In line with the vision of "Equal Citizenship Possible" of Tunç Soyer, Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the third International Living Together Summit, which was held in Izmir after Montreal and Düsseldorf, started.
 
At the online opening of the summit, which brought together mayors from all over the world to find solutions to global problems, especially the pandemic, and to create more livable cities, Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante, Miguel Angel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Ângela Melo, Director of Policies and Programmes made a speech, as well as Mayor Tunç Soyer. Dr. Stephan Keller, Mayor of Düsseldorf, attended the summit by sending a video message. The summit, which will continue online today, will be held offline on December 10 at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Centre.
 
"Cities must be at the centre of our plans to create an equal future"
Speaking at the first session titled "Mayors' Dialogue on Social Cohesion in Cities", Mayor Tunç Soyer stated that life in cities has not become difficult only with Covid-19, and said, "Discriminating urban policies, increasing income gap and climate emergency make the lives of millions of people difficult. The pandemic has been a crucial experience for our future. The way to increase this efficiency even more is to come together. Cities should be at the centre of our plans to create a more democratic, eco-friendly and equitable future."
 
Inviting all mayors to Terra Madre, one of the world's largest food fairs and to be hosted by Izmir in September 2022, Mayor Soyer said, "Terra Madre Anatolia will be the centre of different farming cultures. With this summit, as the International Observatory of Mayors, we are creating an open space to create an inspiring vision for the cohesive cities of future. I am sure that this summit will offer practical solutions and long-term strategies to the current and future problems of cities."
 
Düsseldorf Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller said, "I really believe that cities can improve by learning from each other. Much has changed since Düsseldorf hosted this summit. We experienced a pandemic that no one could predict. For this reason, I totally believe that the third summit in Izmir will help us to achieve social cohesion and economic success while dealing with the pandemic." 
After the opening speeches, mayors and local representatives from Quebec, Canada; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and Strasbourg, France participated in the Mayors Dialogue. In the session, actions to be taken at the local level regarding social cohesion and policies related to "living together" were discussed.
 
You can join the summit through the link below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87841375683?pwd=YjRreVVxWnJJaUxuOXRMQVB2OXhVQT09

On December 10, the "Mayors' Summit" will be held offline at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Centre. "Human Rights and Democracy Session" will be attended by Hacer Foggo, Founder of Deep Poverty Network, Prof. Dr. Nilgün Toker, the member of Founder's Committee and Ethics Committee of Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Luca Bergamo, the Former Deputy Mayor for Cultural Development, Rome City Council and Initiator of the 2020 Rome Convention, Özkan Yücel, Izmir Bar Association President, and Bülent Tezcan, Deputy of Aydın and CHP Party Assembly Member.