ST ANDREW'S SCHOOL 

I do political projects and lots of work about animal welfare. Over the summer, I had a meeting with the deputy mayor of the Prince’s Islands in Turkey about the banning of horse-drawn carriages there.  However, because the Prince’s Islands are connected to Istanbul, he told me that his hands were tied until they see who wins the local elections in Istanbul (as you might know, the March 31st local elections took place again on June 23rd). The second I returned to Istanbul from Paris (I was studying international politics with Prof. Hall Gardner and French there for 7 weeks), I started having meetings with the top individuals in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality about what can be done.  Three days ago, I had a meeting with Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s newly elected mayor (I attached a picture of us at the meeting).  He explained to me that they were sensitive about this issue and that after his team had meetings with me, they  decided to create a workshop dedicated just for finding a solution to the horse-drawn carriages in the Prince's Islands.  They offered me the job of being the official advisor to this workshop (he has been the mayor for 37 days and this is their first workshop). I attached a picture of the official offer. I accepted the job, and asked for them to not pay me for the process because I am truly volunteering for the 1,500 horses there. 

 

Because the CHP (the mayor's party) wants to follow a democratic approach to making changes, they wanted to have a conference at the Prince's Islands and invite over 200 non-profit organizations, including organizations that want horse-drawn carriages (I donated 70 copies of my book, published in 2017, about the horse-drawn carriages so that they can be handed out during the conference). The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality wants to listen to the solutions of the organizations, therefore, including them in the decision-making process. However, until the meeting, we are already working on solutions for the horses (because they will get banned). The heads of the transportation department asked me what can replace the horse-drawn carriages, and I prepared many solutions (by looking at Istanbul's GDP, and how much money they would have to put aside for this project).  Then, they asked me what could be done with the horses after the horse-drawn carriages get banned. I said that not only does the government have shelters, but that the army also takes good care of the horses, too (my grandfather was a general in the army and he was also a veterinarian, so I know how the horses are taken care of in the army). They found my ideas very interesting, and said that they will work on my ideas and keep me updated every step of the way. I had to prepare a feasibility and writing that will be published in their final report.   (08/10/2019)