Organized in cooperation with Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), Union of Azerbaijan City Municipalities and Bosnia and Herzegovina Municipalities, “Azerbaijan – Bosnia and Herzegovina Local Governments Experience Sharing Program” was held via video conference on 15 December 2023.
The video conference was attended by TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak, Mayor of Srebrenik Adnan Bjelic, Deputy Mayor of Gracanica Senad Smajloviç and Deputy Mayor of Travnik Amir Vrhovac from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Azerbaijan City Municipalities Union President Tamraz Tagıyev from Azerbaijan, as well as 30 local administrators.
In his speech at the meeting, TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak said, “TDBB is an international local government organization that has been around for 20 years. Currently, cooperation is being carried out with municipalities from 30 different countries. Among these countries, Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina are among the countries with which we work most closely, and we are very pleased with this. One of the main activities carried out by TDBB is experience sharing programs. We try to hold these programs, sometimes face to face and sometimes via video conferencing. As TDBB, we want our members to meet and cooperate not only with the municipalities in Turkey but also with the municipalities of other countries. Today’s meeting will be one of the good examples of this. This experience sharing program is different from other programs because previous programs were with local governments in Turkey. This time, it is a program between the municipalities of two friendly and sister countries, so we are pleased with it. Previously, in cooperation with TDBB, a delegation from Azerbaijan paid a working visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then a delegation from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Azerbaijan. We are pleased that the relationship between the two countries is developing further in different formats. Municipalities in Azerbaijan and Bosnian mayors will exchange views and share their experiences. We held a similar conference with Turkish Cyprus Mayors on December 7, 2023, and it was a very productive program. We are also planning mutual country visits in 2024. I would like to thank both the Municipalities of Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina for contributing to the realization of this meeting.”
In the program, local administrators of Bosnia and Herzegovina talked to Azerbaijani local government representatives about issues such as what was done in the local governments after Yugoslavia in the Balkans, to what point they reached, what is the current situation. On the other hand, Local administrators of Azerbaijan explained to the local administrators of Bosnia and Herzegovina what stage the municipal system has reached in 24 years after the establishment of municipalities in 1999 as a result of the dissolution of the Soviets, and what reforms were carried out.
During the video conference, mutual information was shared regarding the structure and functioning of local governments, and the questions of local administrators were mutually answered.
