Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Türkiye Hasanthi Urugodawatte Dissanayake called on the Mayor of Ankara’s Çankaya District Alper Taşdelen at the Çankaya Municipality premises on 04 April 2023. Alper Taşdelen has been mayor since March 2019, representing the opposition party CHP.
Discussions centered around the commonalities between the two countries, opportunities for collaboration in the political and socio-economic spheres, the impact of climate change and how the two countries could learn from each other to mitigate and minimize such impacts.
The Ambassador suggested establishing a sister city arrangement with the Municipalities of Çankaya and Sri Jayawardanepura Kotte in Sri Lanka to further bilateral relations, especially people to people contacts. The Mayor welcomed the suggestion and said he would be happy to have further discussions in this regard.
The Çankaya District is home to many government buildings, including the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, as well as nearly all diplomatic missions including the Embassy of Sri Lanka. Çankaya is a cosmopolitan district and is considered the cultural and financial centre of Ankara. The founding father of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk selected Ankara as the capital of the new republic and in the 1920s and 1930s the city quickly grew, especially in the direction of Çankaya. Çankaya eventually developed into one of the largest central districts of Ankara in the years that followed.
Mayor Taşdelen said that Çankaya has many cultural centres which are open to residents and institutions as well as to the Embassies, to make life easy, meaningful and interesting for its residents and invited the Embassy of Sri Lanka to join activities organized by the municipality. He assured that his municipality is committed to addressing issues of all residents including the diplomatic community.
The Ambassador thanked Mayor Taşdelen for the meeting despite his busy schedule due to the upcoming elections. She presented a copy of the coffee table sketch book with summarized narratives “Colombo” by the renowned Sri Lankan artist Vasantha Perera.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Ankara
06 April 2023
