Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) members, Samarkand (Uzbekistan) Municipality and Gaziantep Metropolitan (Turkey) Municipality signed Sister City Protocol on May 8, 2025 with a ceremony held in Samarkand.
Minister of Labor and Social Security Prof. Dr. Vedat Işıkhan, Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Fatma Şahin, Turkish Ambassador to Tashkent Ufuk Ulutaş from Turkey; First Deputy Governor of Samarkand Feruz Abilov, Mayor of Samarkand Fazliddin Umarov, Deputy Mayor of Samarkand Erkinjon Radjabov and guests from Uzbekistan attended the protocol signing ceremony held in Samarkand, the historical city of Uzbekistan.
The sister city protocol envisages important cooperation and mutual experience sharing in areas such as history, culture, gastronomy, tourism, education, smart city applications and protection of cultural heritage, contributing to the friendship between the two cities.
In his speech at the protocol signing ceremony, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan expressed his pleasure to witness the brotherhood between Gaziantep and Samarkand and stated that he believes that the protocol will contribute to the friendship and cooperation between Turkey and Uzbekistan beyond the relations between the two cities.
Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin, in her speech at the ceremony, expressed her happiness to be in Samarkand and said, “We are sharing Gaziantep’s historical, cultural and gastronomic richness with high-level participants. We are very excited about the cooperation between the two cities. We are planning an “Uzbek Pilaf Competition” at this year’s gastronomy festival, and I invite Samarkand officials to the Gastronomy Festival to be held in Gaziantep”.
