say full speed ahead."
“THAT A PAIR OF BLUE EYES LOOKS AT ITS CITIZENS SO CAREFULLY…”
“There has been a debate going on for a few days over a photograph that my dear friend Ahmet Kaya hung in his room. I don't mind the debate. I won't go in there. But what I will tell you is this: That photo has been sitting behind my desk for 10 years. Do you know what that photo is? Photograph taken of a farmer or a villager in Tokat, explaining the problems he experienced after the earthquake to the head of the state. The person in that photo, that villager, that grandfather, is making that statement passionately. But there is a pair of blue eyes listening to him. That pair of blue eyes looks at its citizens so carefully... There is a look into an eye... I say; My God, make me look at these mothers as those eyes do. As those eyes look at these children, these young people, these ladies, these gentlemen, our brothers... Even while talking to the child, I bend my knee to the ground, look into his eyes and try to feel him. This new era will be like a pair of blue eyes looking at a person. Arrogance, arrogance; "All of this is gone, it's over."
“IT IS HUDA WHO GIVES MY SUSTAINABILITY, I WILL NOT BE GRATEFUL TO HIS SERVANT”
“Kul Nesimi said; He said, 'It is Huda who gives me sustenance, I will not be grateful to the servant.' We are in Ramadan. I am the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the largest city in the world. My dear friend Ahmet Kaya, Mayor of Ortahisar. We applied for this task. You also chose us. Now our duty is; It is our responsibility to listen to you, understand you, and work day and night to solve your problems. If our citizen is in trouble, it is our responsibility to support him. Look; I am calling out to my citizens. Any institution of our state, municipality, governorship, ministry, here or there; While it gives you that support, no one gives anything from their pocket. He gives you the support he has to give. Maybe even gives less. You ask for his account. I always say it. Don't be grateful to us. Yes; You can say, 'You did your duty well, brother, my son, thank you mayor.' But do not be grateful to anyone. The owner of this city, Istanbul, this country, this state is the nation, the nation. Saying 'I am the owner of a system'; He who says, 'I did this by my command'; The one who said, 'I ordered it with my instructions and this happened'; "The era of saying 'I asked for forgiveness, I'm leaving office' when someone is leaving office is over."
“ENJOY SERVING THE NATION, NOT ONE PERSON”
“The nation is the owner of the state. No matter which party you are in politics; Remove those shackles and handcuffs from your feet and arms and throw them away. Serve the nation. Enjoy serving the nation, not just one person. This heavenly homeland chose freedom, Republic and democracy more than 100 years ago. What did the poet say? "I'd be surprised which crazy person would chain me," he said. Is not it? We, as a nation, are people who are fond of freedom. We are lovers of democracy, democracy. What will we do now? We will listen to you more. We will listen more to the smart people of this city, the smart young people of this city, ladies and gentlemen. Our President will produce very nice projects with you. We do the same in Istanbul. This is the nation's rise to its feet. The nation will realize its power. There is no loser in the race to serve the nation; We all win. Our journey is such a journey. We will be very successful. "We will feel the power of our valuable citizens like you behind us."
“YOU WILL NOT HEAR A BAD WORD FROM OUR MOUTH FROM NOW ON”
“Hopefully, in the coming period, you will not hear bad words from our mouth from now on, as this has never happened before. No bad words, no bad words. I visited my 98-year-old grandmother in Sera today. I visited my aunt in Salacık. They all say, 'We're listening to you on TV.' And my aunt was shouting at me, 'Ekrem, Ekrem, why can't you hear me?' Now, while they are talking, I will speak badly. My grandmother listens to me, my mother listens to me. Let it go; You are listening, the children are listening. I'm saying it from here. We have not and will not deal with slander, conspiracy or such matters against anyone. We will not use bad words. We will talk about your business. We will talk about our nation's business. We will talk about the future of our children. We will talk about the hopes of our young people. We will support them. We have enough power for this. We have enough intelligence, ideas and knowledge to achieve this. There is, as a nation. We will benefit from your ideas. "May we be on our way."
“ARE YOU AVAILABLE TO GUARD TRABZON?”
