Cooperation opportunities between Turkiye–Ukraine local governments: The case of Samsun-Odesa

The roles, duties and functions of local governments are increasing and diversifying at the present time compared to the past. Municipalities can overcome these difficulties by developing cooperation with municipalities either at the national level or internationally to the extent permitted by law. It is ensured that countries get to know each other, good practice examples are realized in their own municipalities, they can voice their local problems which are moving towards globalization, on international platforms etc. through international cooperation between municipalities. The subject of this research is the relations of the local governments in Turkiye with the municipalities in Ukraine, especially by using the city diplomacy of the municipalities, and the institutional, cultural, social, technological, ecological, economic etc. cooperations they have established with them. The other sub-titles that constitute the subject of this study are why municipalities need these cooperations, how effectively and efficiently the established collaborations work and what can be done to make these collaborations more efficient. The study aims to move the cooperation between local governments beyond the implementation of sister cities and to reveal an effective and efficient new local government model that will increase the international cooperation of municipalities. In line with the qualitative research method, semi-structured questions were asked face to face and via e-mail to experts and officials in charge of the external relations unit of Ankara, Istanbul, Gaziantep, Antalya, Samsun, and Kemer Municipalities. Thus, detailed information was obtained about the international cooperation processes between municipalities. With the findings obtained as a content analysis, an effective and efficient cooperation model was created between Samsun and Odesa Municipalities. Key Words: Local Governments, International Cooperation Between Municipalities, Ukraine, City Diplomacy, Turkiye