The İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts
Federation and association presidents and members of the press, who had the chance to see Konya’s historical and cultural heritage first-hand as part of the project, came together at a ceremony held at the end of the programme.
İzmir’in Habercisi, which brought the project to the public through its news and interviews, received the award for “Best News and Interview”.
AYDOĞAN: “IT WAS A DREAM OF FIVE OR SIX YEARS”
Speaking at the event, İzmir Konyalılar Federation President Mehmet Aydoğan said the Konya–İzmir Bridge of Hearts Project had been a dream for some five or six years, and that the support of Konya Metropolitan Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay had played an important role in making it happen.
Aydoğan said that once the project had been reworked and presented to Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, it quickly met with a positive response, and that institutions in Konya had also gone to great lengths to make the event possible.
Referring to Rumi’s call to “Come”, Aydoğan said: “It seems everything has its time and its hour. Those of you here today were also meant to have a share in this project. Not everyone is granted Rumi’s call to ‘Come’. I believe those who answered that call were meant to be here.”
“THE AIM OF THIS JOURNEY WAS NOT JUST TO GET TO KONYA”
Pointing to the outward journey of around 11 hours and the return trip of 13 hours, Aydoğan thanked everyone who took part.
Noting that the journey was not only about reaching Konya, Aydoğan said: “This is not a thank-you said out of politeness. I truly know how tiring this journey was. But our aim was not just to get to Konya. Spending time together on that long road and getting to know one another better was also one of the key goals of this project.”
Aydoğan said it was a real gain for federation and association presidents and members of the press to share the same space for so long, adding that the journey had turned into something like a camp.
“PREJUDICES GAVE WAY TO FRIENDSHIP”
Aydoğan said the Konya programme was also important for breaking down prejudices between cities, noting that some participants had held different views before coming to Konya and that these had changed after the programme.
Recalling visits to key sites such as Çatalhöyük, the Mevlana Museum and Sille, Aydoğan stressed that the real value of the programme was not only seeing historical and cultural places.
“Today you can easily find historical and cultural information about the places we visited on the internet or with artificial intelligence tools. But the real value of this trip went far beyond that. Travelling on the same train, sharing the same table, talking and coming together around a common purpose was the greatest gain of this programme,” Aydoğan said.
ERGÜN: “WITH THIS TRIP WE BROKE A PREJUDICE”
Hüseyin Ergün, Editor-in-Chief of İzmir’in Habercisi, who received the “Best News and Interview” award, thanked İzmir Konyalılar Federation President Mehmet Aydoğan and Konya Metropolitan Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay for bringing the Konya–İzmir Bridge of Hearts Project to life.
Ergün said the visit to Konya had a special meaning for him: “As someone who has lived in İzmir since 1987, I was one of those who wondered why Konya supports the AK Party with such high votes at every election. Thanks to this project, we had the chance to see the services provided in Konya on the ground. At the very least, we broke some of the prejudices in our minds by observing for ourselves.”
Ergün also thanked the jury members who chose İzmir’in Habercisi first in the Best News and Interview category among the 25 local newspapers on the trip. “We have always been the voice of civil society, and we will continue to be,” he said, congratulating his colleagues from the local press who were also honoured and wishing them success.
İZMİR–KONYA HIGH-SPEED TRAIN MESSAGE
In his speech, Aydoğan also touched on the importance of a rail link between İzmir and Konya, saying they had worked in the past on the İzmir–Konya Blue Train Project and that reports on its route and occupancy rates had been submitted to the relevant institutions.
Aydoğan said the İzmir–Konya High-Speed Rail Line would make travel between the two cities easier, and that talks had been held during the Konya programme on speeding up the line.
“Our hope is that the İzmir–Konya high-speed rail line is completed as soon as possible,” Aydoğan said.
“BRIDGES OF HEARTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO TÜRKİYE’S UNITY”
Aydoğan said they wanted the project to lead the way in building bridges of hearts not only between İzmir and Konya but between different cities across Türkiye, adding that civil society organisations carry an important responsibility in this process.
“Bridges of hearts built between civil society organisations, citizens and cities strengthen fellowship, solidarity and social peace. With this train journey, we aimed to make a contribution, however small, to that spirit by building bridges of hearts between cities,” Aydoğan said.
NEW ROUTES: AĞRI, GAZİANTEP AND AZERBAIJAN
Aydoğan said work on new projects was continuing after the Konya programme, with talks held with Ağrı Municipality and contacts continuing regarding Gaziantep and Azerbaijan.
Noting that projects are also being planned for the Balkans, Aydoğan said they wanted to take the Bridge of Hearts project to an international level.
