Sahin: “Gaziantep is the lever and destination of the region.”

Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Sahin emphasized in her speech at the opening program of the GastroANTEP Cultural Route Festival that the city is a lever and destination for the region, conveying the importance of regional development alongside all cities in the area.

At the GastroANTEP Cultural Route Festival, organized in collaboration with the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the opening speeches highlighted the significance of the festival for the city and the region while also pointing out the current status of gastronomy in the world.

To introduce the local flavors of the Gazi city, which come from the sun, soil, and history, the festival, which took place from September 14 to 22, moved to the Festivals Park, the heart of GastroANTEP, after a parade. Events began with opening speeches following a performance by children.

During the first two days of the festival, panels and discussions will be held under the theme “Economy is Discussed at the GastroANTEP Festival,” and workshops will guide important chefs from Turkey and around the world in creating vegan, vegetarian, and healing products with Gaziantep’s foods. Additionally, approximately 500 cultural and artistic events will be held at around fifty locations throughout the festival, bringing together nearly a thousand artists with art lovers. In this citywide festival, 21 different points were designated as the festival’s taste stops based on certain criteria.

“The festival has abundance, brotherhood, love, and affection”

In her opening speeches, Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Sahin thanked everyone who came to the festival, stating, “Our city has a festival. In the festival, there is abundance, brotherhood, love, and affection. There is a spirit of unity in the festival and the beauty you see today. Our city has a festival. There is a very important beginning combined with the Cultural Route by our Minister of Culture and Tourism. That is why I thank everyone who did not leave us alone, everyone who says, ‘I also have something to say, a word to share’ for the festival, for culture, and for art. As the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality, I thank you for sharing this excitement under this roof, for always standing behind us like a mountain, for reviving the abundance in the eyes of the tradesmen, and for increasing the hopes of our farmers. You are here to initiate a festival where the products from women’s cooperatives bring healing to the whole world.”

“Here, there is the Gaziantep spirit that resists hunger with the seed of the apricot”

Continuing her speech, Mayor Fatma Sahin pointed out that today is Mevlid Kandili, conveying that the city is the heir of a civilization and the wisdom of a state that has existed for thousands of years. “While our prayers are being read in our mosques, the values that make us who we are, the values that carry us into the future, are here. We need a stance that says ‘I did business with my neighbor next to me’ around our castle, fed by the Ahi Evran culture in our Copper Bazaar. The world needs healing. Culture and art heal. The world needs the understanding that ‘Let the human live so that the state may live.’ 22 years ago, when we established our party under the leadership of our President, we said, ‘First the human, let the human live so that the state may live.’ To teach this to our children, we have the stance of Gaziantep, which was shown as an example by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to all other provinces, and here, there is the Gaziantep spirit that resists hunger with the seed of the apricot and stands as the capital of the world’s flavors.”

“In the new era, we will make this city a smart, resilient city”

In the last part of her speech, emphasizing Gaziantep’s importance for the region, she said, “We are the lever and destination of the region. When we look at this place, there is a chorus of civilizations. Everyone finds themselves. There is so much work to be done in Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, and Mardin, from faith tourism to nature tourism. In the new era, we will make this city a smart city and a resilient one. We will make this region the capital of nature tourism, faith tourism, congress tourism, and health tourism. We are competing with the Italians. We have more than enough, and we lack nothing. We are competing with Spain’s San Sebastian, Italy’s Rome, and Naples. We will unite our strength in the region. We will be robust, we will be alive, and together we will transform the Gaziantep spirit into the spirit of the world, saying ‘Our city has a festival, we welcome everyone to Gaziantep.’ I greet you all.”

Speaking at the program, AK Party Group Deputy Chairman and AK Party Gaziantep Deputy Abdulhamit Gül stated, “The festival is a very important opportunity to unite people, friends, and hearts. There is a unity that comes from the table. Gaziantep’s characteristic is that we all sit at the same table regardless of language or religion. We appreciate the success of the festival that our Mayor Fatma Sahin continues to build upon each year.”

Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber also provided information about Gaziantep’s other features aside from its gastronomy, saying, “When I came to Gaziantep a year ago, I thought I knew the city. But when I arrived, I realized that I only knew the visible part of the iceberg. It is a very special city, with very special lands, cultures, and history. Whatever the subject, this city has something to say. Gastronomy has come to the forefront, but this city has a voice to speak on every subject.”

During the program, Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu also gave a speech.