Galery

1

Marina Nikolva

The Mayor of Thessaloniki Yannis Boutaris will rely on tourism, education and health development to restore the old glory of the city as an international centre. "When the mayor agrees with the foreign policy, then through his actions and in consistence with the government, he strengthens it and spreads it in the country, and if he has a different opinion, as Wittgenstein said, maybe the best choice for the things for which we can not talk is to keep quiet. But in any event the mayor does not weaken it and does not attempt to exercise it himself," said Yiannis Boutaris in Athens during an event organized by ELIAMEP asking the main question "Does the mayor make foreign policy," clarifying at the outset that the answer to this question is: no.

The vision of the Mayor of Thessaloniki is the city to regain the image of an international city, which is, to stand on its past and continue to build the future relying mainly on the development of relations with neighbouring Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, but Israel too. Having clarified that he is true to the foreign policy of Greece, the Mayor made his proposals, addressing the responsible public institutions that could help him in the task which he has set - to revive Thessaloniki.

In his speech, Yannis Boutaris stressed that the decision on the complex name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should be taken as soon as possible. He pointed out that it is foolish to deny the use of the name Macedonia, since the relevant population lives within the geographical region called Macedonia, but it is equally foolish and unacceptable that they have claims and try to assume parts of the Greek history, instead of being proud with their Slavic origin and build their national identity. He said: "We would like the complex name to be adopted as quickly as possible and the country together with Serbia to integrate into EU and NATO after the arrest of Mladic. In the current political situation Greece needs more stability in the region as it would lead to social and economic development," said Boutaris.
 
The Mayor of Thessaloniki expressed his support to the Greece's policy in favour of the expanding economic interdependence with Turkey, giving as an example the importance of the investments of the National Bank of Greece in the purchase of Finance Bank and the opening of branches of the Turkish Zirad Bank in Thrace and Athens. Speaking of Turkey, Yannis Boutaris reported that the flights of the Turkish Airlines to Thessaloniki that began two weeks ago are full of tourists. He turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the request to do something to increase the number of visas issued daily to Turkish nationals by the Greek embassy in Istanbul as they are only 120 in number and the people have to wait for a month. In relation to attracting tourists to the second largest city of Greece, the Mayor Boutaris said he is working on the protection and presentation of the Ottoman heritage and the policy of the Municipality of Thessaloniki is to attract the largest possible number of tourists from Turkey and the region and to support the presentation of our common Ottoman past, which, in turn, follows the policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and the Bank of Greece.

Boutaris plans to create three walking routes in the city - Ottoman Rout, Jewish Rout and Eco Rout. There is also an idea to put signs in all places where important things for the city happened - here was born Nazim Hikmet, here played Tsitsanis, etc. The mayor announced his request to launch a maritime transport line between Thessaloniki and Izmir.

An important point of Thessaloniki Mayor's plan to open the city to the world is to attract about 10,000 to 15,000 foreign students over the next three years. He said that it is necessary the Ministry of Education to enter into interstate agreements, so as the diplomas of higher education from the American College of Anatolia and the American Agricultural School, which are in Thessaloniki, to be recognized in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

The Mayor of Thessaloniki plans developments in the health care too, aiming to make the city a health centre on the Balkans for all who search for quality health services and are able to afford them.