A-half-liter bottle of olive oil squeezed from the olives of an 800-year-old olive tree named Umay Nine was sold at the olive oil auction for thirty thousand Turkish liras.
Seferihisar municipality searched for the old olive trees in the district and found 200 trees of 500-years and older. The fruits of these trees were harvested carefully and processed at the municipal olive oil factory in traditional ways. The historical oils were sold at the 3rd annual olive oil auction during the Agriculture Festival.
The auction took place at the theatre of Teos ancient city, which started to be excavated. The participants of the event were Seferihisar Mayor Tunç Soyer, Izmir Consul General of Greece, Mr. Argyro Papoulia, the mayors of slow cities in North Cyprus including Mehmetçik Mayor Cemil Sarıçizmeli, Geçitkale Mayor Hasan Öztaş, Yeniboğaziçi Mayor Mustafa Zurnacılar and Former Minister of Culture and Tourism Prof. Dr. Suat Çağlayan along with many Seferihisar residents. The auction was preceded by a local food buffet and a mini concert of Turkish-Greek friendship songs by Serap Tumay ensemble.
800-year-old Olive Oil Sold for 30.000 TL
The olive oils were categorized according to the age of the olive trees and acidity. A total of 152 bottles in 21 different groups were presented at the auction. The oil of oldest olives was bought by a businessman for thirty thousand TL.
Seferihisar Mayor Tunç Soyer declared that the total revenue of the olive oil auction has been 47750 TL, which would be granted as scholarship to the students residing in the district.