Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), in the program organized for the fourth year of his mayorship, "When I applied for this position 4 years ago, I promised Istanbul an absolute change after this bad period... A change whose time has come cannot be stopped. June 23 is one of the important days where this fact is proven. That's why June 23 is a victory for democracy for this city. 4 years ago, Istanbul and Turkey stepped into a new era with the decision of you, the citizens of this country. Those who declared only one of the four votes in the same envelope invalid and ignored the will of the citizens, those who thought they were the owners of the country, learned their lesson that day. They understood that no one is above the national will. Only the nation can change the nation's decision," he said.
“23 JUNE, A HAPPY DEMOCRACY VICTORY”
"If our nation had not given that lesson on democracy on June 23, 2019, Turkey would have entered a much darker path. June 23 is the victory of the will to keep this country on the path of law and democracy. It is the beginning of new hope for our democracy. Happy June 23 victory of democracy. The will that turned 23 June into a democracy day and a festival is the will of our nation. And no matter how it comes out of the ballot box, that will is always valuable to us, always respected. That will is always above our heads," İmamoğlu added.
"Politics is essentially a tool to solve our problems by talking. Elections are the expression of our desire to live together in brotherhood, regardless of the outcome, who or who wins. We know that with a divisive and polarizing understanding of politics, you may win elections, but you will lead to the loss of our unity and integrity. who do not see Turkey as a big family; We have to get rid of the mentality that looks at people as 'from us or from them'. We started by asking ourselves a question 4 years ago: What should Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality focus on in terms of ensuring the claim and quality of life that this ancient city and its 16 million inhabitants deserve? Our vision answer to this question was clear and short: Istanbul will be a fair, green and creative city! From the phaeton problem in the Islands to our urban transformation practices; We work with this philosophy in every field, from our approach to the taxi problem to our Halk Grocery practice. We manage the budget of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality with the sensitivity of the 'family budget'," he said.
“WE PREPARED THE HIZRAY PROJECT WITH 13 STATIONS WITH A LENGTH OF 74.5 KM GOING FULLY UNDERGROUND”
"The most important of these projects is the HIZRAY project, which is the largest and fastest metro project in Istanbul, connecting the city from one end to the other and with a length of 74.5 km, which goes completely underground. With HIZRAY, our new generation and express metro project, it will be possible to reach Beylikdüzü from Sabiha Gökçen Airport in 55 minutes on the east-west axis, and we aim to carry 1.5 million passengers per day on this line alone. On the other hand, we prepared the project and financing of the Sefaköy-Beylikdüzü metro line, where more than 2 million Istanbul residents live. We also got our approval from the İBB Assembly. Just like in the 300 metrobus project, we are waiting for the approval of the President. Unfortunately, as we enter the 100th anniversary of our republic, the idea of government based on national will has weakened, the polarization between social segments has deepened, and trust in justice has been exhausted. As such, our country is far from the democratic world. As the opposition, we lost both the parliamentary and presidential elections in a period when the 21-year power was at its weakest. We could not respond to the citizen's request for change. We could not create an atmosphere of trust and hope that would change the government. The picture we are in today is not just an election defeat picture. Despair and despair are pushing Turkey towards an increasingly authoritarianism without opposition. We know from world examples that democracies where the opposition is ineffective and weak cannot survive. In regimes without opposition, citizens are left at the mercy of governments. Society expects fundamental change from us," he said.