United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) hosted Atty. Ali Yıldırım Sezer, Mayor of Gölcük, Member of UCLG-MEWA Supervisory Board & Financial Management Committee and UCLG-MEWA Council Member, as part of UCLG-MEWA Local Government Talk Series entitled “The Role of Local Governments in the Fight Against Coronavirus and Normalization” on September 30, 2020.
Starting his remarks with the motto of “Naval City of Gölcük,” Mayor Sezer said that from past to present, the navy has been extremely important for the city of Gölcük. He further added that the establishment of Gölcük Naval Shipyard during the last period of the Ottoman Empire had contributed to the transformation of this region into a naval city.
Mayor Yıldırım also spoke about the activities of the Gölcük Municipality during the pandemic. He underlined the fact that they had built a department within the municipality dedicated to the management of coronavirus measures and added that all necessary measures had been put in place to fight the pandemic. Another topic discussed during the talk was the impact of the pandemic on local economy and the measures taken in response to that.
Highlighting the lessons learned from Gölcük earthquake of 1999 in his talk, Mayor Sezer emphasized the importance of regular and solid settlements. He said that disaster recovery is one of the top items on the agenda of Gölcük Municipality.
You can watch the full talk through this link.