İzmir Mayor Kocaoğlu named among top 10 mayors in world

ISTANBUL

Aziz Kocaoğlu. DHA Photo

The mayor of the western Turkish province of İzmir, Aziz Kocaoğlu, has been named among the “top 10 mayors in the world” for 2014, in a ranking organized by an international think tank working on urban affairs, the City Mayors Foundation.

Kocaoğlu came 10th in the Top 10 Mayors of the World 2014, organized by the City Mayors Foundation’s World Mayor Project since 2004.

Describing Kocaoğlu’s achievements during his three term tenure since 2004, when he was chosen by colleagues on the Metropolitan Municipality to replace Ahmet Piriştina, who had died suddenly, the City Mayors Foundation said İzmir was becoming “ever more visibly inclusive” in its approach to governance and to relations with residents.

“Mayor Kocaoğlu has led successive administrations which have cleared many of the city’s debts and which have achieved high credit ratings from international agencies,” it added.

“Mayor Kocaoğlu has prioritized permanent infrastructure solutions to İzmir’s difficulties and rejected temporary cheaper alternatives,” the statement also said.

Acclaiming Kocaoğlu, who is a member of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the City Mayors Foundation said İzmir now has one of the country’s best wastewater treatment infrastructures and was steadily building a modern metro network.

Naheed Nenshi, the Mayor of Calgary, Canada, came top of the list. Daniël Termont, the Mayor of Ghent, Belgium, came second and Tri Rismaharini, the Mayor of Surabaya, Indonesia, came third.