The online International Town Twinning Summit (TWINT Online) was held on 12-13 November 2020 within the scope of the “Town Twinning between Turkey and the EU” (TWIN) Project. Opening speeches for the event were delivered by the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey Ms. Fatma Şahin, the President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and Vice President of the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Mr. Anders Knape, Chairman of the Local Administration Policies Council, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Prof. Dr. Mr. Şükrü Karatepe, Head of the Delegation of European Union to Turkey Ambassador Mr. Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Director for EU Affairs, Ambassador Mr. Faruk Kaymakcı.
The summit involved panels and speeches where the importance of inter-city cooperation and local diplomacy was discussed. Apart from these, the audience were also inspired by the speeches delivered by Mr. Güven İslamoğlu and Mr. Ayhan Sicimoğlu on cities and the importance of interaction between them, a piano concert by Mr. Tuluyhan Uğurlu and miniature works by Mr. Taner Alakuş. The summit was observed by approximately 500 people.
The “TWIN Virtual Grant Projects Fair” also took place simultaneously with the summit. The virtual fair where success stories of 23 Grant Projects implemented within the scope of the Town Twinning between Turkey and the EU Grant Program was visited by more than one thousand people from both Turkey and the European Union.