The meeting held at the Alanya Barrier-Free City and Life Center was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Controllers of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Investment and Enterprises General Directorate, Controller İrfan Akıncı, Culture and Tourism Specialist Seda Sürücü, Controller Yeliz Özmetin, Alanya Mayor Hasan Sipahioğlu, Levent Benal on behalf of the Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ALTSO), and Alanya Association of Tourist Employers (ALTİD) President Gülçin Güner, Vice President Hasan Şakiroğlu, and board members.
Alanya Mayor Hasan Sipahioğlu, who delivered the opening speech of the meeting, stated that they have taken very important steps on behalf of Barrier-Free City Alanya, saying, “The project aims to ensure accessibility for everyone in Alanya and to provide the necessary technical, institutional, national, and international promotion, marketing, and financial cooperation for the implementation of projects aimed at developing barrier-free tourism. In this context, our goal in the commission meeting, which was formed with the participation of all parties, is to identify deficiencies and determine how to conduct work in line with our barrier-free tourism targets. We have made significant progress in studies that constitute the superstructure for our citizens with disabilities, but for us, they constitute the infrastructure of the project. As of the end of this month, all our public transportation vehicles will have reached standards that people with disabilities can also use comfortably. We see ourselves at the beginning of the road in the ‘Alanya for Everyone project,’ and we say there is no stopping for better work.” The Vice President of the Board of Controllers and Commission Member İrfan Akıncı said, “As the Ministry, we could not remain indifferent to such a study being carried out in Alanya. The Barrier-Free City implemented by Alanya Municipality is a new concept. Another issue that makes this project meaningful and important is the fact that the European population will increasingly age in the coming years. The ‘Alanya for Everyone project’ also places such a market before us. Taking as much share as possible from this market is among the most important goals of our Ministry.”
The meeting concluded with a presentation prepared by the Commission, which included ‘Barrier-Free City’ applications from around the world, after discussing issues such as determining implementation principles, preparing an action plan, and the survey work to be conducted on behalf of the parties.