Bakan Yumaklı, “Çarşı Melikgazi, Ahilik kültürünü bizlere tekrar hatırlatmış olacak”

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of Çarşı Melikgazi, a project implemented by Melikgazi Municipality, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı said, “From Kayseri, a city in Anatolia renowned for its commercial acumen and hard work, we will send a message to all of Türkiye today. That message is: I wish this project, implemented by Melikgazi Municipality – which we admire somewhat – a project that aims to bring producers and consumers together, to be refined, and to provide the best service to its citizens, to be auspicious. This place will also remind us of a very important teaching of the Ahi culture, which we have forgotten but must remember again. I believe that this concept will spread throughout Türkiye, starting from here.” The Çarşı Melikgazi, implemented by Melikgazi Municipality, was officially opened with a ceremony. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated that Çarşı Melikgazi would remind people of the Ahi culture once again. Minister Yumaklı emphasized his belief that the Melikgazi Bazaar concept would spread to other cities in Turkey, stating, “From Kayseri, a city renowned for its commercial acumen and hard work, we will send a message to all of Türkiye today. That message is: I wish this project, implemented by our Melikgazi Municipality, which we admire somewhat, and which aims to bring producers and consumers together in a refined manner and provide the best service to its citizens, to be auspicious and successful. I hope it will serve as an example in services aimed at this purpose, and I hope it will. Today, we didn't just open the doors of a bazaar; we saw our producers, tradespeople, local brands, and women's cooperatives, who truly excel at everything they undertake, bringing it to a beautiful conclusion. Hopefully, this exemplary visionary project will spread from Kayseri throughout our country. While it's described as a bazaar bringing together local producers and businesses, it's far superior to similar examples in Europe.” This is a matter that shows us the result. As the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, we support such projects, and I want to express this. Not only here, of course, but throughout Turkey, as a ministry responsible for our country's food, we have always been and will continue to be by the side of our producers, who are the guarantee of our bread and our products on our tables. I want to state that all our producers, especially our young brothers and sisters and women entrepreneurs, who have ideas and thoughts about technology, restructuring, increasing production capabilities and capacity, and producing high-quality and efficient products, have all the incentives and support of our ministry at their service. All the institutions of our ministry are at your disposal. This place will also remind us of a very important teaching of the Ahi culture, which we have forgotten but must remember again. I believe that this concept will spread throughout Türkiye starting from here. On this occasion, I wholeheartedly thank everyone who contributed to bringing this work into service.” (The sentence is incomplete and ends abruptly.) Kayseri Governor Gökmen Çiçek, in his speech, stated that during the period when İbrahim Yumaklı was the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Kayseri rose from 12th to 5th place in plant production, saying, “During our ministry's term, Kayseri rose from 12th to 5th place in plant production. Kayseri tripled its agricultural exports. It entered the top 10 in livestock farming. Therefore, with the support you provided for the agricultural greenhouse OTB, the infrastructure tender has been completed, and our heating tender is nearing completion. You have provided exceptional support to Kayseri in every part of the city. We wish the Çarşı and Melikgazi projects good luck and offer our respects.” Melikgazi Mayor Mustafa Palancıoğlu stated that the aim of Çarşı Melikgazi is to support local and handcrafted products, saying, “Hopefully, every guest who comes to Kayseri will have the opportunity to see local products here. Therefore, as Melikgazi Municipality, we are opening shops here to support local products and handcrafted goods. We will buy all the products here, from cream to butter, directly from the producers, handle the accounting and other processes, and then sell them. Therefore, I believe we will represent Kayseri in the best way here.”