We are going to strive for a better Kocasinan (Interview)
interview: Erkinbeğ Uygurtürk
Hi, Mr. Mayor, firstly we hope you good luck with your new position, could we a little bit know about you, could you talk about yourself?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: I was born in Kayseri in 1972. I have completed my primary, secondary and high schools in Kayseri. I won the Construction Engineering Department of Yıldız Technical University in 1990 and got graduated from the same faculty as a “Construction Engineer” in 1994. I did my military service as a short-termer in 1995. I started my own company in Kayseri. I have been into Project designing, building construction, industrial building construction and consultancy. I have taken part in voluntary social services a large number of times. I was the Kayseri branch chairperson of MÜSİAD between 2012 and 2015. I had a long-term membership in Provincial Governing Board of Ak Party, I have been a Deputy Provincial Chairman, Head of Election Coordination Center and a member of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality Council. I am married and have 2 children.
Dear Mayor, What kind of a mayor do you aim to be?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: We will have serious projects for the further development and progress of Kocasinan. We will always monitor the works being done on site and follow them up. In all the services being constructed and done, I will be together with the public from the beginning until the ribbon cutting at each stage. I hope we will be working and putting effort for our own city, public and country. May Allah be with us and help us in our works. I am aware of the difficulty of my position; however, I am also sure that; if we can share this work-load, we won’t have any problems. The metropolitan mayor Mustafa Çelik has put forth serious projects since coming to office. We will negotiate about what to do one by one. If there is something innovative and different to add, we will try to do this. We will certainly complete all these works. We will put forth a working program, which is open to all kinds of projections whether long, short, or average term and we will work under this program. We will try to look into the current status and future prospectives and try to do conduct innovative activities that will ensure adoption to change. We will have negotiations to identify where we would like to be in the future and what goals we should pursue. In addition, we will try to whatever rests upon us for attaining these goals. It is certain that teamwork is only valuable when all parties work together and this it might bring success.
How do you define Kocasinan, how would you introduce it to us?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: Kocasinan is the biggest district at the center of Kayseri. I hope it will go further from now on, it will make better things and it is a region with high potentials. With the enforcement of new law some locations, which were villages before, have become our neighborhoods. These neighborhoods will have an advantageous position in our time.
How will this turn into an advantage?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: each of these places have a peculiar worth of their own. Our term will be a period in which these places will be endorsed by a more powerful central municipality paving the way for them to become a brand in the region.
Could you please talk about your prospective projects for Kocasinan?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: We have lots of short-term, average-term and long-term projects in mind. We will share these with the public from time to time. We will ask for their support to these projects. We really have incredible opportunities in terms of town planning and reconstruction. These will turn into a value in time. This is all I could express for now.
Dear Mayor, will Kocasinan continue to be a merchant friendly municipality?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: Kocasinan will surely continue to be on friendly terms with tradesmen and merchants. We will always be together with them as a merchant friendly municipality. This friendship will increasingly continue. We will provide work opportunities and places for huge and blessed income in cooperation with our merchants. We want to pave the way for our merchants and provide new outlook for them.
We would like to thank you dear Mayor. Would you like to add something?
Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar: May Allah be of help and with us, hoping to be active in producing blessed and fruitful services. Our doors are open to everyone. We will always be pleased to see our citizens visiting us here. We are always open to their suggestions. We will always be with them upon their positive and creative suggestions and take their opinions seriously.
