The launch event of the European Mobility Week, which wasorganised
within the scope of the 'European Union Support for Promoting Sustainable Urban
Mobility in Turkish Cities’ (SUMP Türkiye) Project financed by the Republic of
Türkiye and the European Union (EU), with the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructure as the Contracting Authority and the Union of Municipalities of
Türkiye as the final beneficiary, was held on 21 June 2023 at the Union of
Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT) premises with the participation of 120 people.
This year's theme of the European Mobility Week was determined as
"Discover Your City- Save Your Future Energy!".
The launch of the European Mobility Week, which started with the
screening of the promotional film of SUMP Türkiye Project and the introduction
of the project’s website, was held with the participation of Head of the EU
Delegation to Türkiye Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, President of the UMT
and Mayor of Balıkesir Metoropolitan Municipality Yücel Yılmaz, Burak Aykan,
Director General for EU Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Ministry of
Transport and Infrastructure and Head of the Operating Structure, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director for EU Affairs, Ambassador Mehmet Kemal
Bozay, ambassadors, representatives of the municipalities and public
institutions.
The event started with the opening speech of Yücel Yılmaz,
President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye and Mayor of Balıkesir
Metropolitan Municipality. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director for EU
Affairs, Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay highlighted the importance of
sustainable transport and European Mobility Week in order to protect future
generations from global climate change and energy problems. The Head of the
European Delegation, Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut expressed his pleasure
to continue his cooperation with UMT within the scope of European Mobility Week
and talked about the awareness and behavioural changes to be created with SUMP
Türkiye.He mentioned that European countries have started to move away from
fossil energy in transport, that efforts are being made to achieve this in
Türkiye and that it is important to work together for sustainable energy. Burak
Aykan, Director General for EU Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Ministry of
Transport and Infrastructure and Head of the Operating Structure, stated that the transport
sector is a sector where the EU funds are used effectively and that this
project, which puts sustainable energy as its target in cooperation with
municipalities, is very important and that their support and efforts to raise
awareness will continue.
In the session organised after the opening speeches, Feridun
Ekmekci, EuroVelo Türkiye National Coordinator and President of Energy
Efficiency and Environmental Protection Association, made a presentation on
sustainable transport methods. SUMP Türkiye Project Director Wolfgang Backhaus-
Rupprecht Consult attended the event via video conference.