First Lady Emine Erdoğan attended the “Meeting Point of Centuries-old Delights: Turkish Cuisine in Seven Regions” event, held at the Presidential Complex on the occasion of the Turkish Cuisine Week.
Praising the fertile lands of Anatolia, First Lady Erdoğan said: “Anatolia is the knowledge bank of humanity, civilization and cultural development. It is the place of ancestral seeds, the first of which fell into the soil tens of thousands of years ago. It is the land of ancient recipes that have been cooked with the same formulas under the same sky for thousands of years and continue to be cooked with the same recipes today.”
“WE MUST PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL RECIPES OF LOCAL CUISINES”
Stating that the ancestral culinary treasure was born with the blending of thousands of years of traditions from past civilizations with the rich imperial tradition of the Anatolian Seljuks and the Ottomans, First Lady Erdoğan said: “The idea of human-centered civilization, reinforced by centuries, has also shaped our national character by being processed in the Turkish cuisine. Our tables, which unite our hearts as well as our bodies, have nourished our spirit of solidarity and sharing. From birth to death, from joy to sorrow, many of our special moments have been crowned with the diversity and unifying power of these tables.”
“Against the cultural wasteland created by globalization, we must preserve the original recipes of local cuisines. As our local productions succumb to global food systems, not only are authentic cultures being eroded, but eating and drinking is turning into a pleasure-oriented, useless consumption and we are gradually losing our health,” First Lady Erdoğan said.
“THE ATROCITIES IN PALESTINE ALSO INVOLVE A CULTURAL MASSACRE”
Pointing to the Israeli attacks in Palestine, First Lady Erdoğan said: “I would like to remind you that the atrocities in Palestine also involve a cultural massacre, and that a nation is being destroyed in every aspect, from its clothes to its food, from its historical buildings to its natural beauties. Even though Israel is openly trying to steal Palestine's culture, history and cuisine, as in the story of the crow who takes the feathers of a peacock and tries to stick them on, we will continue to shout out the truth.”
First Lady Erdoğan also expressed her wish that all people can gather around the same table in peace and tranquility, preserving their differences.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun, ambassadors and their spouses, faculty members and students in the field of gastronomy attended the event.
