Ugur Ibrahim Altay Hosts Global City Leaders in New York

Ugur Ibrahim Altay, President of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality, hosted the "Cities Counting Down to 2030" meeting organized by UCLG at the Türkevi in New York, USA.

Along with UCLG President Altay, the program was attended by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, UN Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Marinheiro Centeno Rossbach, Turkey’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız, Turkey’s Consul General in New York Ambassador Muhittin Ahmet Yazal, as well as mayors and local leaders from various countries.

Following the meeting, President Altay made a statement, noting that they had hosted the UN Deputy Secretary-General and many other guests at the Türkevi, a landmark brought to Turkey through the vision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, located right across from the United Nations in New York.

President Altay stated, "It was a very productive meeting to revisit the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and highlight the contributions of local governments to these objectives. We will continue to work intensively towards our 2030 goals. We understand that the contribution of local governments, alongside national governments, is crucial for achieving these targets. We reiterated that it's time to move from words to action. We are significantly behind in the Sustainable Development Goals, which is why local governments must take initiative. There is a serious need for initiatives to prepare cities for the Sustainable Development Goals in collaboration with the UN."

Altay added, "These kinds of international meetings provide a platform not only to discuss the future of cities but also to address global issues. As in all our meetings, we had the opportunity here to speak about the situation in Palestine, condemn the atrocities committed by Israel, and emphasize the urgent need for a ceasefire."