Baku, May 24, AZERTAC

A series of events are being organized in several countries in Europe and Africa as part of Turkish Cuisine Week to introduce and promote Turkish cuisine, according to Anadolu Agency.

The annual gastronomic event is being held for the second time under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency and with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry from May 21-27.

Turkish Cuisine Week, which features presentations by the country’s leading chefs, is hosting various events abroad, including in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, where Türkiye’s award-winning chef Yunus Emre Akkor prepared dishes from the 11 Turkish provinces hit by devastating earthquakes on Feb. 6.

The culinary event aims to draw attention to Turkish cuisine from a waste-free, ecological and sustainable perspective.

Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan in a tweet on Monday hailed the special week, saying: "The gate that opens to a country's cuisine also opens to a geography, civilization, ecology, tradition, mores and belief."

Türkiye's ambassador to Croatia, Yavuz Selim Kiran, hailed Turkish cuisine for its varieties, which he said is "enriched with the interaction of different civilizations and cultures through centuries."

"Our quake-hit cities are well-known for their cuisine," Kiran told the event in Zagreb. "Today's menu contains special dishes from Hatay and 10 other quake-hit cities."

An event was also held at NATO headquarters in Brussels hosted by Türkiye's Permanent representative to the military alliance, Levent Gumrukcu.

Representatives of other member states, diplomats and military and civilian staff of NATO participated in the event.

"When it comes to Turkish cuisine, I do not think I need to be modest," Gumrukcu said.

Turkish cuisine was also introduced at the Paris headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in the Hungarian capital Budapest, and at Sweden's Orebro University.

The event in Paris, which was hosted by Türkiye's Permanent Representative to the OECD, Kerem Alkin, was attended by Türkiye's Ambassador to France, Ali Onaner, International Energy Agency (IEA) President Fatih Birol and OECD Deputy Secretary-General Yoshiki Takeuchi as well as various countries' permanent representatives to the OECD.

Hungarian officials were also among the attendees at the two events in Budapest as well as Turkish representatives.

Swedish master chef Ayla Canpunar, who is of Turkish origin and finished second in the 2021 MasterChef Sweden competition, introduced Turkish cuisine at an event that was held at Sweden’s Orebro University.

Turkish cuisine was also promoted in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.

Türkiye's ambassador to Burkina Faso, Nilgun Erdem Ari, held a dinner for many guests including the West African country’s Foreign Minister, Olivia Rouamba.

Türkiye's ambassador to Egypt, Salih Mutlu Sen, told Anadolu: "Organizing an event to promote Turkish cuisine in Egypt can also be considered as an important contribution to the close ties between the two brotherly countries."

Turkish ambassador to Nigeria Hidayet Bayraktar hosted guests at a hotel in the capital Abuja to introduce Turkish cuisine.