US mayor dedicates day to Turkish city
Radikal.com.tr
Kahramanmaraş Mayor Poyraz (L) presents gifts to Jackson Mayor Johnson. AA photo
Harvey Johnson, the mayor of Mississippi’s capital, Jackson, has dedicated Feb. 20 to the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş, daily Radikal reported today.Jackson is hosting the "Turkey-Azerbaijan-Mississippi Work Forum" attended by Kahramanmaraş Mayor Mustafa Poyraz, Turkish state officials, businessmen and dignitaries.
Johnson said Jackson and Kahramanmaraş were officially sister cities and added that he paid a visit last year to the Turkish city, where he said he admired the locals and the hospitality he received.
"People of Mississippi are known to be hospitable," Johnson said. "But those who have been to Turkey know that the place famous for its hospitality is Turkey."
Johnson said officials of sister cities usually did not interact very much but Poyraz came to Jackson to return last year's visit, which showed the close ties between the two cities.
"I wanted to make a nice gesture to mark the day that Poyraz paid a visit, so I declared Feb. 20 as 'Kahramanmaraş Day,'" Johnson said.
Johnson presented Poyraz with a symbolic key to the city of Jackson while Poyraz gave him an engraved copper tray from Kahramanmaraş.
Poyraz said both he and Johnson were open-hearted people and that that was the source of their close relations.
