Cooperative Camp in Anadolu, Mustafapaşa Settlement, organized under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan and implemented by the General Directorate of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology under the motto “Fertility, Savings and Skills in Anatolia” It started in you.

To the opening program; Ahmet Şimşek, Director General of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, our Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Ali Karasar, Deputy Director General of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology Mustafa Caner Meydan, Head of Coordination Department of Development Agencies Dr. Abdulvahap Iğunlu, Ahiler Development Agency General Secretary Bekir Varol, our Chairman of the Board of Trustees Funda Aktan and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees Kaan Aktan, as well as representatives of development agencies and regional development administrations, academics, cooperative representatives and the invitees attended.

With 40 participants from different provinces of Turkey, the camp aims to develop the production, branding and marketing capacities of cooperatives and contribute to sustainable development by increasing the added value of local products. Within the scope of the training program, conducted by the University of Cappadocia, participants will participate in theoretical and practical trainings on topics ranging from cooperation to innovative product development, cultural heritage oriented storytelling to experiential tourism, digital promotion to artificial intelligence and e-commerce between 20-24 July. The five-day program will be supplemented by field trips, cooperative visits, experience-sharing sessions and evening get-togethers.

“Those in Anatolia are the second discovery of Anatolia.”

Ahmet Şimşek, Director General of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, stated that the in Anadoluda's Project, carried out under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan, is gradually growing and institutionalized. Reminding that the University of Cappadocia and the University of Cappadocia had previously implemented Turkey's first Anadolu Market in Nevşehir, Şimşek said that the Anadolu Cooperative Camp is an important continuation of this cooperation.

Describing Anatolia's strong production culture and its accumulation passed down from generation to generation as “the second discovery of Anatolia”; Simşek pointed out the importance of trust, quality, branding, packaging, storytelling and auditing in increasing the added value of local products. Stating that the camp does not consist only of theoretical trainings, Şimşek stated that the program is designed to support the sharing of experience, new collaborations and the establishment of strong ties between cooperatives.

“Cooperativism is our civilization memory.”

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Ali Karasar stressed that Turkey has a strong culture of solidarity from the foundation civilization and the Ahilik tradition. Karasar said that cooperativism is not only a production and income sharing, but a model of learning together, managing, branding and gaining a foothold in world markets.

Karasar said that the University of Cappadocia is a university that not only produces knowledge, but also transports the knowledge it produces into the field and contributes to local development. Karasar said that they work with local producers in many areas, from tourism to gastronomy, cultural heritage to sustainability, artificial intelligence to digital transformation. Karasar stated that the camp is a concrete reflection of this approach, and considered the program as an important work that combines university and producer, academic knowledge and labor in the field, tradition and technology, local accumulation and global competition. Emphasizing that our founder Alev Alatlı acted with the understanding that “Knowledge is meaningful only if it touches life”, Karasar stated that academic knowledge gains value to the extent that it contributes to community life.

Supported by field trips and cooperative visits, as well as evening talks on design, product development and e-commerce, the camp will be completed with a closing session on July 24.