Europe's local, regional authorities meet in Turkey

By Zeynep Rakipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities -- the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-seven member states of the Council of Europe -- held a meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, a Turkish member of the committee told Anadolu Agency.

The meeting is attended by around 120 delegations, consisting of local and regional authorities and mayors from 47 countries, said Hasan Akgun, the mayor of Istanbul's Buyukcekmece district.

The meeting was expected to discuss member countries’ reports on the situation of local democracies and local and regional elections, as well as preparations for the 35th Session of the Congress scheduled to be held in the French city of Strasbourg in November.

The 35th Session’s theme will be “integrity and ethical behavior of local and regional elected representatives", according to the official website of the Congress.

Akgun recalled that Turkey’s state-run projects to enhance living standards of the Roma people had been hailed in the Council of Europe.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policies has conducted several projects, including counseling services to encourage education, and projects to empower Turkish Roma women and young girls since 2016 to improve living standards of the community.

According to the European Commission, there was an estimated population of 10 to 12 million Roma in Europe in 2016.

Turkish officials estimate the number of Roma in Turkey at around 600,000, according to local media.