Beim Samsun Mübadil Yemekleri Şenliği wurden 80 Gerichte zur Auswahl angeboten.

In the context of the Turkish Cuisine Week in the district of Bafra in Samsun, a “Samsun Exchange Food Festival” was organized on the 100th anniversary of the exchange. A total of 80 types of dishes were exhibited at the event attended by many citizens in Sürmeli Neighborhood. President of the Bafra Balkan Turks Association, Süleyman Özata, stated in his speech, “Under the presidency of our federation, 130 villages in Samsun were scanned, and today you will see 80 of our 103 dishes. When all of Samsun is scanned, there will be over 400 dishes. We are not inferior to Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, and Adana.” Samsun Rumeli Associations President Salih Meriç, Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Cemal Almaz, Mayor Hamit Kılıç, and AK Party Member of Parliament Orhan Kırcalı delivered welcoming speeches, followed by a speech from Bafra District Governor Cevdet Ertürkmen, who stated, “Turks settled in newly conquered territories during the Ottoman Empire era have been named as the sons of conquerors throughout history. The greatest signs of Turkish presence in the Balkans are these. Approximately 500,000 Turks emigrated in accordance with the exchange provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne and were resettled in many provinces of our country. For this reason, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said that the exchangers are ‘the precious memories of lost lands.’ As a gastronomy team, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the exchange, we included them in the Turkish Cuisine Week, and as a district governor who holds an important place in Turkish history, we visited all districts of Samsun, from Vezirköprü to Çarşamba and Terme. The reason for our visits was that everything belongs to the lands where it was born. If you separate them from those lands, just like a flower, gastronomic values also wither. Therefore, we revealed our discovery trips, prepared our action plans. One of these action plans was to present the Samsun exchange dishes on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the exchange. In our district of Bafra, as well as in our central neighborhood, there are 4 external neighborhoods where our exchangers live. We talked to these people, became familiar with them, listened to them. Their beautiful works inspired us. If a tree has roots, nations also have history. If a person has a soul, people also have cultures. Culture is the soul of a civilization. It elevates a nation. It gives it personality and character. Therefore, since we also see the exchangers as the sons of conquerors, we wanted to see them in the Turkish Cuisine Week that we celebrated between May 21-27. They added value to us, we learned a lot from them. I know that Samsun has many gastronomic values. As of yesterday, Samsun Bafra pita was selected as one of the top 10 quality breads in the world. We also have our Samsun pitas. We do not discriminate. I believe in Samsun’s gastronomic power, I think it is very strong. Because as a brother who has visited 17 districts and traveled 2,000 kilometers, I wholeheartedly believe in these values of Samsun.” Following the speeches, the event continued with a performance by the Bafra Balkan Turks Folk Dance team, and the guests danced on the track to Rumeli tunes. The event ended with the serving of the prepared dishes. The citizens who attended the event found the dishes very delicious and expressed their desire for such events to continue. Dean of Bafra Tourism Faculty, Prof. Dr. Yetkin Bulut, stated, “We visited 17 districts, but this place was the most important. In terms of exchange dishes and other varieties, it is extremely important. There are edible 1,800 herbs in Samsun, and a large inventory of this is in Bafra. Therefore, it is a very rich region in terms of herb dishes. Nokul and pita are products with geographical indications. Therefore, actually, when a tourist comes to Bafra, they can spend only 2 days with gastronomy. It will become an extremely important place for this reason.”