We are delighted that 20 mayors from Germany and Turkey are for the first time coming together on 18 June for a virtual roundtable as part of the first German-Turkish City Partnership Conference with the aim of strengthening cooperation at municipal level between our two countries. The participants will include the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, and the Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu. The Mayor of Hanover, Belit Onay, and the President of the Association of Turkish Municipalities and Mayor of Gaziantep, Fatma Şahin, are to lead the discussion. Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, and Yavuz Selim Kıran, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey, will open the meeting with a video message.

There are currently more than 80 official city partnerships in place between German and Turkish cities, in addition to numerous friendships and contacts between municipalities. They illustrate the breadth and depth of German-Turkish relations and the wide range of contacts between the people of our two countries which transcend day-to-day politics.

From 3 to 16 June, experts and representatives of municipal administrations, city partnership associations and youth organisations took part in online workshops to share examples of best practice from German-Turkish city partnerships in the fields of digitalisation, sustainable urban development, protecting marginalised groups and refugees, and youth exchange. The results of the workshops are to be discussed and collated on 18 June at a digital information session.