As part of its support for the Gastronomy High Schools Project led by the Ministry of National Education, Yıldız Holding has signed a protocol for the establishment of the Ülker Gastronomy Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School and a 200-capacity student dormitory in Erzurum. The signing ceremony, held at the Erzurum Governor’s Office, was attended by Erzurum Governor Mustafa Çiftçi, Erzurum Provincial Director of National Education Süleyman Ekici, Yıldız Holding Board Member and Chairman of pladis & GODIVA Murat Ülker, and Yıldız Holding Board Member İbrahim Taşkın.

Supporting the Gastronomy High Schools Project—launched by the Ministry of National Education to carry Anatolia’s deep-rooted culinary heritage into the future through education—Yıldız Holding will undertake the renovation of a building designated by the Ministry in the Yakutiye central district, bringing it into the educational system. Furthermore, the Holding will construct a dormitory on the school campus with a total capacity of 200 students, accommodating 100 girls and 100 boys. As a part of the network of thematic gastronomy high schools being established across Turkey, the Ülker Gastronomy Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School is planned to commence education in the 2026–2027 academic year.

Launched in May 2025 under the auspices of First Lady Emine Erdoğan, the project is based on a holistic educational approach that does not limit gastronomy to kitchen practice alone, but treats it alongside geography, agriculture, history, and cultural heritage.

Murat Ülker, Board Member of Yıldız Holding, expressed his satisfaction in supporting the project, which is being implemented across Turkey’s seven geographical regions and aims to train qualified young individuals who will carry Anatolia’s millennia-old culinary legacy into the future.