Berlin Metropolitan Municipality hosted German Turkish Urban Diplomacy Forum which was held in Berlin on May 30-31, 2022.
The conference brought together the municipalities of the two countries in order to strengthen the sister city relations between Germany and Türkiye, to increase their effectiveness and to maintain the sustainability affairs. In this context, the municipalities of the two countries particularly affected by migration had the opportunity to share their good practices and learn by peer learning.
Making the opening speech of the conference Mayor of Berlin Franziska Giffey expressed her pleasure to host the event. On the first day of the program, in the panel discussion titled "German-Turkish Relations: The Importance and Potential of Cooperation between Municipalities", Mayor of Tepebaşı Ahmet Ataç, Mayor of Herne Dr. Frank Dudda, Özcan Mutlu representing the German-Turkish Sister Cities Association, and Christine Schlüssler, Head of the International Office of the City of Nuremberg. In the session, issues such as active and sustainable sister city relations, the requirements needed during the execution of the projects and access to funding sources were discussed. In the continuation of the first day session, the strategies of refugees to adapt to the city, the obstacles encountered in the provision of municipal services, the solutions developed by the municipalities and the need for financing were discussed by the local government representatives.
On the second day, working group meetings and workshops were held under the topics of municipal services: digital city, green cities, youth exchange, and prevention of violence against women and psycho-social support services and migration and integration process. Experts from the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye also participated in the events.