Created by Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) for contributing to the establishment of sustainable and functional sister city relations among local governments and constituting international coordination and database, “Sister Cities Platform” (www.kardessehirler.org.tr) was introduced at a ceremony held in Istanbul on October 5, 2018.
The meeting was attended by Vice Chairman of TDBB and also Mayor of Zeytinburnu Murat Aydın, Secretary General of TDBB Fahri Solak, Mayor of Düzce Dursun Ay, Mayor of Tunçbilek Agah Aşkın, Mayor of Güneyyurt Celil Yağız, District Governor and Deputy Mayor of Safranbolu Fatih Ürkmezer and Mayor of Orhaneli İrfan Tatlıoğlu along with municipal officials from İstanbul, Adana, Denizli, Gaziantep, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Mersin, Ordu, Sakarya Metropolitan Municipalities and Bağcılar, Bayrampaşa, Beykoz, Bolu, Döşemealtı, Esenler, Gerede, Göynük, Kandıra, Karesi, Kartepe, Keçiören, Kilis, Küçükçekmece, Maltepe, Pendik, Sancaktepe, Selçuklu, Sultangazi, Talas Taşköprü and Ümraniye Municipalities.
Vice Chairman of TDBB and also Mayor of Zeytinburnu Murat Aydın stated that TDBB was established 15 years ago and have succeeded in many projects and he added, “Today almost 1.200 municipalities from 29 countries are members of TDBB. Our Union has become a crucial institution which has achieved important and meaningful projects. It provides communications and solidarity. Sister Cities Platform, created by TDBB, will fill a very important gap with the adoption of our members in Turkey and the members abroad.”
On the other hand Secretary General Fahri Solak underlined the fact that ‘Sister Cities Platform’ is not an ordinary website. Solak emphasized the preparation of the platform in Turkish, English and Russia and added, “As in other projects, TDBB plays a coordinator role here. Our aim is to develop cooperation between local governments in member countries by using every kind of level. We would like all the municipalities create their own accounts in the platform and use it effectively for the development and sustainability of sister city relations.”
After the speeches the participators were informed in detail about the Platform. Furthermore, they expressed their views, evaluations and suggestions about the site. The program was completed after taking group photo.
About Sister Cities Platform
TDBB Sister Cities Platform has been created upon the problems experienced in sister city activities, on the purpose of satisfying the need for coordination and healthy data base, difficulties detected during the workshop made with related institutions.
The Platform, free of charge, provides active and institutional communication with other members via profiles.
The Members, through TDBB Sister Cities Platform, will continue their communication with their already-present sister cities with the announcements and news they publish on their profiles, and the cities looking for new sister cities will have the opportunity to create new sister city relations. TDBB Sister Cities Platform, including informative and directive data about sister city activities, provides service in three languages as Turkish, English and Russian. Thus the Platform aims to provide communication in a wider geographical region.
Portal also includes Sister Cities Guide, Sample Protocol, Sister City Search, Sister Cities Map, Sister City Statistics according to various criteria, related Regulations and Publications, Announcements, News and Social Media links.
