Message of unity from President Soyer and Ambassador Katsumata

12.10.2023

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer hosted Japan's Ambassador, Takahiko Katsumatato Ankara. At the meeting, where holding a joint event in 2024 for the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Japan was on the agenda, Mayor Tunç Soyer said, “With city diplomacy, we can initiate a relationship of brotherhood between our peoples and develop trade, art, and tourism.”

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer hosted Japan's Ambassador to Ankara, Takahiko Katsumata. During the visit to the Sovereignty House, ideas were exchanged for the development of cultural, touristic, and economic relations between Japan and Izmir.

During the visit, Mayor Tunç Soyer suggested making a joint program in 2024, the 100th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Japan, and said, “On this occasion, we can start city diplomacy. This would also be a strong reference for relations between governments. We shed light on the future locally. In this context, we can organize a joint program with a city in Japan. We can take our artists and athletes there and host Japanese artists here. There may be a mutual joint program. We initiate a common brotherhood relationship between our peoples. “This will be an important reference for the development of mutual trade, art, tourism and sports,” he said.

“Japan is no longer the other side of the world”

Supporting the ambassador’s proposal for joint work to further develop touristic relations in the Aegean Region, especially in Izmir, President Soyer said, “The world is getting smaller and distances are getting shorter. Japan is no longer the other side of the world.” “As Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, we are ready to do whatever we can to strengthen relations from tourism to industry,” he stated.

We want to deepen relations even further

Ambassador Takahiko Katsumata said, “Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey, and I am very happy to come here. Now, we aim to increase business cooperation between Japan and Turkey with the strong relations we will establish in Izmir. You also experienced a big earthquake. We would like to thank the people of Izmir and the city for their support during the great earthquake that occurred in Japan in 2011. Today, we came to Izmir for a business summit. We will celebrate the 100th anniversary of relations between Japan and Türkiye in 2024. On this occasion, we want to further deepen the relations between the two countries, especially Izmir. We can also organize 100th anniversary events in Izmir to expand the economy and human traffic between the two countries. “We also want to expand industrial investments and popularize mutual tourism between Izmir and Japan,” he said.

 

Message of unity from President Soyer and Ambassador Katsumata

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