Mayor launches campaign to increase population --- Gives Gold Coins For Having Children

[Arizona Coin Collector]

FROM:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=165254&bolum=101

28 January 2009, Wednesday
TODAY'S ZAMAN ISTANBUL

Mayor launches campaign to increase population

The mayor of Yesildag, a town in Konya province, has
launched a campaign to encourage families to have more
children so that the town's population does not fall
below 2,000.

Towns whose populations fall below 2,000 are
reclassified as villages under the law and lose their
local representation, instead being represented by
the nearest town that meets the population threshold.
Turkey is scheduled to have a local election on
March 29.

In order to avoid having his town downgraded to
village status, Yesildag Mayor Yüksel Durgun
launched a campaign and promised to give gold coins
to families that contribute to increasing the town's
population.

Durgun said he asked the Yesildag public to have
more babies so that their town will not face the
risk of being turned into a village in the future.
Although Yesildag has a population of 2,095, the
risk remains that this figure could drop in the
short term.

"I am addressing the youth in particular. Continue
to have babies. I launched a campaign to increase
our population and pledge to give gold coins to
whoever has a baby. This is not an election
promise; it is a way to increase our population
and hence our income," Yesildag said.

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