Turkish Representatives visit Sweden to study refugee reception and social cohesion
Two representatives from SALAR's sister organizations in Türkiye visited Sweden from May 8-12 to study SALAR's and its member municipalities' work on refugee reception and social cohesion.
From left: Sümeyye Gedikouğlu, Merve Agça and Palle Lundberg.
The visit is part of Sweden's support for the Syrian crisis (financed through SIDA), and SALAR International is supporting Turkish municipalities to become more resilient in receiving refugees. The visit strengthens the partnership and promotes cooperation between the two countries. Through the Reslog project, SALAR International is providing capacity building and practical experience to Turkish municipalities to help them become more resilient in the reception of the 3.6 million refugees from Syria.
SALAR, SALAR International, and the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye have been partners for 17 years, which is SALAR International's longest partnership internationally. This type of international cooperation is important today, and it is becoming more and more important to learn from each other's experiences.
The two representatives were Sümeyye Gedikouğlu, the Migration and Cohesion Center Coordinator of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, and Merve Agça, an International Cooperation and Migration Expert from the Migration Policy Center of the Marmara Municipalities Union.
During the visit, the Turkish colleagues had the opportunity to share their experiences and learn from the Swedish municipalities, gaining practical insights into their work. This visit is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the partnership and foster greater understanding and cooperation between the two countries.
“We believe that global problems have local solutions and we, as partners, can support each other towards this goal," was a joint message from Sümeyye Gedikouğlu and Merve Agça when meeting their Swedish partners.