CYPRUS HAS won a sweet victory over Turkey with the official recognition of Turkish Delight as ‘Loukoumi Yeroskipou’, the Agriculture Ministry announced yesterday.
The Ministry said Loukoumi Yeroskipou was registered with the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and with the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). The move became official on December 15 when published in the EU Official Gazette.
The PGI decision came in October. The PGI means that although other manufacturers – here or abroad – may still include the appellation, this must be accompanied by the geographical location, for example, “Loukoumi made in Syros.”
Only the Yeroskipou producers are allowed to use the word ‘Loukoumi’ on its own, and no one else can slap the word ‘Yeroskipou’ or any derivative of the word on their product.
“As no objections were lodged by other member states or third countries, it was possible to have the name registered at Community level,” the Ministry’s statement said.
Turkey, which calls its sweet “lokum” did try to challenge the trademark attempt by Cyprus but attempts failed as it’s not yet an EU country although it will be able to apply for its own ‘lokum’ trademark in due course. Meanwhile Turkey’s sales of the sweets should not be affected.
The main issue for Turkey appears to be due to national pride, and the fact that it was Greek Cypriots making the claim.
The Times quoted Adnan Ozdogru, who runs a lokum company in the southern Turkish city of Adana, as saying “Turkish lokum has been known as Turkish delight in the world market for years. The Greek Cypriots don’t know anything about how lokum is made.”
Aphrodite Delights, the Yeroskipou business producing the delicacy, filed their application for a PGI back in 2004. The business was started in 1895 by one Sophocles Athanasiou, and was passed down from one generation to the next within the family.
Throughout, the village of Yeroskipou has become virtually synonymous with loukoumi, with both mentioned in the same sentence in bibliographies and tourist brochures.
And the sweet made such an impression on the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis that he waxed lyrical about it in his 1926 book Travels.
Loukoumi is a confection made from starch and sugar. It’s often flavoured with rosewater and lemon, the former giving it a characteristic pale pink colour. It has a soft, jelly-like and sometimes sticky consistency, and is often packaged and eaten in small cubes that are dusted with sugar or copra to prevent sticking.
Some types contain small nut pieces, usually pistachio, hazelnut or walnuts. Other common types include flavours such as cinnamon or mint.
