About Friends of Merzifon

 
A Pleasant Hill Sister City Organization
 
The summer of 2000, the Mayors of Pleasant Hill and Merzifon signed the following Memorandum of Understanding:

Wishing to promote friendship and goodwill between our two cities and our two nations, and

Wishing to establish cooperation and contact in the fields of science, education, culture, health, sports, and tourism,

The cities of Pleasant Hill, California, USA, and Merzifon, Amasya, Turkey, agree to the following:

1. To support and encourage mutual visits by the citizens of both cities.
2. To support establishing friendship affiliations between schools and organizations of both cities.
3. To promote cultural exchanges in the areas of art, music, the performing arts, and others.
4. To encourage exchanges in academics and education by working with local high schools.
5. To develop a mutual understanding of the citizens of both cities by exchanging various information and material.
6. To encourage official visits between representatives from each community, the representatives to include, but not be limited to, civic leaders, religious leaders, business leaders, school officials, and government officials.

The Sister Cities program was officially launched in 1956 with President Eisenhower's People-to-People diplomacy initiative.  It is a national, nonprofit, volunteer membership organization involving the sister cities programs of more than 1100 US cities and their 2000 partners in over 120 countries worldwide.

A sister city program (ours is called Friends of Merzifon) is one of the most important and rewarding organizations a community can have.  A sister city program is a community's international salutation.  Sister city partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational, and cultural exchange or project.  Basically, anything that goes on in a community can become (and has, in one city or another) the subject of a sister city project.

A sister city program helps the citizens of both sister communities become directly involved in international relations in unique and rewarding exchanges which benefit everyone.  Hundreds of US communities of all sizes have discovered the rewards of participating in an international program where each and every member can and does realize deep personal satisfaction.  

At the foundation of every successful sister cities partnership lies a strong local program with volunteers who are willing to commit time, talent, and resources to develop a long-term relationship with their counterparts abroad.  Please consider joining Friends of Merzifon in order that your involvement may enrich our world, our nation, our community, our children, and, especially, ourselves.