“Let's be excited together, let's achieve great success together with my President Ahmet Kaya. Of course, our Central District Chairman, Haluk Batmaz, has great efforts in this success. Mustafa Look, President, our Provincial President has made great efforts. We thank him, our MP Ms. Sibel Suiçmez and our entire organization. But we left the party there. We say; Trabzon alliance won this job. Istanbul and the Istanbul alliance won. Let there be a Turkish alliance in Turkey. That's why we say let's win as a nation. We have no losers in the election. I love you all. May my President Ahmet's path be safe. You will see, we will be with you very much. Just as I said 'guard' against the evil that is being done to our Istanbul, are you ready to guard Trabzon if an evil is being done to it? Don't give up. This is our trinket, this is our life, our lungs, a world that feeds us. Be the guard and protector of Trabzon. Be interested in every issue of Trabzon and be interested in Trabzonspor as well. Do not leave Trabzonspor alone, both materially and spiritually. May all kinds of brotherhood and all kinds of beauty win. I love you all. "With God's permission, everything will be great in Trabzon, Istanbul and everywhere in our country."
KAYA: “OUR FIRST APPLICATION IN TRABZON WILL BE KENT RESTAURANT”
In his speech, Ortahisar Mayor Kaya emphasized that they experienced three holidays at once: Ramadan Feast, their victory in the election and İmamoğlu's coming to Trabzon. Stating that İmamoğlu is the pride of all Trabzon people with the work he did in Istanbul, Kaya said, “Thanks to him, he never embarrassed us. We, as friends who walk with him, will strive to solve any problem, anyone's problem, wherever in Trabzon, with all my friends, so that we will never be ashamed of you. I know that we have good examples in Istanbul and many of my citizens ask me on the street, 'When are you opening the city restaurant in Trabzon, Mr. President?' My friends and I are now looking for a place to open a city restaurant, which will be our first practice in Trabzon. One of the first jobs and services we will bring to Trabzon will be our city restaurant. And again, during our President's visit to Trabzon, there was a promise he made to my fellow citizens of Trabzon, especially to our retirees. Remember; We promised a place in Meydan Park where our retirees could sit with their friends and drink tea for 3 lira. "We will fulfill that promise, friends," he said.
“YOU WILL SEE PUBLIC MUNICIPALITY FROM US”
Noting that the municipality doors will be open to citizens, Kaya said, “We will fulfill all our promises to you. We; Friends, we did not make any promises that we could not make or keep. We set out by thinking, moving, working, calculating and making projects. You will see populist municipalism from us. You will see love, respect and solidarity from us. You will see cooperation from us. You will see a smiling face from us. You will see municipalism with open doors and open hearts from us. But you will never see a crumb of arrogance in us, friends. You will never see closed doors with us, friends. These doors are the doors of the nation, friends. "We will open these doors to our nation until the end," he said.
VISITED TRABZONSPOR CLUB
After the speeches, İmamoğlu moved from Ortahisar Municipality to Trabzonspor Club. Since Trabzonspor Club President Ertuğrul Doğan was abroad, İmamoğlu and his accompanying delegation were welcomed by Vice President Zeyyat Kafkas and club managers. Wishing Trabzonspor success in the upcoming period, İmamoğlu also expressed his thoughts about the chaotic environment in which the country's football is located. Pointing out that the essence of sports includes competition and brotherhood, İmamoğlu said:
“I CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL ACHIEVING A TRUE AUTONOMOUS DIMENSION”
“Football is a difficult part of Turkey. It is currently in intense debate. The things we desire are not happening in some relations between Turkish football, the federation and the clubs themselves. I always say; because football is not managed by those who know football. The existence of excessive political interventions and pressures has always existed to some extent, but I have observed that this has increased significantly recently. I always care about football gaining a truly autonomous dimension. We are left with 3-4 countries in the world where federations are guided by the state administration. We are one of them. As far as I know. There is China, there is Russia. In this context, we need to establish the infrastructure for sports people to manage sports. What we need to do now for football clubs is to support them and ensure that they are resolved by finding a real standard solution, especially at the point of resolving their overly indebted structures. But after that, it is necessary to enable them to reach a very high level disciplined position and to move into a meaningful and healthy management position with their autonomous structure. "This is our wish."
