RECONCILIATION STARTS WITH CHEESE IN CAUCASUS
Turkish Daily News
May 26 2008
In an effort to contribute to reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia, a business group from both countries has taken the initiative
to launch cooperation between Turkish and Armenian cheese producers.
Under the label of "Caucasian cheese," the yellow slab symbolizes
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia and the entire Caucasus
region, according to an article by British-based magazine The
Economist.
The idea of a regional "peace" cheese met suspicion when mooted a year
ago, said Alin Ozinian of the Turkish Armenian Business Development
Council. Georgia and Azerbaijan are also involved in the project.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 to protest the Armenian
forces’ occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South
Caucasus, a de facto independent republic that is officially part
of Azerbaijan.
"We didn’t know how the authorities would react," said Zeki Aydın,
a Turkish cheese producer, who made the 10-hour-long trip from Kars
to Gumru via Georgia. "We want our borders to be reopened, and we
want good neighbourly ties, so we took a chance," said Ilhan Koculu,
a fellow cheese maker.
Vefa Ferejova, an Azeri campaigning to bury the hatchet with Armenia,
was also there. "We are told to hate Armenians: I will not,"
Ferejova said.
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