Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, Salim Korkmaz, Coordinator of Relations with International Organizations and Prof. Adem Esen visited Saleema Quraishi, Consul General of Afghanistan in his office. During the visit that took place on Tuesday, January 3, the issues discussed during the previous meeting on 20 March 2015 were reviewed, and had an exchange of ideas on the participation of the Afghan municipalities to the activities of UCLG-MEWA.
Expressing his sorrow due to the heinous attacks in Istanbul and reiterating that Afghanistan is a committed ally of the Turkish people; Consul General Quraishi offered his condolences to the delegation. Providing information on the activities of UCLG-MEWA; Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, presented samples of periodical and non-periodical publications of UCLG-MEWA, together with invitation letters addressed to the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) and the central municipalities of the 33 provinces in Afghanistan, to be delivered to their adressees.
After informing the Consul General about the key activities of UCLG-MEWA to be conducted in 2017; Salim Korkmaz, Coordinator of Relations with International Organizations at UCLG-MEWA, underlined the importance of the participation of the municipalities of Afghanistan, particularly the Kabul Municipality, to the UCLG-MEWA Executive Bureau Meetings, to be held on March in Nablus/Palestine, and on October in Sancaktepe/Istanbul. Mr. Quraishi stated that he will support membership and participation of Afghan municipalities in UCLG-MEWA activities, and that he will carry his works beyond bureaucratic correspondences.
As a member of the academic team formed for the book being prepared by UCLG-MEWA on the Local Government Systems in the MEWA region, Prof. Adem Esen mentioned the nature and scope of the research, and asked Mr. Quraishi’s support on collecting first hand data on their country. Mr. Quraishi appointed an officer of the Consulate to provide support both on UCLG-MEWA membership and efforts to be made within the scope of the aforementioned research.
After the reciprocal wishes of good will, the meeting ended with a souvenir photo altogether.