1 March 2021 – (L-R) Philippine Consul General Arvin R. de Leon and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu mark their first meeting with a photo in the IBB city hall on 26 Febraury 2021.

1 March 2021 – Representing the latest addition to Istanbul’s 75 foreign representations, the Philippines’ first career Consul General Mr. Arvin de Leon paid a courtesy call on Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu on 26 February 2021, marking the formal establishment of ties with Turkey’s biggest city.

Consul General de Leon stressed the Philippines’ recognition of Istanbul as an international trading center as well as a cultural and tourism hub. He underscored how Philippine key cities, under the emergent concept of city diplomacy, could closely collaborate with İstanbul and learn from its advances in the fields of commerce, transportation, tourism, culture, to name a few. Mayor Imamoğlu expressed his appreciation for having an official Philippine Government presence in the city. He stated that most cities face the same issues and problems, adding that cities can engage in practical dialogue to explore ways on how to deal with common challenges.

Mayor Imamoğlu expressed the Municipality’s readiness to support the Philippine Consulate General and its continuing efforts to establish its presence in the city. He also acknowledged the growing Filipino community in Istanbul and offered his city government’s assistance on how the members can avail themselves of local services, notably mentioning the presence of Filipino students in Istanbul’s universities. Consul General de Leon informed Mayor Imamoğlu that Istanbul hosts approximately 60 percent of the roughly 3,000 Filipino population in Turkey, highlighting that at least two of the Filipino associations based in Istanbul have registered with the Turkish association registry.

The meeting is among the first of many linkages to be established by the Philippine Consulate General in Istanbul in its nascent years. END.