Emine Erdogan spoke to Abdullah Karakus in New York.

All of the earthquake debris will be transformed' :   

Emine Erdogan answered questions on many subjects from how the Zero Waste Project started, from the transformation in the earthquake zone to the Presidency of the Advisory Board at the UN, whether she was excited or not during her UN speech.

New York - First Lady Emine Erdogan, who was the first lady to speak at the UN General Assembly, is preparing to implement new projects related to zero waste. The Zero Waste Project, which started in 2017 under the leadership of Emine Erdogan, enters a new phase when she becomes the Chairman of the UN Zero Waste Advisory Board. Emine Erdogan, with whom we met at the Turkevi, said the following in the conversation attended by her daughter Sumeyye Erdogan.

HE WAS PROUD: (Are you excited at your UN speech?)

Actually, I spoke at the UN in 2011. So I was not excited. They said that the First Lady who gave a speech at the General Assembly was not many. It was a great honor to speak as the sponsor of the project on an international day that we pioneered in its announcement as Turkey. I learned at the UN that I am the Chairman of the Zero Waste Advisory Board. Before the March 30 event, we had a private meeting with the Secretary General. There he offered me to chair the Advisory Board. They also said that he had no precedent. I conveyed my satisfaction on behalf of myself and my country. We try our best to take advantage of this crucial opportunity.

IT STARTED WITH A NEWS: (How did your curiosity about Zero Waste start?) 

Waste was a subject that I always cared about. In fact, it is the same in our culture. I took care not to produce as much waste as possible in my own home, and not to create waste. However, the project started with a news I read in a magazine one day. It was about making compost from household food waste. I did some research and realized the importance of the subject then. They throw the food wastes in the house into a hole they dug in the garden, mix leaves etc and make fertilizer. I didn't know. But it is known in Anatolia. We found the types of compost machines on the internet. I've seen the home type ones.

COMPOST IS THE BEST REMEDY:

I also attach great importance to natural fertilizers because of chemicals. Unfortunately, chemical fertilizers return to us as a disease. I was very upset from there, but I did not know what to do. Compost is the best remedy for this. Besides, the wastes are gone, there is no such thing as garbage; and natural fertilizers are formed with compost. All the trees and flowers in the garden of Beştepe are produced with this method. I tell the application of compost everywhere I go. Currently, compost application has started in many institutions and at home.

ZERO WASTE FOUNDATION: (How will zero waste progress at the UN?) 

We talked about this a little while ago. According to our research, there is no example of such a formation in the UN. It is a three-year project, but of course I wish there was a permanent institutionalization, but of course I don't know what can be done in the structure of the UN. We'll look into it over time, if only it had a permanent function. In any of my campaigns, I do not engage in such non-permanent things. Sometimes when I first come, they say what a campaign, I don't know what a campaign is, but it ends after 1 year, so I said why does it end, I was surprised. Obviously I don't have any idea what's happening here. Time will tell, so I don't know yet. (What will you do?) In other words, whatever we aimed at zero waste, we will do it there. In this context, we are now establishing the Zero Waste Foundation. We will continue through it.

HE WAS EXCITED THAN ME: (President Erdogan watched it live?)

He couldn't watch it live, there was an important meeting at that time, the National Security Council meeting. Then he followed. But as soon as he got out, he called, he was more excited than me. Hopefully it was good.

SUPERVISIONS MUST BE INCREASED: (Large companies and zero waste) 

So big companies are very important to us, they can cause greater damage. That's why we need to increase the controls, we need to sit down and talk to them; We have a lot of work. (Suggestions to individuals) We need to identify and present them, that is, in every subject. In other words, I am not an expert in this business, we are learning on the one hand, and on the other hand we want to put what we have learned into practice. In this sense, we are open to all ideas.

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