Hosted by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, the European Mobility Week (EMW) 2022 Reception Was Held

The EMW Reception, hosted by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, within the scope of the “EU Support for Sustainable Mobility in Cities Project”, a project being implemented under  the Sectoral Operational Program for Transport (USOP), was held with the participation of the senior officials and the EU Ambassadors. President of the Union Municipalities of Türkiye (UOM) and Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Fatma Şahin, the Head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, Acting President of Presidential Policy Board of Local Administrations of Türkiye Prof. Dr Şükrü Karatepe, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı gave their opening speeches.  On behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Head of Department for EU Investments, IPA Director Tijen İğci (PhD) attended the event with the representatives of the Department.

The EMW Reception started with the opening speeches. All of the speakers emphasised the importance of sustainable urban mobility and underlined the real meaning of the EMW 2022 theme, namely “Better Connections”.  They stated that sustainable, inclusive, accessible transportation and cleaner, greener and reduced carbon emissions would also reduce the negative impact of climate change. Speakers also talked about the benefits of using more public transportation, walking and cycling. In this context, they spoke highly of the activities organised by municipalities within the scope of EMW in Turkey.

Before the reception, during the last part of the speeches, sustainable urban mobility expert Dr Susanne Böhler-Baedeker talked about the environmental, social and economic impact of “Sustainable Mobility”. And sustainable mobility consultant Mateo Gomez Jattin talked about the “Mobilise Your City” initiative and informed the audience that Ankara Metropolitan Municipality became the new member of this initiative.

The event concluded with a reception.