TİKA Supports Women’s Empowerment in the TRNC

The “Dipkarpaz Artisan Kitchen”, established in Dipkarpaz in cooperation between Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Cyprus Turkish Entrepreneurial Women’s Association (GİKAD), was put into service on March 8, International Women’s Day.

As part of the project developed by TİKA to help women become more visible in society, empower themselves economically and stand on their own, the “Dipkarpaz Artisan Kitchen”, which will enable women to produce and market local food in Dipkarpaz and has been equipped with industrial kitchen equipment, was inaugurated.

The Vice President of the TRNC and the Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly, Zorlu Töre; the Deputy Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly, Fazilet Özdenefe; the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Nicosia, Prof. Dr. Metin Feyzioğlu; TİKA’s Coordinator in Nicosia, Havva Pınar Özcan Küçükçavuş; the Mayor of Erenköy-Dipkarpaz, Hamit Bakırcı; the President of GİKAD, İçim Çağıner Kavuklu and the residents of Dipkarpaz attended the opening ceremony.

Through the establishment of a professional kitchen, it is aimed to ensure the participation of women residing in the Karpaz region in the food industry and thus enhancing their involvement in production.

“It is our state’s, our municipality’s duty to pave the way for women”

During his speech at the opening ceremony, the Vice President of the TRNC and the Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly, Töre stated that they will fight together to ensure women can be involved in all areas of society equally. He emphasized that women have always been at the forefront in the struggle for independence and in transforming the country’s land into a homeland, and said, “It is our state’s, our municipality’s duty to pave the way for you, for women.”

“You are at the forefront, serving as a model for everyone”

The Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Nicosia, Feyzioğlu expressed that women are no longer the hidden power of society, now they are emerging as leaders of society. Noting that ultimate work is the product of great labor, Feyzioğlu stated that the adoption of the project made him even more hopeful for the future of the country. He also added, “As Atatürk said, there are no women of any other nation in history who have made as great sacrifices for their independence, their future, their honor, their nation as the Turkish women.”

“The most significant project”

TİKA’s Coordinator in Nicosia, Küçükçavuş expressed that, as TİKA, they inaugurated the most significant project on the occasion of March 8, International Working Women’s Day. Küçükçavuş noted that the Artisan Kitchen project is their second project aimed at supporting the empowerment of women in society. Expressing her happiness at being at the event with women who have transformed their labor into value, she said, “We have been in Dipkarpaz with a project which will help women empower themselves economically, hold a greater place in society, and stand on their own.”

Aboutthe “Artisan Kitchen Project”

In the kitchen established through cooperation between TİKA and GİKAD, women residing in the region will be employed to produce molasses, floral water, rose water, various types of cheese, dried hand-made pasta, pastries, jam, paste and traditional homemade meals belonging to Turkish Cypriots’ culture, and the prepared food will be sold directly.

This project, which was implemented to include women in the economic life and in food sector, will create added value for the Karpaz region, which remains distant from the capital and other city centers.

Through the project, local and cultural products will be combined in a joint recipe and produced in an industrial environment.