THE KONYA PROJECT HAS BECOME AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER CITIES
Aydoğan said that during the Konya programme, federation and association presidents from different cities had contacted officials in their own cities about launching similar projects, and that the project was starting to become an example for other cities.
Noting that representatives from Erzurum, Ağrı, Sivas and other provinces had taken steps towards holding similar events in their own cities, Aydoğan said the project had grown beyond a trip into a model that strengthens fellowship between cities.
AWARD WINNERS
Best TV News Programme: Murat Gökhan – Murat’la Gezinti
Most Successful News Story: Kemal Ceran
Most Successful Columnist and Commentator: Nevzat Dönmez
Best News Cameraman: Batuhan Vuruşkanlar
Best News Presenter: Deniz Doğan
Best News and Interview: Hüseyin Ergün – İzmir’in Habercisi
Best Photographers: Özgür Coşkun and Emine Coşkun
Best and Most Successful Secretary General: Nurten Yıldız
THANKS TO THE PRESS
Aydoğan thanked the members of the press who brought the programme of the Konya–İzmir Bridge of Hearts Project to the public through their news, interviews and special features, noting that journalists had played an important part in the project reaching a wide audience.
Closing his speech, Aydoğan thanked everyone who took part in and supported the project, expressing his hope that unity and solidarity would keep growing in the period ahead.
The Konya–İzmir Bridge of Hearts Project aims to bring people from different cities together, help new friendships form and build lasting ties between cities.
Awards for journalists at the Bridge of Hearts
The “İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project”, brought to life under the leadership of Mehmet Aydoğan, President of the Federation of Konyalılar Associations (KONFED), has built a new bridge of friendship and solidarity between İzmir and Konya.
As part of the project, held in July, a large delegation from İzmir made up of federation and confederation presidents representing different provinces, foundation executives and many members of the press travelled to Konya. According to reports, 48 federation and confederation presidents and 32 members of the press took part. The nostalgic Blue Train journey of around 13 hours was also one of the highlights of the project.
Journalists’ impressions of Konya were rewarded
Journalists who visited Konya as part of the Bridge of Hearts Project conveyed the city’s historical, cultural and social life to the public in İzmir through their news stories, interviews, footage and photographs.
In an evaluation after the programme, outstanding work was rewarded. Awards were given in seven categories of journalism and media, and a special award was also presented in the secretary general category for work on the organisation of the project.
Award winners
Best TV News Programme:
Murat Gökhan – Murat’la Gezinti
Most Successful News Story:
Kemal Ceran
Most Successful Columnist and Commentator:
Nevzat Dönmez
Best News Cameraman:
Batuhan Vuruşkanlar
Best News Presenter:
Deniz Doğan
Best Photographers:
Özgür and Emine Coşkun
Best News Interview:
Hüseyin Ergün
Best and Most Successful Secretary General:
Nurten Yıldız
The jury also drew attention
A jury of people from different fields evaluated the journalistic work.
The jury included:
KONFED President Mehmet Aydoğan
KONFED Secretary General Nurten Yıldız
Aegean Güç Birliği Confederation President Tolga Eleman
Journalist and columnist Vahap Dabakan
Ahmet Gündüz, President of the Emir Çaka Bey Maritime Specialisation University Development Foundation
Journalist and columnist Vahap Dabakan also highlighted, in a piece on the Bridge of Hearts visit to Konya, the project’s aim of creating a social and cultural bond between İzmir and Konya.
The aim was not just a trip
The İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project was designed not merely as a cultural trip but as a gathering to strengthen solidarity between the various hometown federations, NGOs and media organisations active in İzmir.
One of the project’s core goals was to bring together civil society organisations formed by people who came to İzmir from different cities, and to develop their social, cultural and institutional ties with Konya.
Various reports noted that, after the programme in Konya, NGO representatives and journalists from İzmir left the city with positive impressions, and were particularly struck by Konya’s cleanliness, calm, historical heritage and urban planning.
The project led by Mehmet Aydoğan thus built a new bridge of hearts not only between İzmir and Konya but also between civil society and the media, while the awards given to journalists crowned the media work that helped promote Konya.
A loyalty of 15 years: the rose garden of the Mevlana Museum
A 15-Year Story of Loyalty: The Mark We Left in the Shadow of Rumi!
We are feeling indescribable joy at being in the presence of Rumi, who said “Come, whoever you are”, with our “Bridge of Hearts” project. But our bond with this land goes back much further!
About 15 years ago, at a time when means were far more limited than today, we worked non-stop for 10 days together with our friends from İzmir. As an association, we took on the walkways of the Mevlana Museum’s magnificent 18,000-square-metre rose garden, the visitor seating areas and the repainting of the ironwork.
