Şahin met with the press representatives for Gastroantep.

A press conference was held for the GastroAntep Cultural Path Festival organized in collaboration with Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

With its unique cuisine and culture, the Gaziantep city is once again stepping onto the world stage with GastroAntep. The heart of gastronomy will beat in Gaziantep with the participation of world-renowned award-winning chefs, gastronomy writers, and industry representatives. During the GastroAntep Cultural Path Festival, which will be held between September 14-22, the press was informed about the events, the festival’s contribution to the city, this year’s features, and the program at a meeting held at the 25 December Panorama Museum Conference Hall.

Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin, Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber, and AK Party Gaziantep Deputy İrfan Çelikaslan attended the meeting.

At the press conference for the GastroAntep Cultural Path Festival, Mayor Fatma Şahin presented ‘Safe and Resilient City Gaziantep’, discussing the investments made and to be made regarding population growth, water management, and food safety, and emphasized the importance of these investments. Providing information about the safe city model, Şahin diversified her presentation with topics and examples. She touched upon Gaziantep’s place in the world of gastronomy, the promotion and significance of Gaziantep cuisine values, and the work in geographical indications.

“Culture is the essence of civilization”

In her speech at the meeting, Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin stated that GastroAntep has developed and grown, and the size of the festival will become apparent, saying, “In a period where a person’s life and property are entrusted to us, we see how important culture is. Culture is also the essence of civilization. The table we create is the final product. However, before we started GastroAntep, what did we say? We said flavors coming from the sun, nature, and history. We included it in the cultural path. You will see very clearly what it means to be part of the cultural path from tomorrow’s greatness and expansion. Now, Gaziantep, which competes with Rome and Naples, has another word to say to the world with the places for panels, concert venues, and workshops separated. That is why we call our theme for this period gastro-economy,” she said.

“Gastro-economy is family economy”

Explaining in detail what gastro-economy is, Mayor Şahin said, “Gastro-economy is family economy; it is the ability of a woman working in women’s cooperatives to provide her child’s scholarship without needing anyone. It is the intergenerational transition from grandfather to grandchild. It is the transition from oral history to written history, which has been turned into 85 books by Culture Inc. At this point, dear participants, we deliberately say that the second headline in gastro-economy is the permeability from which everyone can learn, one of the most beautiful treasures of the Ottoman, Seljuk, and Roman periods. Gastro-botany and the accompanying gastro-health signal a new beginning for us.”

After the presentation about GastroAntep, Mayor Fatma Şahin answered questions from the press after the presentation and information.