Olive harvesting has begun in Kilis.

In Kilis, one of the important production centers for olives, the harvest of olives, which are valued both as table olives and for oil, has begun.

In Kilis, which is one of Turkey’s centers for olive and olive oil production, the laborious journey of olives collected from centuries-old trees to becoming oil and reaching tables has started. With the first light of dawn, farmers, along with agricultural workers, are picking ripe olives one by one from ancient trees in the olive fields. Kilis Agricultural Engineers Chamber President Güven Özdemir stated that the harvest has begun in an area of 300 thousand decares with 4 million olive trees, saying, “In Kilis, where a 4,500-year-old olive seed was found during the excavations in Oylum Hüyük, the harvest has started. Kilis oil had won a gold medal in the International Olive Oil Competition held in Germany. The taste and aroma of Kilis olive oil stand out due to its high polyphenol content and low acidity compared to other oils, making it high quality. We expect 10 thousand tons of olive oil from the olives that have begun to be harvested across the city this season.”

Young entrepreneur Enes Kaplan, who has been producing olives for three generations and sending both oil and table products all over the world, stated, “We make our living from the fields inherited from our elders for three generations. With the support of our government, we both produce and transform it into oil, sending it all over the world. The gardens we harvest from have provided our livelihood for three generations. We take the olives we pick with agricultural workers from the first light of dawn to our factory and press them ourselves. We package the olive oil, which is pressed using traditional methods and awaits us at the final stage, and send it to the buyers.”