Press releases

• The highlight of his inaugural visit was his personal meeting with Mayor Oktay Aksu.
• The mayor thanked everyone who volunteers to support the sister city partnership—both in Aachen and in Sarıyer.
• The relationship between the two cities is to be strengthened.

Last weekend, October 2–4, Mayor Dr. Michael Ziemons visited Aachen’s Turkish sister city, Sarıyer. The focus of his inaugural visit was a personal meeting with Mayor Oktay Aksu and his deputies, Hüseyin Coşkun and Sergül Dogan. Mayor Aksu welcomed the guest from Aachen at the city hall of the Istanbul district; Lisa Marie Quelle from the German Consulate General in Istanbul also attended the reception.

“I came as a guest and was welcomed like an old friend,” Ziemons said after the meeting. “Our partnership is now 13 years old—right in the middle of its teenage years. All parents know: that’s exactly the time when you need to stick with it. That’s exactly what we plan to do.”

After the reception at City Hall, the mayor visited several social service facilities in Sarıyer: the EÇADEM Center, which supports children with disabilities and their families; the Prof. Dr. Türkan Saylan Center for Social Life; a play and activity center for children, as well as a physical therapy and dialysis center in the Maden neighborhood and the Fahrettin Kerim Gökay Social Center for seniors in Bahçeköy. The visit concluded with a tour of Koç University.

“You don’t get a true sense of what a city is really like from its most beautiful views—and Sarıyer on the Bosphorus certainly has plenty of those—but rather from how it treats people who need support,” said Ziemons, who served as the director of social affairs and health for the Aachen Metropolitan Region before his election as mayor. “What I’ve seen has impressed me. I’m taking home more ideas than will fit in my carry-on luggage.” Sarıyer is a district of Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus and extends north to the Black Sea. On the Aachen side, the partnership is primarily supported by the Aachen-Sarıyer (Istanbul) Partnership Association, which was founded in February 2013.

Thanks to Volunteers
The mayor expressly thanked everyone who volunteers their time to support the sister city partnership—both in Aachen and in Sarıyer. Some of the facilities visited are supported by volunteers from both cities. “A city partnership isn’t based on a certificate; it stands on its own two feet—and on a great many of them,” said Ziemons. “Without the people who organize gatherings, launch projects, translate, and offer hospitality in their free time, there would be nothing for a mayor to visit. For that, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart—teşekkür ederim.”

Relationships Are to Be
Deepened The city partnership has been in place since 2013: The Aachen City Council approved it in January 2013, and the partnership agreement was formally signed on June 22, 2013. Ziemons announced his intention to deepen relations between the two cities. He sees opportunities for collaboration primarily in youth exchanges, intergovernmental cooperation, and academia: “Aachen lies where three countries meet, and Sarıyer where two continents face each other. Both cities know from experience: Borders become bridges when people come together. We want more of that.”

In addition to the inaugural visit, the trip was also marked by the tenth anniversary of the friendship between the Aachen-Dreiländereck and Sarıyer-Tarabiya Lions Clubs, which the mayor of Sarıyer and the mayor of Aachen attended as guests. Ziemons expressly praised the tireless commitment of Çetin Saltan, president of the Aachen-Dreiländereck Lions Club, to German-Turkish friendship and the vibrant connection between Aachen and Sarıyer.