News Investigators/ Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mehmet Poroy, says the country has one of the world’s richest culinary traditions because Turkish foods have been enriched by traces of countless civilisations for centuries.
The envoy made this known during an interactive session with select diplomatic correspondents whom he hosted to a dinner on Saturday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was part of activities lined up to celebrate this year’s Turkish Cuisine Week in Türkiye and around the world.
The event is celebrated annually from May 21 to May 27 through various events across the world and in the country.
Mr Poroy explained that centuries of peoples’ migration from different cultures and races to Turkey had culminated in Turkey becoming a melting pot for all aspects of life, including culinary traditions.
According to him, through the annual Turkish Cuisine Week, Turkey has continued to share its rich ‘gastronomic culture’ with the rest of the world.
He said that this year’s celebration aimed to build intercultural bridges with a focus on the backbone of Turkish cuisine’s “Classic Dishes.”
Commenting on the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and Turkey, the ambassador disclosed that plan was underway to scale up the current trade volume to a target of 5 billion dollars.
He said the high number of travelers between the two countries with about 16 flights weekly required bolstering bilateral ties, and expanding visa centres to other big cities, apart from Abuja and Lagos.
NAN reports that Turkey’s Classic Dishes symbolise its cuisine’s traditional, healthy, and waste-free culinary heritage, which stand out as the shining gems of the cuisine, embodying natural rich flavors with unique preservation and cooking techniques.
Each dish reflects the traces of centuries-old traditions from Anatolia’s fertile soil and showcases the diversity of the Turkish cuisine and its universal value through their simplicity and natural flavors.
In Turkey, traditional dishes are far more than a collection of recipes, they are an intrinsic part of its culture, often bringing people together at the dinner table in a way that fosters connection and shared understanding.
They also offer a family-friendly start for those who want to get to know Turkish culture better as the basic recipes and products that shape the local cuisine of 81 provinces offer a colorful range of flavors in national celebrations.
The events at Turkey’s foreign missions reflect the warmth of the traditional Turkish hospitality, where different cultures come together at the tables and get to know each other without prejudice.
Dignitaries who attended the weeklong event, which began earlier in the week, included members of the Diplomatic Corps, comprising many foreign ambassadors to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
Also, some top officials of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs were in attendance.
The business community, including Mr Uche Osoka, Co-chair, Nigeria-Turkey Business Council, and Mr Tevfik Demirel, Head of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association’s Nigeria branch, among others, also graced the event.
NAN
