Büyükkonuk Mayor Ahmet Sennaroğlu participated in the Talks Open to General Public organized by the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Alumni Communications and Career Research Center. Organized jointly with School of Computing and Technology, the event took place at Mustafa Afşin Ersoy Amphitheatre at 10:30 a.m , on Thursday, the 16th of March 2017. Mayor Sennaroğlu delivered a speech titled “Modern Municipalities: Smart Cities, People and Information”.
Mayor Sennaroğlu stated that he graduated from the Construction Technology program of EMU School of Computing and Technology in 2007 and that he was elected as the Mayor of Büyükkonuk after winning the 2014 local elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Sennaroğlu went on to point out that modern municipalities carry out work according to the wishes of the community and that the Büyükkonuk Municipality provides service for the 9 villages bound to it in equal measure. Sennaroğlu indicated “our work follows the Eco Village concept.” Sennaroğlu stated that young people in the village are moving to cities because of the lack of job opportunities. Stating that they aim to generate revenue via tourism Sennaroğlu noted that their goal is to attract approximately 75 thousand tourists to the village in three and a half months as a result of their collaborations with Northern Travel and Sunexpress.
In addition, Sennaroğlu indicated that they have completed their membership to the Slow Food movement that was established in 1989 to prevent the dissipation of local food culture and they are continuing their work to join the international Citta Slow movement that aims to raise living standards in the village. Sennaroğlu stated that The Pine View Facility located opposite to the Büyükkonuk village which also contains a zoo is no longer private property and that it is available for public usage free of charge. Sennaroğlu underlined that this can be viewed as social municipalism.
Providing advice to students attending the talk Sennaroğlu noted that he is the TRNC’s youngest mayor and that he has comprised his team of young people, advising the students not to hesitate about getting involved in politics at a young age. Expressing that he is proud to be an EMU graduate Sennaroğlu noted: “Being from EMU is a privilege. I am very happy to return to my school for the talk. I will always remember this day.” At the end of the talk EMU Alumni Communications and Career Research Center Director Derviş Ekşici and School of Computing and Technology Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa İlkan presented EMU graduate and Büyükkonuk mayor Ahmet Sennaroğlu a traditional Cypriot Lefkara frame.
