Rais of Tatarstan meets Mayor of the Turkish city of Konya

On 17 July, speaking at his meeting with the Mayor of Konya Uğur İbrahim Altay, the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, who came to the Province of Konya on a working visit, stated that the visit of a Tatarstan delegation to Konya is aimed at broadening contacts both with the city and the province. “We are planning to have an active cooperation not only in agribusiness but also culture, archeology and tourism. You have very rich history and we have much in common, we should communicate more closely and develop business relations. Direct flights between Istanbul and Kazan facilitate this,” he said. 

The Rais of the republic emphasized the big amount of work done by Uğur İbrahim Altay as the Head of the Union of Turkish World Municipalities - a large international organization which unites more than 1 200 municipalities from more than 30 countries of the world. Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his gratitude for support given to Tatarstan municipalities in organizing experience exchange programmes and cultural and humanitarian projects.

Speaking at the meeting, the Head of Kukmor region of Tatarstan Sergey Dimitriev stated that his region is interested in developing cooperation with local agricultural machinery manufacturers. The Mayor of Konya supported this proposal and informed that there are many agribusiness machine-building companies in Konya. “I am sure your visit will give a serious impetus to broadening mutual trade,” he said to Rustam Minnikhanov. 

Uğur İbrahim Altay also told about his trip to Tatarstan in 2019, when a delegation from Konya visited Kazan, Nizhnekamsk and Bolgar. 

Rustam Minnikhanov emphasized that interregional cooperation makes a substantial contribution into the development of Russia-Turkey relations. “Our cooperation has a huge potential and is not used in full. Tatarstan and Konya have things to offer each other and there are possibilities for developing joint projects,” he added. 

On the first floor of the Konya City Hall Rustam Minnikhanov walked round the exposition dedicated to history and culture of the city.