Türkiye's Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya has exported 5 million cut flowers to Greece, Ismail Yılmaz, head of the Central Anatolian Ornamental Plants and Products Exporters' Association (OAIB), said on Thursday.
"The new export success came as a new entertainment genre, in which flower petals are showered over women’s heads, replaced the traditional Greek 'sirtaki' celebration and dance whereby plates are smashed," said Yılmaz.
He added that sales to the neighboring country generated $3 million (TL 55.94 million) in revenues.
Smashing plates is a time-honored Greek tradition that can be observed during wedding receptions.
Antalya already stands out as Türkiye’s floral hub and ships millions of cut flowers, especially carnations, prior to Christmas celebrations across the European continent.
Yılmaz stated that Christmas shipments stood healthy, and noted that 70 million bunches of cut flowers were exported this year with a turnover of around $7 million.
"During this period, we encountered intense demand for red, white, purple and burgundy colors," he said.
Stating that Antalya gained attention with massive orders from many countries including the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K., Yilmaz also stressed that extra flower shipments will be shipped via air cargo from now on and noted that shipments were solely dependent on trucks before.
“For the Christmas season, a lot of exports were made to the Netherlands, which is the distribution center of the ornamental plant industry, and Antalya is the province from where we export most cut flowers. Almost all cut flower exports originate from Antalya,’’ he concluded.
