Turkish officials sit down with Mayor Kip Holden

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Mayor Kip Holden has been making more friends across the globe and keeping Baton Rouge on the international scene. A delegation of Turkish officials sat down with the Mayor here on Friday.

Last June Holden traveled to Turkey to initiate business relations and sign a sister city agreement with the city of Malatya. Both cities are working toward a consistent business relationship.

"We want to create educational, cultural and economic and business relationships between the city of Malatya and Baton Rouge," said Mehmet Sahin, Deputy for Malatya, Turkey. "And we want to promote more relations for both cities."

"To have my friends come here and express the confidence in what we're doing," Mayor Holden said. "To see their interest and make sure we forge ahead in a new economic direction speaks highly for who they are and what they are about in regards to improving the equality of life everywhere."

Turkish officials will be back in April for the International Festival and they have invited the mayor to one of their big festivals this summer.

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