Immediately after I took office as the chairman of the POLIO MAIN COMMITTEE, our District 2430 Governor Teoman KAYNAR called me and asked me to prepare a project that would draw attention to this important issue. As the Main Committee, we decided to organize the "WORLD POLIO BICYCLE FESTIVAL" in Alanya between 11-12 November 2023 in order to draw attention to polio and raise awareness. As you know, Rotary is a non-governmental organization that has adopted the principle of ending polio all over the world. One of the most important reasons why we organized this organization is that this disease has started to be seen again due to irregular migration in recent years. Another reason is that, as Alanya Rotary Club, we carried out a similar project in the 2018-2019 period. In short, we had a lot of experience and knowledge in this regard. One of the first steps we took was to meet with Alanya Cycling and Performance Club (ALBİS). When I explained the issue to them, they said they would happily support me. Afterwards, we organized the whole organization together with ALBİS. It was thanks to ALBİS that professional competitors were invited to this festival and their participation was ensured. We thought that the fact that the President of the Turkish Cycling Federation is also from Alanya (Emin Müftüoğlu) would make our job much easier.
First of all, we set out to find sponsors and obtain the necessary permits. We visited the Alanya District Governor and received his approval. Afterwards, naturally, in such a large project, our indispensability was that Alanya Municipality and Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry were project partners. We visited our Mayor and the President of the Chamber of Commerce and received full support from them. Alanya Touristic Operators Association (ALTİD) was contacted and their support was received to meet the needs of the meatball party to be held by the beach, to which stakeholders and competitors were invited. Then, we visited the President of the TURKISH Cycling Federation, Emin Müftüoğlu, and ensured that the festival was included in the federation's program and that the medals to be given to the competitors were covered by the federation. Thank you, they all gave positive support to the issue. Küçüker undertook some of the construction costs of the festival. In addition, Alanya Youth and Sports District Directorate and Alanya Municipality Sports Directorate were fully supported to support this great organization. Before the festival, the Police Department and District Gendarmerie Command and project stakeholders held many meetings about coordination and security measures.
In fact, during the two-day festival, the contestants coming from out of town were welcomed at the hotels on November 10th. The guests arriving the same evening were given a detailed briefing on the festival, its routes and technical issues. Our two Rotarian friends, who are club members, opened their hotel at a very affordable price to our professional cyclist and Rotarian friends coming from out of town. On the first day of the festival, November 11, professional cyclists pedaled on the 45 km long track. Approximately over 300 cyclists participated in this stage. POLIO flags, visible from all sides, were hung on the crossing route. Tents were set up at the turning points of the track, and bananas, fruit juice and water were offered to the participants, provided by Haydar Paşa Hotel. These stations were equipped with Polio flags and materials. After the end of the festival on the first day, we held a conference about Polio in the conference hall of Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Our governor TEOMAN KAYNAR made a presentation, there were approximately 200 participants, information was given about the development process of the vaccine and the current status of the disease. On the same evening, we organized a meatball party with all participants and guests accompanied by a live performance. We both had fun and had the opportunity to get to know each other better. We gave plaques and certificates of appreciation to the Presidents of Anamur Rotary Club and Olympos Rotary Club who participated the most in this project.Day 2 was public day. Participants met at the starting point at 9:00 in the morning to pedal 25 km. Around 400 participants wore red t-shirts with the words "THE END POLIO" and "END POLIO" written on them. On the public day, where all Alanya protocols were present, the opening speeches were made by our Alanya Rotary Club term president, Dr. Cihan Duman, our term governor Dr. The festival started after Teoman Kaynar, Alanya Chamber of Commerce President Eray Erdem and Alanya Mayor Adem Murat Yücel. Again, visuals and flags depicting this theme were included at the beginning and ending points. Our event ended in a festival atmosphere, accompanied by the police and gendarmerie. All participants were given a medal to commemorate the day. At the end of these two days, which were a complete visual feast, all participants left Alanya happily. All stages were recorded from air and land, down to the smallest detail. The aim is to draw attention to POLIO and to promote Alanya, the city we live in. We also think that this film will make a positive contribution to Rotary's relations with the public. In conclusion; We think that we have prepared perhaps the most comprehensive and effective POLIO awareness film ever made in our country. We hope that this short FILM will be shared widely both in our country and around the world and the project will reach its goal. We would like to tell you that you have a lot of responsibility in this regard. We wanted to share with you our inner peace and happiness of preparing this film.
We will launch the video by organizing a large Cocktail reception on December 20, 2023. We will present certificates and plaques of appreciation to all our stakeholders who have supported us. On this occasion, we would like to thank our Rotary community and stakeholders for all their support.
Ayhan Gedikoğlu
District 2430 2023-24 Polio Committee Chairman
