Projects to be launched swiftly after March 31, AK Party's Ankara candidate pledges

The ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) mayoral candidate for capital Ankara Mehmet Özhaseki pledged to realize numerous projects rapidly and effectively right after the March 31 local elections.

"Slowness has no place in public institutions, we will work swiftly like a plane [after the upcoming elections]," Özhaseki said during an inauguration ceremony for a party election communication office in Ankara's Çankaya.

Criticizing his rival, the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ankara Metropolitan Municipality candidate, Mansur Yavaş, Özhaseki underscored that slowness should be only at one's home instead of during the implementation process of municipal projects, referring the motto of Yavaş, which translated as "slowly slowly," the literal meaning of his surname.

Özhaseki stressed that the party organization all around the country has been submitting thousands of projects; even the party organizations in districts with a population of between 3,000-5,000 have been generating many proposals and ideas.

Özhaseki is a former environment minister and also the AK Party vice chairman in charge of local administrations. He held the Kayseri mayor's office for more than 20 years and is experienced in urban development and management. In the upcoming local elections on March 31, Özhaseki is the candidate of the People's Alliance formed by the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). So far, Özhaseki has revealed his projects for Ankara, which mainly focus on culture and tourism, to break the stereotypes held about cities and revitalize their hidden beauty. In addition to comprehensive infrastructural projects, the reconstruction of the May 19 Stadium, which will be able to host 55,000 fans, the ski resort in the Elmadağ district, the completion of the Ankara exhibition center, the children's village and a new subway from the city center to the airport were also among the projects announced by Özhaseki.