TDBB July 2026 Board of Directors Meeting Held in Karaman

The meeting, chaired by TDBB and Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, was attended by host Karaman Mayor Savaş Kalaycı, TDBB Secretary General Taha Zahid Özdemir, TDBB Board Members, President of the Azerbaijan City Municipalities Union Temraz Tagıyev, President of the Cyprus Turkish Municipalities Union (KTBB) Mahmut Özçınar, Mayor of Mamuşa, Kosovo Abdülhadi Krasniç, Mayor of Bahçelievler Hakan Bahadır, Mayor of Başiskele (Kocaeli) Mehmet Yasin Özlü, Mayor of Gebze (Kocaeli) Zinnur Büyükgöz, Mayor of Karatay (Konya) Hasan Kılca, Mayor of Pendik (Istanbul) Ahmet Cin, Mayor of Selçuklu (Konya) Ahmet Pekyatırmacı, Mayor of Şahinbey (Gaziantep) Mehmet İhsan Tahmazoğlu, Mayor of Talas (Kayseri) Mustafa Yalçın, Mayor of Ümraniye (Istanbul) İsmet Yıldırım, Mayor of Yıldırım (Bursa) Oktay Yılmaz, Mayor of Zeytinburnu (Istanbul) Ömer Arısoy, TİKA President Abdullah Eren, and Kirkuk Governor and President of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Muhammed Semen Ağa.

It was decided to carry out work regarding the organization of an “International Local Governments Summit” in cooperation between TDBB and member municipalities; to lease the Merkez Efendi Mansion, located at Merkez Efendi Neighborhood, block 2933, parcel 16, Zeytinburnu District, and owned by the General Directorate of Foundations, from the General Directorate of Foundations for the purpose of carrying out the Union’s activities; to conduct work on organizing a study visit to North Macedonia and Kosovo for TDBB member mayors; to update the amount of support provided to master’s and doctoral students enrolled in universities in Türkiye who have reached the thesis stage and are conducting thesis studies related to “Local Governments and Urban Studies in the Turkic Republics and Related Communities”; within this framework, to provide a total of TRY 20,000 for the year 2027 to master’s students supported under the scholarship program for a scholarship period of one year, and to provide doctoral students with TRY 20,000 in the first year for a scholarship period of three years, with the amount for subsequent years to be updated based on a determined rate of increase; to carry out work to establish sister city relations between municipalities in Uzbekistan and municipalities in Azerbaijan and the Balkan region in member countries, in cooperation between TDBB and the Uzbekistan Yükseliş Movement; to organize the “Experience Sharing Program on Innovative Agricultural Technologies and Modern Practices” for a delegation coming from Uzbekistan between 3 and 7 August 2026, in cooperation between TDBB, the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction of Uzbekistan, and Konya Metropolitan Municipality; to implement the “2026–2027 Academic Year Stationery Assistance Project” for students in need in Zeytinburnu District in cooperation between TDBB and Zeytinburnu Municipality; to implement the “Project for the Purchase of an 18-Person Minibus for the IUS Wolves Basketball Team Operating within the International University of Sarajevo,” requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, in cooperation between TDBB and Bağcılar Municipality; to implement the “Kirkuk (Iraq) National Garden Construction Project,” requested by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), in cooperation between TDBB, TİKA, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Ümraniye Municipality and member municipalities; to implement the “Mosque Construction Project for the Bahaeddin Veled Madrasa in Afghanistan,” requested by TİKA, in cooperation between TDBB, TİKA, Konya Metropolitan Municipality and member municipalities; to conduct work regarding the signing of a “Memorandum of Understanding” or “Cooperation Protocol” between TDBB and the Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina; to implement the “Project for the Purchase of One Garbage Truck,” requested by Studeniçan Municipality (North Macedonia), in cooperation between TDBB and Karatay Municipality; to implement the “Project for Organizing a Circumcision Program for Children in Need in North Macedonia,” requested by the El Hilal Mutual Aid Association of North Macedonia, in cooperation between TDBB and Konya Metropolitan Municipality; to publish the proceedings book of the “14th International Altai Communities Symposium,” to be held in Azerbaijan between 9 and 12 September 2026, as a TDBB publication and to use the TDBB logo in the written and visual materials of the event; to provide TDBB support for the costs of printed materials for the “11th Turkish World Documentary Film Festival and Competition,” to be organized by the Turkish World Journalists Federation in Ankara between 7 and 10 October 2026, and to use the TDBB logo in the written and visual materials of the event; to provide transportation support in cooperation between TDBB and Ümraniye Municipality for sending aid materials located in Türkiye to the Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit of Moldova, with the related expenses to be covered from the Union’s budget; to provide TRY 65,000 in support for the “5th International Güzelyurt Art Gathering,” to be held in the TRNC between 9 and 16 August 2026 by Güzelyurt Municipality; to provide financial support in cooperation between TDBB and Keçiören Municipality for the “Traditional Great Hun-Turkic Kurultai,” to be organized by the Hungarian-Turan Foundation in Hungary between 14 and 16 August 2026; to participate in the “Traditional Great Hun-Turkic Kurultai,” to be organized by the Hungarian-Turan Foundation in Hungary between 14 and 16 August 2026, on behalf of TDBB; to carry out work on establishing sister city relations between Şumkar Uya Municipality (Kyrgyzstan) and a suitable municipality in Türkiye upon the request of the Kyrgyzstan Local Governments Union; to carry out work, under the coordination of TDBB, on establishing sister city relations between Başakşehir Municipality and a suitable municipality in Uzbekistan, primarily among the municipalities of Tashkent, Samarkand or Bukhara; to organize an experience-sharing program for Uzbek local administrators during 2026 in cooperation between TDBB, the Uzbekistan Yükseliş Movement and member municipalities; and, within this framework, to organize signing ceremonies under the coordination of TDBB as part of the sister city relations carried out between municipalities in Uzbekistan and Türkiye.