Congress President Whitmore visits the Union of Municipalities of Marmara

Istanbul, 12.05.2011 - At the margins of the 121st Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe held in Istanbul on 11 May 2011, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Keith Whitmore and the Secretary General of the Congress, Andreas Kiefer, visited the offices of the Union of Municipalities  of  Marmara. At the Union’s premises, they also met Yavuz Mildon, former President of the Congress. The delegation was also received by Secretary General Recep Bozlagan and the Director of European and international relations, Murat Daoudov.

For many years the Union of Municipalities of Marmara (UMM), the oldest and largest regional association of Turkey, has been a great supporter of the work of the Congress. President Whitmore and Secretary General Kiefer have now had an opportunity to discover first hand the Union and its activities, such as training, publishing and international cooperation. The Union, which provides training for more than 16,000 municipal officials annually, is one of the leading training operators in Turkey. It  is also active in publishing a wide variety of books and guidelines for municipalities. The Union has also established the first specialised “City and Local Government Library” in Turkey, which has collected 20,000 publications in several languages.

In presenting the UMM to the Congress delegation, Secretary General Bozlagan outlined the Union’s plans to further support the actions of the Congress in the near future. In particular the Union is preparing an awareness-raising campaign amongst municipalities for the adoption of the principles of the European Urban Charter, as well as a set of guidelines on ethics and anticorruption at local level. President Whitmore said how impressed he is by the scope of the work of the Union, stressing the importance of cooperation with the associations which have direct and intense contact with municipalities.

Former President of the Congres,Yavuz Mildon, also joined the meeting at the UMM. Always actively following the work in Strasbourg and  a great supporter of the Congress, he shared his opinions with President Whitmore on the current affairs and future activities of the institution. Secretary General Kiefer has also suggested closer cooperation with the Union for the development of joint actions in the field of transparency and ethics at the level of local and regional authorities.

Member of the NALAS, observer at the Arab Towns Organisation and associate member of the Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities, the Union of Municipalities of Marmara has applied for observer status with the Congress with the objective of increasing involvement in the Congress activities.