Mayor Eşki: “We Focus on Creating and Growing, Not Demolishing”

Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki conducted on-site inspections in Doğanlar Neighborhood, where Turkey’s largest urban garden will be established, a section of the Aysel Bayraktar Cultural Center has been allocated for use as a Family Health Center, and the Doğanlar Sports Field will be fully renovated. Stating that a significant investment process has begun in Doğanlar, Mayor Eşki emphasized that despite obstacles, the municipality remains focused on producing and delivering services.

During his visit, Mayor Eşki was accompanied by Doğanlar Neighborhood Headman Eyüp Kocatepe and relevant municipal officials. As part of the program, he also visited Family Health Center personnel preparing for relocation and inspected the neighborhood condolence house.

Doğanlar Sports Field to Be Completely Renovated

Beginning his inspections at the Doğanlar Sports Field early in the morning, Mayor Eşki highlighted the limited availability of sports areas for children and youth in the neighborhood.

“One of the most significant problems in Doğanlar has been the limited spaces where our children can engage in sports. This field also had serious ground-related issues. We have initiated the tender process,” he said, noting that after the renovation, the site will be transformed into a multifunctional sports complex.

Mayor Eşki added:
“Very soon, this field in Doğanlar will become a space where many football clubs can train and where various needs of the neighborhood will be addressed. We have been conducting inspections since early morning with our headman and department directors. Soon, this area will be at your service.”

Turkey’s Largest Urban Garden to Be Established in Doğanlar

Speaking at the site designated for the Urban Garden project, Mayor Eşki stated that Doğanlar will gain a significant distinction:

“This will be Turkey’s largest urban garden. A total of 260 women and 260 households will benefit from its abundance. Our women will reconnect with nature. They will receive their seedlings and seeds from our municipality, cultivate their plots here, and bring the fruits of their labor home. I wish it to be beneficial in advance for all of Doğanlar and Bornova.”

Healthcare Intervention for a Neighborhood of 30,000 Residents

Another stop on the program was the Aysel Bayraktar Cultural Center. The upper floor of the center has been allocated to the District Health Directorate for use as the Doğanlar Family Health Center. The necessary construction and renovation works have been undertaken by Bornova Municipality.

Highlighting the long-standing lack of healthcare services in Doğanlar Neighborhood, Mayor Eşki stated:

“We allocated the upper floor of this building for use as the Doğanlar Health Center and assumed responsibility for the required construction and renovation works. Unfortunately, due to a lack of initiative to establish a health center in a neighborhood of approximately thirty thousand residents, there has been a serious gap in healthcare services. For nearly two years, the healthcare needs of thirty thousand people remained unresolved. Therefore, as a municipality, we had to step in.”

Mayor Eşki summarized their service-oriented approach with the following remarks:

“We wish that the necessary arrangements for the healthcare needs of thirty thousand residents could have been planned in advance. However, while some focus on demolishing, obstructing, and eliminating—as we have also seen in Bornova Square—we remain focused on creating, growing, and serving. Here, too, we are doing everything we can for the people of Doğanlar.”