A Melungeon HomePage: Sister Cities Receive Diversity Award

"Submitted by Scott Pippin

June 18, 1997

News Release

SISTER CITY AWARD FOR TOWN OF WISE

The sister cities of Wise, Virginia and Cesme, Turkey have been selected to receive the Diverse Community Award at the 35th Annual Awards Program of Sister City International's Annual Conference in San Diego, California on August 2.

The Diverse Community Award 'distinguishes sister city programs that best promote international understanding and long-term partnerships through community activities (performing and graphic arts, history, sports, cross-cultural education, etc.) which involve participants that reflect the diversity of the community (e.g. participants of different ages, ethnicities, races, socioeconomic backgrounds and participants with disabilities.)'
Wise and Cesme became sister cities in mid-1995. At the 1995 Wise Fall Fling, Mustaffa Siyahhan, Director of Tourism of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, visited Wise to commemorate the growing relationship between Wise and Cesme.

Interest in forming the sister city relationship sprang partly from the work of Clinch Valley College professor Brent Kennedy, whose research indicates that Turks, Portuguese, and other people of Mediterranean descent played a major role in originally populating the mountains of Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee, and western North Carolina.

Since the sister city relationship was forged, over 200 Turks have visited Wise, many as part of the 1996 Fall Fling. Their visit to the Fall Fling brought local, regional, and national media coverage to the Town. In March 1996, Wise Mayor Caynor Smith and other local residents visited Turkey as part of a Melungeon heritage tour. "