AKP-run municipality to declare Damascus and Aleppo 'sister cities'

The Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, under the administration of the AKP's Fatma Şahin, will declare the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Damascus as sister cities.

In the agenda proposal submitted to the March session of the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipal Council, it was requested that “a joint sister city relationship be established between the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and the Syrian cities of Damascus and Aleppo, with the aim of developing and executing joint projects and strengthening cooperation in various fields between the two cities, and in this context, that Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin be authorized to establish a sister city relationship between Gaziantep and the cities of Damascus and Aleppo and to sign the sister city protocol.”

Uğur Kalkan, a former CHP member of the Şahinbey Municipal Council, stated the following in a post on his social media account:

“The AKP-run Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality is bringing the items to the council agenda to become sister cities with Damascus and Aleppo and to authorize Fatma Şahin to sign the protocol on this matter. The items will be discussed at tomorrow's council meeting. They claim they will encourage the mutual exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of local government. I swear I am not saying this, they have written it exactly like this in the agenda item.”