Municipality of Thessaloniki hosted the meeting of the Secretaries General and Directors of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) on 27 and 28 April.
The meeting was attended by a delegation led by Dr. Hayri Baraçlı, Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT), and began with a minute of silence for the victims in the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.
The institutional structure and financial state of CEMR, as well as the EU Green City Consensus, the position paper on the design of the electrical market, and topical concerns in the context of climate policy, were discussed during the conference.
Dr. Baraçlı gave a presentation entitled "Disaster Risks Management Model" on the process of reconstruction in our country following the earthquakes. Dr. Baraçlı mentioned the post-earthquake reconstruction procedures in terms of joint and several liability, third-party auditing practices, insurance systems, and building safety cards.
Secretary General Baraçlı remarked that Türkiye might host the next Secretaries General and Directors Meeting, and he invited the delegates to come to Türkiye.
On the last day of the programme, the team met with Serkan Gedik, Consul General of the Republic of Türkiye in Thessaloniki, and visited the Atatürk House.