Within the context of the Gastrodiplomacy event in Tunisia, Gaziantep dishes were presented to the taste of Tunisians.

Tunisian Ministry of Culture, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and representatives of the Arab League of Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (l'ALESCO), as well as employees from Turkish institutions operating in Tunisia and a large number of Tunisians, attended the event which was held in the capital Tunisia, with the contribution of Gaziantep University, Turkish National Agency, Yunus Emre Institute (YEI) Tunisian Representation, and Tunisian Embassy of Turkey on June 23rd, 2022.

Making a statement about the one-day event, Dean of Gaziantep University Faculty of Engineering Prof. Dr.  Mustafa Bayram said, "This organization, which we call gastrodiplomacy, is a special event. Gastronomy, which appeals to the five senses of man, has a distinctive diplomacy feature. Culinary culture is a good way to establish new relationships between countries or to do future business in a better way. In this regard, we brought the dishes of Gaziantep, Turkey's capital of flavor, which is among the UNESCO creative cities, here." said.

COLLABORATION OF EU AND TURKISH INSTITUTIONS

Stating that they organized the Gastrodiplomacy event with the support of many institutions from Turkey within the scope of the European Union (EU) Erasmus Program, Bayram continued his words as follows:

"As part of the Erasmus Project, we came here to carry out the first of a series of activities we were planning to do in Tunisia with the organization of the Turkish National Agency. With these events, we aim to develop the ongoing cooperation between Gaziantep University and universities in Tunisia and to create new partnerships.

Our activities include cooperation with different universities, exchange of students, academics, and scientists, and improving mobility in the field of education."

Expressing that the event was held with the support of the Yunus Emre Institute and the Turkish Embassy, Bayram said, "In our event, which is the first step for our activities in Tunisia, we aimed to bring the tastes of Gaziantep to Tunisia, to explain both the taste of our food and the gastronomy."

"OUR GAZIANTEP CUISINE IS A KITCHEN REGISTERED BY UNESCO"

Yunus Emre Institute Tunisia Coordinator Melih Yediyıldız, who hosted the event, said, "Our Yunus Emre Institute, which represents Turkey's cultural diplomacy and soft power, organizes this organization together with Gaziantep University. Our Gaziantep cuisine is a cuisine registered by UNESCO and we cooperated with Gaziantep University to promote Gaziantep cuisine, which is a big part of our culture, in Tunisia.  As Yunus Emre Institute, we continue to share Turkey's cultural heritage with the world."

Gaziantep University Culinary Arts Instructor Ceyhun Uçuk, who undertook the production of the meals served at the event, gave information about the meals served.

Noting that they prepare the outstanding flavors of Gaziantep cuisine for the guests, Uçuk continued his words as follows:

"Our gastrodiplomacy event is an important activity to get to know Tunisia's culture and promote our own culture. We contributed to such an event as we witnessed how strong the ties established through gastronomy in the world are.

At the event, we offered our guests a kind of appetizer muhammara, firik pilaf, dried dolma using dried vegetables in Oğuzeli, katmer, baklava, cacık, and malhıta meatballs."

uzeli’nde kurutulan sebzeleri kullandığımız kuru dolma, katmer, baklava, bahar cacığı ve malhıtalı köfte ikram ettik."

"AN ACTIVITY ORGANIZED UNDER THE ERASMUS PROGRAM"

Yunus Emre Institute Tunisia Coordinator Melih Yediyıldız, who hosted the event, said, "Our Yunus Emre Institute, which represents Turkey's cultural diplomacy and soft power, organizes this organization together with Gaziantep University.

İncetahtaci emphasized that they aimed to use the resources of the Erasmus Program in the best way, to which Turkey also contributes, and said, "While the Erasmus program was a program that we carried out only with EU member countries for many years, it expanded its network by working with non-EU members for a while. On this occasion, we started to establish contacts with many countries. As Gaziantep University, we are trying to evaluate these funding sources, to which our country also contributes, as a soft power."

Indicating that they organized this event because Gaziantep stands out with gastronomy, İncetahtacı said, "Tunisia is a very beautiful country where many universities that we value very much are also located. There is a great interest in Turkey, and taking this into account, we have implemented our Gastrodiplomacy project."

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