THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Professor Dr. Hüdayi Ercoşkun, a faculty member at the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts at Artvin Çoruh University, announced that yogurt is a cornerstone not only of our tables but also of our history, language and cultural identity, saying, “Yogurt is Turkish, and it will remain Turkish.”
Yogurt has been known as a Turkish product for centuries. Although some countries attempt to portray it as their own, even written sources reveal that yogurt is a Turkish product. Ercoşkun stated that the word yogurt has Turkish origins and appears in the oldest written Turkish sources.
Pointing out that the word “yogurt” appears explicitly in Kashgarli Mahmud’s work, Divanü Lügati’t-Türk, written in 1072, Dr. Ercoşkun said, “This record clearly demonstrates that yogurt has been consumed by the Turkish people for at least a thousand years and that its name is Turkish.”
Dr. Ercoşkun also emphasized that yogurt means kneaded and thickened and noted that Turks are the discoverers of not only yogurt but also different fermented milk products.
“Yogurt is our cultural DNA. Our ancestors learned to ferment milk not only to preserve it but also to make it more beneficial and potent. This knowledge and methods have been passed down from generation to generation. The yogurt on our tables today is the continuation of a thousand-year-old heritage. Yogurt is not just a food; it is also a matter of identity,” Dr. Ercoşkun concluded…
