Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun briefed the council on the UCLG 6th Culture Summit he attended in Barcelona and on his meetings there.

The third sitting of the council’s ordinary October session was held in the municipal service building, chaired by Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun and attended by council members. Co-Mayor Hatun informed the council about the meetings he had recently attended in Barcelona, Spain.

UCLG 6th Culture Summit

In his remarks before the sitting, Co-Mayor Hatun recalled that, together with Siraç Çelik, Co-Mayor of the Union of Municipalities of Southeastern Anatolia (GABB) and of Bağlar Municipality, and Fatma Gulan Önkol, Co-Mayor of Sur Municipality, he took part in the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) 6th Culture Summit in Barcelona.

He stated that, following the Summit, meetings were held with the International Solidarity Union of the Barcelona Regional Association of Municipalities, a councillor of the Barcelona City Council, and the Escarré International Centre for Ethnic and National Minorities (CIEMEN). Co-Mayor Hatun said: “They have established a structure through which transport, infrastructure and wastewater, and recycling services are delivered. The city’s situation is commendable. We have benefited from this, and we obtained a commitment for cooperation. Although we have constructed some of our wastewater infrastructure through European Union projects, drawing on the experience gained we also have substantial work under way. We will support them in this area; and they will support us on transport, recycling, in-situ renewal, waste separation and similar matters. A technical team from there will visit here; and a technical team from us will go there for on-site examinations.”

Co-Mayor Hatun said they plan to sign a cooperation protocol in January 2026.

He added that they had also met with institutions influential in shaping Barcelona’s planning framework, and, sharing what they had learned about how the people of Barcelona developed their say over the city, continued: “Politics there does not interfere with the technical infrastructure and its operation. With the joint decision of 36 municipalities of the Catalan Region and the public, they have created such a field of expertise.”

Co-Mayor Hatun stated that in their meeting with the CIEMEN delegation they discussed the opening of an association on the friendship between the Catalan and Kurdish peoples, and that they also exchanged ideas on areas of technical and economic cooperation.

Following Co-Mayor Hatun’s briefing, the council session concluded with the items on the agenda.