AKP to hold workshop on sustainable, quake-resistant cities

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will convene a two-day workshop focused on strategies to develop sustainable and earthquake-resistant cities, party officials have announced.

 Titled “Breath to the Future, Resistance to Cities,” the event will open with speeches by AKP vice chairman Efkan Ala and Sevilay Tuncer, head of the party’s environmental and urban policies unit.

The workshop aims to tackle critical topics such as achieving the net zero carbon emission target by 2053, promoting sustainable urban development, popularizing the "Zero Waste" movement, accelerating green transformation efforts, protecting Türkiye's historical, natural and cultural heritage, rebuilding cities in earthquake-prone zones and implementing urban transformation projects.

Leaders of the AKP’s environmental and urban policy unit from all 81 provinces, along with party members, will participate. The event will also feature speeches by top board member Mahir Ünal, MPs Ali Şahin and Emel Gözükara Durmaz, Şükrü Karatape, member of the presidential board on local government and disaster policies, Halil Hasar, head of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry's Climate Change Presidency, as well as several mayors and journalists.

The Zero Waste project is an initiative led by first lady Emine Erdoğan and launched in 2017. She recently said it has saved 552 million trees, prevented 150 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and conserved 1.7 trillion cubic meters of water. The initiative has recycled over 74 million tons of waste, generating economic savings amounting to 256 billion Turkish Liras ($6.5 billion).

The 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye have underscored the country’s vulnerability to seismic activity. A subsequent moderate quake in Istanbul renewed concerns about the potential for a larger earthquake in the megacity, placing urban earthquake preparedness back at the forefront of the national agenda.