Duhok inks ‘sister city’ deal with Gainesville, Florida

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Duhok and the city of Gainesville in the US state of Florida signed a cultural partnership on Monday to mark ties between the two cities.

In a virtual conference attended by Duhok governor Ali Tatar and Gainesville mayor Lauren Poe, the two cities established a ‘sister city’ relationship to col laborate in the “education, economics, and cultural,” sectors, the agreement states.

The cities share common interests in “economic development, healthcare, sustainable reconstructions, and municipal construction,” according to the deal.

Duhok is the capital of the province of the same name, located in the northern part of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, along with Erbil, Sulaimani, and Halabja.

“The cities share a common interest in economic development, healthcare, sustainability, education, business and the desire to promote mutual understanding among its citizens,” the American municipality’s website states.

In September, the US Consul General in the Kurdistan Region, Rob Waller, proposed to Erbil’s late governor Firsat Sofi that the capital link up with Nashville, Tennessee, an American city with a large Kurdish community.

Read More: US proposes that Erbil, Nashville become sister cities

The partnership between Duhok and Gainesville is within the framework of the Sister City Program of Gainesville – a not-for-profit Florida organization that administers the city’s nine Sister City relationships.

The program, part of Sister Cities International, was founded in 1956 under former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enhance “greater friendship and understanding” between the United States and other nations.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly