Mayor of the Turkish Association of Local Authorities (TBB) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Ekrem İmamoğlu met with Mayor of Dusseldorf Dr. Steven Keller on the third day of his stay in Germany. During the visit, İmamoğlu was accompanied by Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists in Europe (ATIAD) Dr. Aziz Saryar. The mayors of both cities and the accompanying delegation exchanged views on cooperation and new projects between Istanbul and Dusseldorf. Learning about Keller’s high position in the German Association of Local Authorities, Chairman İmamoğlu of TBB expressed his opinion that cooperation between the local authorities of the two countries should be expanded through the two higher organizations.
Terrorist Victim Özkan Visits Brothers
Traveling overland from Düsseldorf to Cologne, Imamoglu first went to Keupstrasse, the city’s Turkish district. He visited shopkeepers in the area, which from the outside resembles any street in Istanbul, and the first place he went into was a hair salon run by Ozkan Yildirim and Hasan Yildirim, brothers from Ankara, whose lives were turned upside down by a bomb detonated by the racist terrorist organization NSU on June 9, 2004.
The Ozka brothers said that due to police and media pressure, they were at one point considered the culprits of the explosion, and shared with İmamoğlu the outline of their legal battle, which lasted for about 11 years. İmamoğlu expressed his wish for the Ozka brothers to “get better soon,” and said that their lives returned to normal after it became clear that the incident was a racist attack. Prime Minister İmamoğlu offered condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack, saying, “This is an event that none of us can accept, anywhere in the world. Moreover, Turkish-German relations have a very different dimension, with a history of very delicate dialogue and great efforts dating back 60 years.” Sharing information that two of his family’s uncles emigrated to Germany in 1963, İmamoğlu said, “There is not only hope and migration, but also labor and mutual dialogue.”
“The brains that orchestrated these racist attacks, the defective brains.”
Pointing out that Turks in Germany have proven successful examples of entrepreneurship, Imamoglu said, “The success, management and employment of Turks in Germany is on a whole different level. Of course, the brain that bases this on racism and organizes attacks is a defective brain. Moreover, the migration problem in the world today is moving to a new stage. Now such irregular migrations are taking place, people flocking together … but they are fleeing from war, they are fleeing from poverty, they are fleeing in droves from new oppression. Turkiye is facing the biggest problem. But despite that, such attacks are not happening in Turkey. In other words, we need to keep our social conscience in a healthy place no matter what. We are big victims of this irregular migration and refugee problem. As Turkiye, we are victims. But nevertheless, we must keep it in a delicate place and not forget that we are dealing with human beings. Of course, we will continue the endless fight for them to return to their homeland. “It’s not that,” he said.
“The success of the Turks here makes us proud.”
Imamoglu stressed that the situation of Turks in Germany is at a different stage from the current refugee crisis, saying:
“There is a real effort here. It’s like a three-generation family, a four-generation family is from here now. Of course he is Turkish, of course he is Muslim, but he comes from here. So social and sociological transformation is always present in the world, has been and will always be. The achievements of Turks here make us proud. People who do the right job and do an exemplary job make us proud as a nation. I mean, whether he is a hairdresser, a businessman, a businessman, a scientist or any other person. It doesn’t matter. People who do their job well… we are proud. We want strong and successful people like you to be here in this profession. Now it has gone beyond this integration. ‘You are a resident of this place.'”
“We will always oppose terrorism.”
“We want this Turkish community to achieve remarkable success in Germany. Playing for a football team is a source of pride for us, both in Germany and in other countries. The world should look at this issue this way. We all experience and witness how much racism, religious discrimination, sectarianism causes great pain in the world. This happens sometimes in our country and in neighboring countries. Here we experience the massacre of Palestinians in Israel. If you look at its essence, what is it? The only problem is something that actually works through religion. It will not happen like that. No, it’s wrong there too. It’s wrong, it’s wrong in Germany too. It’s wrong, it’s wrong in Turkey too. We will always make no mistake. We will always be against such terrorist acts. Hopefully, we will continue our relationship by maintaining our unity and solidarity as a nation and by protecting and defending peace here.”
Great interest in IMAMOĞLU in Cologne
As he greeted traders in the streets from restaurants to jewellery stores, bookshops to patisseries, Imamoglu attracted keen interest from expatriates, who took photos with him and used their mobile phones to call their relatives to meet the IMM chairman.
An elderly female expatriate hugged Imamoglu and asked, “Are you really here?”, drawing laughter. In response to the strong interest of the foreigners, Imamoglu walked from Keupstrasse to the Cologne Central Mosque, where he toured the campus, which began construction in 2009 and opened for prayer in 2017.
Imamoglu instructed his assistants to contact campus architect Gottfried Boehm. Imamoglu said he was impressed with the design and asked the architect to make an offer to design a mosque in a suitable location in Istanbul.
Mayor of Cologne meets with Mr. Recker
Imamoglu recently met with Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker in the city. After exchanging views on cooperation and new projects between Istanbul and Cologne, Imamoglu and Reker agreed that relations should be developed through the municipal union of the two countries. At the end of the meeting, Imamoglu signed the Cologne City Honor Book and said, “Dear Mayor Henriette Reker, I am very happy to be with you all in our sister city of Cologne. The cities of Istanbul and Cologne bear a very special responsibility in a relationship that has lasted for centuries and has reached another dimension due to the forces generated by migration, which has had a very strong meaning since 1962. In Cologne, we witness the exemplary and tolerant local government of your country taking steps towards the world, and I fully believe that together we will take these strong and peaceful steps to an exemplary level in the world. I salute all the citizens of Cologne.”
