Türkiye-Germany Sister Cities Summit Held in Istanbul

The “Türkiye-Germany Sister Cities Summit”, co-organized by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) and the Association of German Cities (Deutscher Städtetag) on the 101st anniversary of the Türkiye-Germany Treaty of Friendship was held in Istanbul on April 8, 2025. The summit brought together mayors and representatives of cities from Türkiye and Germany that have sister city relations, as well as diplomats and civil society representatives.

From Germany, mayors from Hannover, Cologne, Bremen, Gelsenkirchen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Darmstadt, Troisdorf, and representatives from Aalen, Bremen-Osterholz, Dortmund, Düren, Frankfurt am Main, Hamm, Hochschulstadt Idstein, Monheim am Rhein, Mühlheim, Oberhausen, Schönebeck, Nuremberg and Wiesbaden attended the summit. From Türkiye, mayors of Adana, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Manisa, Muğla, Tekirdağ, Edirne, Nevşehir, Uşak and Yalova, as well as many district mayors, took part in the event.

Opening speeches at the Summit were delivered by Nuri Aslan, Acting Mayor of Istanbul; Henriette Reker, Board Member of the Association of German Cities and Mayor of Cologne, Istanbul’s sister city; Ambassador Michael Reiffenstuel, Director for Southeastern Europe, Türkiye, OSCE and Council of Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office; Belit Onay, Vice President of the Association of German Cities and Mayor of Hannover; and Zeydan Karalar, Acting President of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye and Mayor of Adana.

Kai Wegner, the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Istanbul’s sister city – sent a video message to the summit.

Within the scope of the summit, mayors and representatives of cities from Türkiye and Germany that have sister city relations convened to strengthen their cooperation in the context of local democracy and freedoms. A roundtable discussion was also held on the future of inter-city cooperation between Türkiye and Germany.

At the conclusion of the summit, a declaration was announced to reinforce collaboration between sister cities, to promote solidarity in the face of common challenges, and to build deeper, more resilient partnerships.