Beşiktaş’s One-Year Pandemic Report!

Our Municipality has carried out many works during the pandemic process since the first coronavirus case occurred in our country…

A full year has passed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the whole world and the first local case of which occurred on March 11 in our country. As the Beşiktaş Municipality, we have shared with the public the works we have carried out throughout this process. First of all, digitalization efforts were accelerated to relieve our citizens in terms of health concerns. Thanks to our Online Medical Consultancy Service, which was implemented with the purpose of reducing the burden on the health system, our citizens had the opportunity to reach our doctors over the internet. 12,462 hygiene kits and about 3 million masks were distributed in Beşiktaş. In addition, 13,158 solidarity boxes were delivered to our citizens in need. 388,414 hot meals were provided to 176,296 households.

In this context, the Beşiktaş Mayor Mr. Rıza Akpolat thanked the people of Beşiktaş and his colleagues at the Beşiktaş Municipality, who showed a great example of solidarity throughout the pandemic process. Stating that our work has been exemplary in the whole country and we all deserve praise in that regard, Mayor Akpolat said, "We have left behind one whole year in the pandemic that has been witnessed very rarely in the history of humanity. We devoted ourselves to the service of our people and allocated all our resources for our citizens since the beginning of this process."

We Started Field Solution Service
Starting their works with the motto "We Stand Together in Beşiktaş", our Field Solution Team, consisting of experts and young people in their field, paid regular visits to each one of the neighborhoods, streets and houses in Beşiktaş every day. Our team delivered our citizens a package containing a booklet about the services and activities of our Municipality within the first 18 months of our Mayor’s term of office and the future projects of our municipality, our quarterly urban culture magazine “B +”, as well as 25 masks and disinfectant supplies to every house in Beşiktaş. In this difficult process, our teams informed our citizens about the services of our municipality in detail, took note of their complaints and suggestions and ensured that they were resolved in a very short time. Within the scope of the Field Solution Service, a total of 104,356 visits, including 10,816 workplaces and 93,540 houses, were made in all of our 23 neighborhoods in 65 days. 6,534, which is 89%, of a total of 7,379 requests from our citizens were resolved immediately and priority was given to respond to the remaining requests as soon as possible.

We Allocated Our Dormitories to the Use of Healthcare Professionals
We have not forgotten healthcare professionals who were affected by the pandemic most and struggled at the forefront of the pandemic. We allocated our Municipality’s student dormitories with a total capacity of 185 beds to health workers free of charge. In order to express our gratitude towards the efforts of the healthcare workers on behalf of our citizens, a wall in Beşiktaş was turned into a Wall of Reverence for Health Workers. The wall in Ortaköy Mahallesi Portakal Yokuşu Street was colored with a mural by the artist “No More Lies” honoring healthcare workers. On the other hand, the name of Nurse Dilek Akçabelen, who died at the age of 30 after she caught COVID-19 during her pregnancy and gave birth to her baby, was given to a park near Gazeteciler Sitesi.

We Haven’t Charged Occupation Fees to the Shops in Beşiktaş
As part of our efforts to extend a helping hand to every segment of the society in this difficult process, our municipality did not leave Beşiktaş’s tradesmen alone. In accordance with the decision taken in the municipal council, no occupation fee will be charged from the tradesmen until the end of the pandemic. In addition, free training services will be provided to the tradesmen in Beşiktaş to help them digitalize and increase their business volumes.

We Brought Beşiktaş a Public Market and a Public Store
Our Municipality established a Public Market and a Public Store for the service of our citizens in need. The number of the citizens in need in our district, where people with one of the highest income level reside, rose from 118 to 1226 after the pandemic. Our municipality accelerated its solution-oriented works after this situation and the Public Market and Public Store projects were put into practice. With the Halk Card application, citizens in need are able to access healthy food in the Public Market and textile products, furniture and electronic appliances in the Public Store.

Beşiktaş Became One Through Solidarity Boxes
About 1,000 families have been supported by means of the Solidarity Boxes placed at 30 different locations within our district.

We Started “Device Solidarity” Campaign  
Aiming to eliminate the inequality of opportunity in education caused by the pandemic process, we initiated the Device Solidarity Campaign to enable students in need to access distance education by providing them with televisions, tablets and computers through donations.

We Encouraged Responsible Waste Management Practices
We placed waste gloves & masks boxes at 120 locations in Beşiktaş.

Our Disinfection and Inspection Practices Continue
More than 10 thousand public institutions including houses, workplaces and especially schools have been disinfected so far. Our municipal police teams continue to perform inspections at marketplaces and businesses. With our motto "Beşiktaş will heal", the parks were opened to the visit of our citizens by obeying the mask & distance rules. We held online interviews with psychologists and artists from different branches, and brought our citizens together with yoga, sports and music events. While focusing on "healing" altogether, our Public Health Digital Management Center focused on tackling post-quarantine stress throughout the summer.

We Haven’t Forgotten Animals Friends
Throughout the pandemic process, the teams of our Directorate of Veterinary Services left 15,880 kgs of food to main locations and parks in Beşiktaş on the days of curfew with a view to help our animal friends living on streets.

"Nobody is Alone or Helpless in Beşiktaş"
Mayor Rıza Akpolat made the following evaluations about our one-year work: "We have left behind a whole year in the pandemic that has been quite a rare occasion in the history of humanity. During this one year, we tried to mobilize and utilize all our means for the service of our people. We tried to support and help everybody in order to make them feel that no one is alone, desperate or helpless. Since the first day of the pandemic, we have visited our citizens at every house, workplace and street. We have implemented an exemplary model through the Field Solution Teams we established. We paid visits to 93,540 houses and 10,816 workplaces. We delivered our people 3 million masks, thousands of hygiene kits, 388,414 hot meals and 13,158 support bags consisting of basic humanitarian needs. We surrounded Beşiktaş with solidarity networks. From now on, we will continue mobilizing all our means for our people with the same determination and dedication.”