Turkish politician: "I want our brother municipalities to be everywhere in the Eurasian region"

Interview of Ali Kılıç, Mayor of Maltepe district of Istanbul, known for his activism not only in Turkey but also in some European and Asian countries, to Turan News Agency

Turan: Although Turkish-EU relations have suffered severely in the last 10 years, your party, and especially you, as mayor, have not taken a step back from the issue of EU membership. The forum you held on Turkey-EU relations on June 3-5 was one of the examples. What would you like to say as the mayor of a district that organized the forum?

Kılıç: We have to establish and develop close relations with European countries in order to achieve the goal of "modern cultures" shown by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our republic. Of course, the Republic of Turkey alone can achieve the norms of modern culture through its reforms and apply them to all spheres of life. We do not need any “staff” for this, it is enough to want and work for it.

From the point of view of international relations, we see that the countries closest to us on the other side of our border are in the European Union, and our cultural similarities extend to the Balkans. Our people living in Europe carry our traditions to Britain, our students study at universities from Bulgaria to Sweden, our immigrants contribute to the economic development of the countries where they live, and our young people are closely involved in European political life.

As we increase the number of examples, we will see that we have had strong signatures everywhere in Europe and in every aspect of life for 10 years. Aside from the policy of international relations pursued by the AKP government, even domestic politics in Turkey is making the European Union angry. We, the social-democratic politicians, are working hard in the field of politics not to make the European Union laugh when it looks at us, but to give the most natural rights to our citizens. We have another persistence as well: we are part of Europe. Therefore, you can assess the work we do today as a preparation for tomorrow. So, more than 5 million of our people have been part of the European Union's population for 60 years. I believe that when our EU membership process begins, we will join the union without knocking on the door, like a democratic Republic of Turkish that respects human rights. The EU will learn more from us, and we will learn more from the EU. Therefore, as the municipality of Maltepe, we continue to work to keep our relationship alive and warm through the experts we have brought together, from our politicians to our scientists.

Turan: In addition to your EU goal, as a political figure and mayor, you are trying to establish close relations with Eurasian countries. How far have you come in this area?

Kılıç: The parties included in the Nation Alliance have their own views on foreign policy. There is no alternative to the coming to power of this political union, which the public sees as a Six-Party Table. When they come to power, the issue of foreign policy and full membership in the EU, which is the product of a common mindset, will be implemented. As the head of a local self-government body, I will certainly be ready to share my experience in this field with the central government.

Turan: To what extent is your activity reflected in the foreign policy of your party?

Kılıç: The participation of our party chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the forum on "EU and Turkey in the new era" held in Maltepe on June 3-5, I think, is the answer to your question. In addition, the President of Albania also visited our forum, setting an example of great courtesy. We felt honored. The meeting of the chairman of Turkey's main opposition party with the president of another country can be considered a meeting on foreign policy. CHP unions abroad help us gain international prestige by conveying our party's political outlook to the public and politicians of those countries.

Turan: It is claimed that the Nation Alliance and the Six-Party Table led by your party will win the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in 12 months at the latest. Do you believe that if an alliance led by your party comes to power, you will have a wider opportunity to implement the projects and plans you have developed, especially for the Eurasian geography?

Kılıç: From my point of view, the most important feature of Eurasia is that it was a place of origin centuries ago. That is, those lands attract my attention from the point of view of our nation's pre-Anatolian settlement. I'm talking about our origin. The deeper we go, the more information we have. Therefore, I want to go from the Turkish republics to China to see and share our common features. There are municipalities in Iran and even China with which we have signed the fraternity protocol. We have opened an office of the Eurasian Theater Association, created by seven countries, at our Türkan Saylan Cultural Center. We held Iranian and Chinese culture weeks in the same place. As Maltepe municipality, we want to find protocol districts in all Eurasian countries and sign protocols. But I am the head of the local self-government body. Our financial means and powers do not allow us to achieve all our goals. This is the biggest problem. Or we would like to represent our country everywhere with the initiatives we have shown in Maltepe.