Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş, Chairman of the TBMM National Defense Commission and AK Party Kayseri Deputy Hulusi Akar, Chairman of the Felicity Party Mahmut Arıkan, MHP Deputy Chairman İsmail Özdemir, Kayseri Governor Gökmen Çiçek, Deputy Minister of Trade Volkan Ağar, Kayseri Deputies, TURKPATENT President Muhammed Zeki Durak, Kayseri’s Mayors and Chamber Presidents, many businesspeople and guests attended the ceremony.

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the importance of branding in his speech at the opening of the meeting. Hisarcıklıoğlu explained that Italy and France earn a billion dollar income from only one cheese brand.

Stating that there are 1745 registered products in Türkiye, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If mutual transactions are completed, the product registered here will be registered in the EU.”

In his statement on his social media account, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As TOBB and the Chamber-Exchange community, we are making great efforts for local and geographically marked products. Today, we witnessed an important ceremony that contributes to the cultural and economic richness of our country by registering the unique flavors of my hometown Kayseri. Our province has a total of 32 registered products. These products are now the common treasure not only of Kayseri but also of Türkiye. Kayseri Chamber of Commerce is carrying out good works in this regard. It has applied for geographical indication registration to the European Union for Kayseri Pastrami, Kayseri Sausage and Kayseri Dumplings. We made great efforts for Kayseri Pastrami. I hope we will receive the news that Kayseri Pastrami is registered in the EU as soon as possible. Geographical indications protect not only the origin of a product, but also the culture, labor, craftsmanship and story behind that product. I congratulate Ömer Gülsoy, President of Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, Mehmet Büyüksimitci, President of Kayseri Chamber of Industry, Recep Bağlamış, President of Kayseri Commodity Exchange, their Boards of Directors, Assemblies and our working brothers and sisters who protect this labor.”

- KTO President Gülsoy

Ömer Gülsoy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kayseri Chamber of Commerce (KTO), stated that Kayseri has 32 products registered with geographical indications and that they are happy to have 12 products certified in the last 4 years, and continued as follows:

“We were not satisfied with this, we started our initiatives to protect our local richness before the EU. Hopefully, Kayseri Pastrami will receive EU registration soon, we are waiting for the official gazette publication on this issue. We have also started the process for our sausage and dumpling and we hope that they will be registered in the EU soon.”

After the speeches and dinner, a ceremony was held for the presentation of documents for Kayseri’s geographically marked products.