Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, member of Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB), and Ürümqi Municipality, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (China), signed a Sister City Protocol.

The signature ceremony in Ürümqi was attended by Deputy Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Latif Karadağ and Mayor of Ürümqi İlham Sabir.

Speaking in the signature ceremony, Karadağ underlined the importance of the brotherhood between two cities and stated that this protocol would strengthen the brotherhood bonds between Uyghur Turks and Anatolian Turks, who are already close to each other. Besides he said that with this signature signed for the brotherhood of these cities with rich cultures, many projects will be done cooperatively on trade, economy, education, health, sports, technology, culture and science and he also thanked İlham Sabir for their hospitality.  

On the other hand, Mayor of Ürümqi Sabir said that Ürümqi is among the largest districts of People’s Republic of China with a population of 2.5 million and 10.989 square kilometer acreage. Emphasizing the fact that the region has a developing economy as the center of politics, economy, culture, transportation and communication, Sabir added that Ürümqi has become one of the important economic and trading centers in Central Asia. Sabir continued his words saying “We are very happy about Gaziantep and Ürümqi’s becoming sister cities, who are both on the important points of Silk Road. After this protocol we believe that there will be more cooperation between two cities. We accept this protocol as a new start and want to carry out a more active sister city relation. I believe wholeheartedly that those two cities will perform great cooperative projects.”

Meanwhile “4th Economic Belt Cooperation and Development Forum” took place within the scope of the organization. Presentations of gastronomy, cultural heritage and Gaziantep handicrafts took the interest of the participants. The Forum was attended by participants from Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Maldives, Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.

29.09.2016