my olive oil and the local community in finchley
I attended the Finchley farmers market at avenue house a few weeks ago sunday the 10th of october where i sell my olive oil and found it to be half the market it was a few months ago
because the venue has been reduced down to once a month people tend to forget that it exists, which means a low turnout by the public which in turn leads to a low turnout by the traders
the sooner a new weekly venue is found in the immediate area i feel the better for all
however it was not altogether a bad day, a good percentage of the people that did turn up were in my view all purchasing
one particular young lady with her young child approached my stall and asked my wife if we were Turkish, to which my wife replied that we were turkish cypriot and that our products were from our own olive and citrus groves in both Cyprus and Turkey
I am also Turkish born and raised in istanbul she replied, with that she got into a conversation with my wife speaking to us in fluent turkish whilst speaking to her young child in french
she spoke very fondly of Turkey and the Turkish people and her happy period of growing up in istanbul
during the conversation she mentioned that she would never have thought i was turkish, neither did i look turkish nor did i sound turkish were her words
i replied that i was often mistaken to be jewish by the jewish community, even the turkish community think of me as anything but turkish
she replied that she was a turkish jew and very proud to be, my upbringing was a happy one she said
this young lady to me was a happy ray of sunshine, as well as a lovely member of the human race, i could actually feel the warmth and happiness radiating from her
i am writing this article because in recent months since the unfortunate incident between Israel and Turkey i have noticed a small number of the jewish community now shun my stall when they hear or read on my posters that my farms where i produce my oil etc is in Turkey and the north of cyprus
some of these people would have previously stopped and had a good chat as well as sometimes purchase some of my products
whilst still at school i worked weekends and evenings in a grocery shop in the holloway road north london area for a jewish employer, i later became an electrician and when i went self employed in the 70s i was again trusted and employed by the jewish community to carry out work for them in the finchley, golders green, stamford hill and edgware areas
i later opened my electrical store in clerkenwell close to hatton gardens where to this day i continue to serve and having a trusting relationship with the jewish community
8 years ago i lost my father and inherited olive groves in cyprus, i immediately started to bring over my produce and alongside the electrical goods i now sell my olive oil
6 years ago i purchased an olive and citrus grove in turkey i also now sell my produce from my farm in turkey alongside my electrical goods in clerkenwell
i am very honoured to say that my success in life and in business is mostly due to the friendships and dealings together with sound advise and guidence i have had the good fortune to have and continue to have from members of the jewish community
please be in the knowledge that my olive oil and other products whether it be from my cyprus olive groves or from my turkish olive groves have neither religous leanings nor do they have any political views, they are just a gift from God
i very much look forwad to hearing your views as well as a continued friendship
yours faithfully
mem
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