The İzmir commission which was headed by Aziz Kocaoglu who is the Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and consist of the representatives of the business world and the local administrations, have taken 9 different meetings in 2 days and the participants summarized their opinions about these contacts as follows; 

Ekrem Demirtas (Board of Directors President, İzmir Chamber of Trade)
“I hope we have these kinds of contacts again. We see that when we pronounce the name İzmir everyone has sparkles on their eyes. There is an Izmir image which cannot be compared with Turkey.”

Ender Yorgancılar (Board of Directors President, Aegean Region Chamber of Industry)
“There are some wrong opinions about us by EU and about EU by us. I think it is beneficial to make such meetings between Turkey and EU more frequent. Nowadays there developments in different dimensions; and their priorities changing according to the agenda. Economy had the first priority but terror has got ahead. The second important issue is the refugees. This is an issue which cannot be doped out by Turkey alone. In our Brussels contacts, we gave voice that European Union has to be in this process without fail. They agree with us on this issue. The third issue is the economy… There are discussions for free trade agreement between EU and the USA and transatlantic countries and this might affect 70% of the global trade. Under the light of all these developments, we should also take our side.  If we are not included in these developments, we will be able to do trade with developing countries. When we consider all these topics, we can say that EU without Turkey is always incomplete. It is a must for us to be in this system. They also want Turkey be included in the system but there are strategic and political decisions to be taken here.”

Zekeriya Mutlu (President, Union of İzmir Craftsmen and Tradesmen Chambers)
“It is certain that İzmir is evaluated from a completely different perspective in Europe. We have got rejoiced when we have heard their viewpoints about our city.”

Mustafa Guclu (President, Aegean Industrialists and Businessmen Association):
“The main of this meeting was to improve the relations with the regional commission. It was meaningful for İzmir to take part in the commission meeting on expansion issues. They see İzmir as a part of the European Union, and a region where the European values are represented and cherished strongly. Therefore they declare that İzmir shall be determinative and play a leading role in the membership process.”

Sabri Unluturk (Coordinator President, Aegean Exporters Union)
“I believe that organization of such a visit is significantly important for the presentation of İzmir and its facilities, and qualified human resources to the European Union in Brussels. I think it would be very beneficial to continue this publicity attack and explain our strong sides to the European Union, commission members, members of parliament, and especially to the Committee of the Regions. Especially the advantaged position made available by Aziz Kocaoglu, the Mayor is very significant. They have a positive point of view on İzmir and Turkey. We have to take advantage of this situation and use it as a lever and have the publicity of İzmir increased and contribute to Turkey’s European Union membership process.”

Muhittin Selvitopu (Mayor, Karabaglar Municipality) 
“We had a chance to meet all the relevant institutions of European Union. Local administrations and NGOs in İzmir had a chance to present their opinions and proposals about the issue.”

Sema Pekdas (Mayor, Konak Municipality)
“European Union adventure of Turkey continues in its long, winding way. The important issue in this way is the European values; new values created by the rule of law principle for human rights, in other words new values of humanity. We talked about İzmir, a European city in the most western point of Turkey, a city obtained an identity by internalizing these values, importance of İzmir in Turkey and İzmir’s connections with European Union. Our arrival in Brussels after the terror attack in Paris was also important. We are a nation which suffered much from terror. We shared their grief.”

Aziz Kocaoglu (Mayor İzmir Metropolitan Municipality)
“We received very positive opinions and praises about İzmir. They are all aware about power of İzmir and its values. We believe that such contacts should be continued with the significant local administrations in Europe. In each meeting we attended in Brussels we lined up with the requirement for a revision in the Customs Union and inclusion of agriculture, which has a great importance for İzmir, in this frame.”