The mayor of Peristeri, Andreas Pachaturidis, was welcomed today by the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglou, at his office in Emirgan Park, in Bosphorus.

The two mayors referred to the prospects of cooperation between Istanbul and Peristeri in the fields of the climate crisis, technology and dealing with everyday life, with the aim of exchanging best practices and solutions.

Ekrem Imamoglou described Andreas Pakhaturidis as an emblematic mayor and, due to his experience, a big self-governing brother, stating that he was looking forward to their meeting. In fact, he asked to know more about the social actions of the municipality of Peristeri for families with low incomes.

Mr. Pachatouridis thanked Mr. Imamoglou for the practical support he gives to the Greek Orthodox community and praised his work in a city with a larger population than 131 countries worldwide, a world capital, crossroads of cultures, religions and traditions. She even told him characteristically: “You are the mayor of an emblematic city, and the only party you report to is every citizen of your city, no one else.”

At the same time, he invited Mr. Imamoglou to the anniversary celebrations for the 90 years of Peristeri as an autonomous municipality.

Fatefully, the discussion also turned to the upcoming municipal elections in Turkey, after a month, with Mr. Imamoglu having as his opponent the president-elect, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the former Minister of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey, Murat Kurum.

After the meeting, the two mayors proceeded to the ceremonial exchange of gifts.

Yesterday, Andreas Pachaturidis and the Metropolitan of Peristeri Mr. Grigorios, accompanied by a delegation from the municipality, visited the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew in Fanari, in order to invite him to the celebration of the 90th anniversary of their city.

After the meeting, Mr. Pachaturidis thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch for the warm welcome and acceptance of their invitation to visit Peristeri – a visit which he said will take place in April. He also referred to the history of his city, which was born as the municipality of Peristeri ninety years ago, from the refugee settlement of Evangelistria.

With warm words he addressed the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Metropolitan of Peristeri Mr. Grigorios and spoke about the purpose of their visit to Fanari.