What do this enmity and hatred promise to the cities of the future?

In the process in which we will choose those who will govern the city, candidates are expected, above all, to set out their ideas and vision concerning the city. Although it is called local government, in today's world no city can remain within local boundaries in this process. Just as it is affected by the rest of the world, the way is wide open for the human practice put forth here to have an effect on the whole world. Our world is such a world: an integrated, interconnected world. That is why, today, it is one of the most important quality criteria that those who govern cities have a global and universal vision.

Especially in a country like Turkey, which aspires to leave its mark on the coming century and claims to make this century its own, city administrators having a share in this aspiration and claim must surely be the most important criterion of their competence to govern cities.

What kind of communication will our cities have with the rest of the world? How much and in what way will they open up to the world's different cultures, peoples and investments? How far will this city prepare its people to make expeditions to the rest of the world, to carry their cultures, investments and projects there?

The cosmopolitan character of cities, especially of our big cities, is an important matter that requires city administration, first of all, to keep pace in its governance. It is also necessary to go beyond keeping pace and be even more ambitious in this field, but in the face of the low quality we sometimes witness, being optimistic for now feels like a luxury.

The reaction shown by CHP's candidate for Mayor of Mamak, Veli Gündüz Şahin, when, walking the streets to collect votes, he saw a group of children approaching him with interest and perhaps with childlike excitement, makes one wonder how we have skipped, for those who aspire to govern a city, let alone a global vision, a horizon and I don't know what else, first of all the requirement of being human. Şahin suddenly turned into a falcon-like hero before these children of about 10 years old and shouted: "Aren't these Iraqis? I'll send them back to their homeland. Let these children grow up and tomorrow they'll be a big problem for our homeland."

From what angle, and for what, are you going to criticize this boorishness? His selling heroism to those in front of him without taking any account of the fact that they are children? His ignorance, which takes every foreigner he sees to be an irregular migrant and sees them as a threat to the country? His disrespect, lovelessness, mercilessness and hatred toward human beings even if they are foreign?

This mentality, which aspires to the mayoralty of one of the important districts of Ankara, the capital of a Turkey that aspires to the leadership of the world's coming century, is still trying to drag the country back into its past century. A savagery closed in on itself, seeing everyone who is not like itself as foreign to it, even as an enemy, unable to hide its feelings of hatred toward whatever is different. This is exactly what it is. In this form, it is in fact the lumpen version even of racism, standing out more for its lack of civilization than for being ideological. It was also entered in the record in the news that the children were in fact Turkmen; although this was told to him too, Şahin kept on talking like a falcon.

Turkey today, with its exports exceeding 260 billion dollars and with its industrial and cultural products accepted all over the world, has made a very great leap with the world compared with twenty years ago. For the 260 billion dollars of exports to reach 500 billion and then 1 trillion dollars requires that a great many people of the country be more engaged in trade with the world and more mobile. But to the same extent it means that people from all over the world will be more connected with Turkey. This is the appearance of a network of relations and a mobility that shows itself not only in the increase in the number of tourists but also in the increase in the number of foreigners living in the country. If our universities are to enter among the world's universities, the current number of foreign students and faculty must also increase. If foreign students studying at our universities offend the eye of a city's people and cause discomfort, you cannot expect any positive breakthrough from this country's universities. It is necessary that cities develop in harmony with this university vision, and that their inhabitants be accustomed to seeing foreigners and friendly. Indeed, they must first give up seeing the foreigner as a "foreigner." For Turkish universities to make the expected great leap and to come to an ambitious place among the world's universities, first of all the cities must create an environment accustomed to seeing students and faculty from other countries and friendly to them.

In the same way, the health system, which today has made as significant a leap as possible in its physical infrastructure, cannot make a breakthrough beyond a certain bar without exporting health services to the world. The Turkish health system offers its own citizens a cheaper and better service than anywhere in the world, but nobody dwells on what this costs. To bring it to a level that would ease this cost and offer its own citizens a better service, there is no way out other than turning to exports, that is, accepting health tourism.

But as in education, here too, unfortunately, very serious problems arise because of politicians who turn xenophobia into a populist interest.

Xenophobia obstructs an ambitious Turkey from realizing its ambitions. This mindset is not hostile to the foreigner but to Turkey, and above all it is a mindset foreign to itself. A mindset foreign and hostile to its own benefit, its own good, its own interest, even to the city. A mind foreign to the city aspires to the administration of the city.

Well then, if CHP candidates' doing this xenophobia in the name of populism spoils the environment required by the Turkish century, how close is the current situation concerning foreigners, run by the government itself, to providing the conditions that would make the century Turkey's?

Unfortunately, we must say that a very serious heedlessness is in force on this matter as well. In the present situation, neither Turkey's investment environment, nor its health services environment, nor its higher education environment takes this global vision into account.

We do not have an environment friendly to foreign investors, friendly to foreign students, or capable of attracting people who wish to receive health services.

Our environment and conditions in this regard are still very far from being able to carry us to the Turkey century we claim. I say this as someone who has for years closely followed the difficulties that foreign workers, investors and students experience before all bureaucratic institutions. We can of course dwell on the details and the remedies on the basis of constructive observation records.