Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Emin Ay attended an event organised for teachers working within the municipality to mark World Teachers’ Day on 5 October. Held at the Older Persons’ Services Unit in Sümerpark and organised by the Department of Social Services, the event highlighted the contribution of teachers who help shape the future of society and the work they carry out in education.

During the event, Head of the Department of Social Services Ömer Saman read a letter written by Ferzad Kemanger, who was executed in Iran in 2010. Saman said, “I commemorate that great teacher with respect. Our hope is to raise all the people of this world in a democratic society through democratic education.”

Co-Mayor Ay: “Our guiding principle is the moral and political society”

Meeting with teachers providing education within the municipality, Co-Mayor Emin Ay congratulated all educators on World Teachers’ Day and thanked them for their dedicated work.

Highlighting the importance of education for society, Co-Mayor Ay said the municipality would continue to provide all possible support to ensure that children and young people have access to quality education. He said education should be present in every aspect of life and noted that the importance of education and educated people becomes even more apparent in the pursuit of a democratic society and peace.

Referring to an eight-year period that had interrupted the municipality’s experience of local government, Co-Mayor Ay said that during this period it was not only the municipality’s or the city’s material resources, history and environment that had been undermined, but that the greatest damage had been done at the level of mentality.

Co-Mayor Ay said:

“The guiding principle underpinning our approach to local government is the moral and political society. This should be the foundation of everything we do. And we can only achieve this through education. We recognise and value the efforts of our colleagues in this regard. Together, we will develop these efforts further in order to carry out stronger and more effective work.”

“We are determined to strengthen the municipality’s capacity to support education”

Stressing that a democratic nation can only be built through a democratic society, Co-Mayor Ay continued:

“It is not possible to achieve meaningful results from any work without democracy, freedom, rights, justice and equality, and particularly women’s freedom. In this regard, we will work together to do everything we can. We are determined and committed to making effective use of and further developing the municipality’s resources for education. We recognise and appreciate the efforts our colleagues have made to date. I believe that if each of us works with conviction, willingness and genuine commitment, we can give our people, their children, young people and women the greatest contribution we possibly can, and together we can bring about change.”

The event was also attended by Council Co-Spokespersons Demet Ceylan and Ayhan Karatekin, council members and relevant department heads, and concluded with conversations with the teachers.