The Local Administration Reform Phase III Project (LAR III) was officially launched with a high-level opening ceremony held in Ankara. The event gathered the representatives of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (MoEU), the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (UMT), the Provincial Governorates, Metropolitan, Provincial and District Municipalities, Special Provincial Administrations, relevant NGOs, experts specialized in local administrations, public officials and members of the press.
The event commenced with the opening speeches of Mr. Kayhan Özüm, the Deputy Secretary General of the UMT, Mr. Ahmet Hakan Atik, the Head of the Project Implementation Department of the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sukhrob Khojimatov, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Turkey, Mr. Bartosz Michal Przywara, Head of Trade and other EU Policies Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Mr. Turan Konak, the Director General of Local Authorities of the MoEU and Ali Çelik, Director General of Provincial Administrations of the MoI respectively.
Following the opening speeches, Mr. Ferhat Emil, the Chief Technical Advisor of LAR III Project, made the project introduction presentation, consisting of a narrative history of LAR Projects and details of LAR Phase III based on general overview and components of the Project. The program was followed by the speech of Prof. Dr. İlhan Tekeli who is a recognized name in the field of city and regional planning.
Two technical panel discussions took place in the scope of the event. The first panel “Participatory Mechanisms for Local Administrations” was held under the moderation of Ms. Seher Alacacı Arıner, Assistant Resident Representative of UNDP Turkey with the participation of Prof. Dr. İlhan Tekeli, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Savaş Zafer Şahin, Mr. Necati Binici , President of the Union of Citizens’ Assemblies of Turkey and Mr. Cemal Baş, Head of Project and Financing of the UMT.
Following the first panel, Mr. Glendal Wright who is very experienced in the fields of public financial management, program development and delivery in budget, finance and local government services, made a keynote speech on the “Financial Sustainability of Municipalities”. In the second panel the issue of financial sustainability of municipalities in Turkey was discussed under the moderation of Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Mengi with the participation of Mr. Glendal Wright, Mr. Baki Kerimğlu, the Deputy Secretary General of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and Mr. Emrullah Töremen, Head of Department of the Directorate General of Local Authorities of the MoEU. The program ended with a plaque ceremony.