Tabriz, Konya to ink sister city accord

Iran is planning to ink sisterhood declaration of the northwestern city of Tabriz with the Turkish city of Konya during Tabriz commemorating week ceremony.

A number of municipal officials and ambassadors of Germany, Poland, Gaza, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan will be invited to the ceremony.

While Iran and Turkey have many common beliefs in culture, the decision was made to boost the two nations’ artistic exchanges, tourism and cultural ties.

The municipalities of Turkish eastern province of Erzurum and Iranian city of Tabriz had earlier signed a protocol that made the two cities ‘sisters’.

Tabriz is the capital of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province and the second industrial city of Iran. The city is also known as Chocolate City of Iran.

As the fifth most populated city in Iran, Tabriz is famous and named as City of Firsts, City without Beggars, Cradle of Iran Investment and Iran’s healthiest City.

The city contains many historical monuments, but repeated devastating earthquakes and several invasions during frequent wars have substantially damaged many of them.

Many monuments in the city date back to the Ilkhanid, Safavid, and Qajar periods, such as Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2010.

The grand bazaar, situated in the middle of Tabriz, is one of the oldest bazaars in the Middle East and the largest covered bazaar in the world.

The monument was the first bazaar that the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Center selected as a valuable cultural heritage.

The oldest signs of the civilization in the city include an excavation site and museum in the city center with a history that dates back 2500 years.