It seems we built such a beautiful spiritual bridge in the past that today we once again feel rightful pride in the contribution we made back then. With the wish that these spiritual bridges, built in unity and solidarity, never fall...
You can watch our memories of those days and the details of our visit in our video.
#KONFED #BridgeOfHearts #MevlanaMuseum #Konya #CivilSociety
A century-old keepsake returns home
The İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project, launched under the leadership of Mehmet Aydoğan, President of the İzmir Civil Society Organisations Platform (İSTOP) and the International Konyalılar Confederation (KONFED), has led to a meaningful development far beyond its original purpose.
The project, which took civil society organisations and members of the press from İzmir to Konya in a shared spirit of fellowship, revisited the historical, cultural and spiritual ties between the two cities. Yet the most meaningful memory of this journey was the step taken to bring back to İzmir a precious copy of the Holy Qur’an that had been kept in Konya for years and bore witness to the days of İzmir’s occupation.
A keepsake from İzmir’s painful days
According to KONFED President Mehmet Aydoğan, the Qur’an was carefully protected by a Turkish officer in İzmir during the Greek occupation and taken to Konya.
Although nearly a century has passed since İzmir’s liberation from occupation, this precious keepsake remained in Konya.
Years later, the historic manuscript was restored. Contact with the İzmir Directorate of Museums and the necessary work with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism were then put on the agenda so that the keepsake could return to İzmir, the city it belongs to, and to its place in the city’s historical memory.
Mehmet Aydoğan summed up the development in the words: “Look how the Bridge of Hearts is working.”
A bond of hearts that began with a train journey reached a historic keepsake
At the heart of the İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project lies the goal of building a lasting bond of friendship and solidarity between the two cities.
It was no coincidence that a train journey was chosen for the event, which brought together around 50 federation and confederation presidents and 32 journalists and television professionals.
During the Konya Blue Train journey of around 13 hours, representatives of different civil society organisations and journalists shared the same space and had the chance to get to know each other better.
KONFED President Mehmet Aydoğan said the idea for the project went back some six or seven years: initially conceived so that municipal council members in İzmir could see Konya’s urban planning first-hand, it was later brought to life with the participation of civil society organisations and journalists. With Konya Metropolitan Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay quickly giving his support, the event came together in a short time.
This journey was not just a cultural trip between İzmir and Konya; it became an occasion to remember a bond of hearts that reaches from the past into the future.
The century-old keepsake will meet İzmir again
For us at KONFED, this historic keepsake is one of the most valuable gains of the Bridge of Hearts.
Bringing back to İzmir the Qur’an that was protected during İzmir’s occupation a century ago, taken to Konya and kept there for years, shows once again how deep the historical bond between the two cities runs.
This process is not merely the relocation of a historic object.
It is the reunion with its home of İzmir’s memory, the memory of the National Struggle, and the values a nation stood by in difficult days.
As KONFED, we will follow up on this meaningful development brought about by the Bridge of Hearts Project. We hope the process of returning the keepsake to İzmir, in coordination with the İzmir Directorate of Museums and the relevant institutions, will be completed.
The true meaning of the Bridge of Hearts
When we set up the Bridge of Hearts, our goal was not only to take people from one city to another.
Our aim was to remember history, share culture, bring cities closer together and carry our shared values into the future.
Where we stand today, we see that this bridge connects not only people but also memories, keepsakes and the shared history of cities.
The process that has begun for the return to İzmir of a keepsake protected in Konya for years is, for us, one of the most meaningful fruits of the Bridge of Hearts Project.
After a journey that stretched from İzmir to Konya a century ago, we now look forward to the day the same keepsake sets out again, from Konya to İzmir.
Because some keepsakes have only one address.
And the address of this keepsake is İzmir.
As KONFED, we will continue to do our part to make this historic reunion happen and to keep the public informed of the process.
Nevzat Dönmez writes: The Bridge of Hearts brought İzmir and Konya together
The İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project, long dreamed of by Mehmet Aydoğan, President of the Federation of Konyalılar Associations (KONFED), was brought to life with the aim of creating not just a journey but a lasting bond of fellowship and solidarity between İzmir and Konya.
In his column published on 19 July 2026, Haber Ekspres writer Nevzat Dönmez looked at the Bridge of Hearts Project from a different angle, pointing out that Mehmet Aydoğan’s approach of bringing people together lies at the heart of the project.
According to Dönmez, the participation of around 40 federation presidents representing different parts of society and 35 veteran journalists in this journey from İzmir to Konya was one of the clearest signs of the trust the project had built.
