Hellim issue discussed
at President’s office
The ongoing efforts of the Greek Cypriot Administration to register hellim or halloumi as a protected designation of origin (PDO) for Cyprus were brought to the President’s agenda today.
President Derviş Eroğlu recieved a delegation from the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry (CTCI) led by the chamber president Ali Çıralı.
The CTCI President who conveyed the chamber’s sensitivies on the issue said they wanted to discuss what could be done on the issue.
Reminding that hellim or halloumi was a product of a joint culture of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, Çıralı said that hellim was an important product for North Cyprus.
Stating that hellim production was a source of income for 17% of the Turkish Cypriot economy, the chamber president said that hellim exports had earned the TRNC economy over 30 million USD last year, making up a quarter of total exports.
“The Greek Cypriot government first registered the traditional cheese in South Cyprus under both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot name. They later applied to the European Union for registration. Once they succeed this registration will become international. If we fail to become part of this process then our producers will not be able to use the name hellim or halloumi when exporting our products abroad. This will end our hellim export” he warned.
For his part, President Derviş Eroğlu said that he too shared the chamber’s sensitivities on the issue.
He said that his undersecretary Hasan Güngör was in charge of the work being carried out on this issue.
Pointing out that the Greek Cypriot Side continued to be persistant on the matter, Eroğlu said that efforts to prove the Turkish Cypriot Side’s case at the European Union was continuing.
“We see that the Greek Cypriots are persistant on this issue. Now there has been a change in the EU leadership. Once again we have to prove our case to the EU. We are trying to explain to Brussels that this is a joint product of both peoples on the island, that awarding the registration to just one side will create economic difficulties and complications” he said.
Source: BRT World News – read more news by clicking here!
