On March 17, 2021, Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Republic of Turkey Kubanychbek Omuraliev met with Mayor of Hatay Lutfu Savas.

Mayor Lutfu Savas invited Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev to participate in the opening of a park of Turkic-speaking peoples in Hatay, in which a portrait of the writer Chyngyz Aitmatov will also be installed, along with other prominent representatives of the Turkic-speaking world. Also Mr. Mayor expressed a request for the participation of Kyrgyz municipalities in the botanical exhibition EXPO 2021 Hatay in December 2021. On the territory of the exhibition it is planned to create the "Garden of Civilizations", including the "Turkic Garden", where the pavilions of all Turkic-speaking states would be presented.

With the purpose of interregional cooperation in various fields and the establishment of twinning relations between Hatay and one of the cities of Kyrgyzstan, which could also take part in the EXPO 2021 Hatay exhibition, Mr. Ambassador invited Mr. Mayor to visit Kyrgyzstan with a group of Hatay’s businessmen. Mayor Savash expressed a desire to visit Kyrgyzstan this summer.

For reference: Hatay (historically called Antakya) is the administrative center of the province of the same name in southern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering with Syria. The population of the province is about 1.6 million people. Iskenderun port in Hatay is one of the largest ports in Turkey. The production of cereals, legumes, olives, citrus fruits, vegetables, fruits, fertilizers, animal husbandry and fishing are well developed. In 2012, UNESCO awarded Hatay the title of "City of Gastronomy" (this status is given to the city of Popayan in Colombia, Chengdu in China and Ostersund in Sweden).