“No office could achieve an event like this on its own”
Dönmez wrote that, given the 13-hour train journey, two days of intensive programme and the return trip, it was not easy to bring so many prominent names to the project, and that this togetherness was made possible by the relationships of trust and friendship Mehmet Aydoğan has built over the years.
Dönmez stressed that Mehmet Aydoğan does not pursue personal interests in his events, and that his main aim is to bring people together, reduce prejudice and build a lasting bridge of hearts between Konya, where he was born, and İzmir, where he lives.
Another notable point in the column was the view that the Bridge of Hearts was not a project that appeared overnight. Dönmez wrote that the bridge had been built step by step through years of effort, patience and belief.
Strong support from Konya
The support of Konya Metropolitan Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay in bringing the İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project to life was also given special attention in Nevzat Dönmez’s column.
Dönmez noted that local government is not only about physical investment, and that building bonds of the heart between cities is also an important service, adding that the hospitality shown throughout the programme in Konya left participants with fond memories.
“This is not just a trip”
One of the most striking points in Nevzat Dönmez’s column was his prediction that the Bridge of Hearts would not remain limited to İzmir and Konya.
Dönmez noted that the federation presidents who took part could take action to build similar bridges of hearts with their own cities, and that such good examples could multiply.
Describing the Bridge of Hearts as an exemplary social project that strengthens social and cultural ties between cities, Dönmez said such work would strengthen the unity, love and fellowship that Türkiye needs.
Special emphasis on Mehmet Aydoğan
Giving wide coverage to the role of KONFED President Mehmet Aydoğan in creating the project, Nevzat Dönmez described Aydoğan as someone who values sincerity and trust in human relationships and stands by his word.
The views in Dönmez’s column show that the İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts was not just a three-day programme but the result of years of effort, friendships and the ideal of building ties between cities.
As KONFED, we will continue our work to strengthen this bond of hearts between İzmir and Konya even further and to build new bridges of friendship between different cities.
As KONFED, we thank Haber Ekspres writer Nevzat Dönmez for writing about our project in his column, and extend our gratitude to all our partners who contributed to bringing the İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts to life.
Source: Haber Ekspres – Nevzat Dönmez, “The Bridge of Hearts built by Mehmet Aydoğan”, 19 July 2026. Read the article on Haber Ekspres
Nevzat Dönmez writes: There was fellowship in the sound of the spoons
There are some events...
The programme ends, the photos are taken, everyone goes home, and a few days later they are forgotten.
And then there are events that leave a mark not on the mind but on the heart.
The “İzmir–Konya Bridge of Hearts Project”, brought to life by İzmir Konyalılar Federation President Mehmet Aydoğan, was exactly such an event.
We did not just take a trip to Konya.
In truth, we went to get to know one another.
As presidents of civil society organisations from İzmir, representatives of hometown associations and journalists who have left their mark on the profession, we sat at the same table, walked through the same city and shared the same feelings.
And once again we saw that...
This country’s greatest wealth is neither its historic monuments, nor its plains, nor its mountains.
Its true wealth is its people.
The most unforgettable moment of the project for me came on the second day.
We were watching a folk dance performance.
Our bright young girls took to the stage one after another.
Konya’s famous Spoon Dance began.
And then President Mehmet Aydoğan joined the troupe.
He handled the spoons so skilfully and danced so naturally that I could not take my eyes off him.
At that moment I said to myself:
“There it is, the whole project in a nutshell.”
Because culture is not just a heritage displayed in museums.
Culture is dancing together, laughing together, singing each other’s folk songs, learning each other’s dances and sharing each other’s joy.
It is a person at one end of Anatolia embracing the culture of a person at the other end.
The rhythm of a pair of spoons can sometimes mean more than hundreds of speeches.
That day I did not feel like a stranger in Konya.
On the contrary, I felt as if I had lived there for years.
Because there was warmth.
Because there was sincerity.
Because the bridge built between hearts had long since erased the kilometres between the cities.
And that is exactly what we need most as a society today.
To listen to each other...
To get to know each other...
To build friendships instead of prejudices...
To bring cultures together instead of pitting cities against each other...
Because fellowship grows stronger not through slogans, but when we share the same table, join in the same melody and meet in the same dance, to the same rhythm.
Perhaps that is why the name of this project was so meaningful:
Bridge of Hearts...
Because real bridges are built not with concrete, but with love.
We owe thanks to Mehmet Aydoğan, who led the way in building a lasting bond not only between İzmir and Konya but between hearts by bringing this meaningful project to life.
I hope this fine example does not stay between just two cities.
I hope people all over Türkiye keep getting to know each other’s cultures, singing each other’s folk songs and sharing each other’s joy.
Because this country’s greatest strength is not our differences, but our ability to bring those differences together in one heart.