Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris said that his city launched initiatives to build a mosque. Nearly 5,000 Muslims are living in Thessaloniki.
Boutaris visited Mayor Aziz Kocaoglu of Turkey’s Aegean province of Izmir, and the two mayors decided to conclude the initiative which had been previously launched to declare Izmir and Thessaloniki as sister cities.
Kocaoglu wished that the required protocol for being sister cities would be signed as soon as possible. He said that the relations between Izmir and Thessaloniki would have a positive impact not only on Turkish-Greek relations but also on the relations in Balkans and the Mediterranean.
Boutaris said that Turks and Greeks were brothers, and relations between the two countries should be developed in every area. Boutaris said that Thessaloniki was the Greek city that was home to the highest number of Ottoman artifacts.