The contract for the “Our Village Develops with Berendi Kar Obruğu” project, supported by Mevlana Development Agency under the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology within the scope of the 2022 Social Development Support Program (SOGEP) and carried out by Ayrancı District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, was signed by Mevlana Development Agency Chairman of the Board and Karaman Governor Tuncay Akkoyun, Mevlana Development Agency Secretary General İhsan Bostancı, and Ayrancı District Director of Agriculture and Forestry Kamil Küçük.

Making evaluations about the project after the signing, Mevlana Development Agency Chairman of the Board and Karaman Governor Tuncay Akkoyun said, “Our Karaman province, besides having an ancient history and culture, also holds a distinct place in our country in agriculture and animal husbandry. Our private sector and public institutions are constantly striving to carry this potential of our city, which grows hundreds of varieties of products on its fertile lands, further and to produce added value. This project has emerged as a result of this and aims to enable our farmers producing obruk cheese in our region to produce under better conditions and to create more value-added products. In this context, I would especially like to state that we attach great importance to this project, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Technology General Directorate of Development Agencies at the central level and will be carried out locally with the support of our Mevlana Development Agency. When the project is completed, the cheese storage-preservation capacity of the Kar Obruğu, located at an altitude of 1800 meters and operating for approximately 150 years in the Berendi village of our Ayrancı district, will be expanded through shelving, elevator, and renovation, thus enabling the produced cheeses to be easily preserved. Repeating that the project to be carried out with this aim and goal will make great contributions to our producers and our region, I wish it to be beneficial and thank everyone who contributed to the project.”

Afterwards, making statements about the support they provide as an institution, Mevlana Development Agency Secretary General İhsan Bostancı said, “As Mevlana Development Agency, since our establishment, we have continued to develop projects with our public, private sector, and non-governmental organizations and strive for the financing of these projects to contribute to the all-round development of our Konya and Karaman provinces, which are within our area of responsibility. This project we signed was also prepared by our Ayrancı District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry to increase the capacity of the obruks (sinkholes) for better production conditions of obruk cheese, which is produced by traditional methods in obruks in our Ayrancı district and is an important source of income for our local people, and thus to obtain more products, and it was supported by our Ministry of Industry and Technology. More than 1 Million TL has been allocated to the project, which is envisaged to increase the income levels of people in our villages in the region, contribute to their business potential, strengthen the existing cooperative, and consequently contribute indirectly to employment and the workforce. With this allocated resource, it is planned to purchase 5000 ice packs and styrofoam, and 4 humidity measuring devices, carry out elevator renovation, install cheese racks, and close the entrance of the obruk with iron and sheet metal. We have full faith that with these improvements to be carried out with the support of our Agency, cheese production in the region will increase significantly and make important contributions to our region's employment. With these feelings and thoughts, we extend our gratitude to our Agency's Chairman of the Board and Karaman Governor, Mr. Tuncay Akkoyun, under whose auspices we are greatly pleased to sign our project, for his support to our project. We thank our Ayrancı District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, which put great effort into the realization of the project, and wish the project to be beneficial for our district, city, and region.”