The study was carried out to determine the microbiological and chemical quality of dry salted Otlu cheese manufactured in Hakkari. A total of 40 samples were obtained randomly from retail outlets in Hakkari and examined mic-robiologically aerobic mesophiles, pyschrophiles, Enterobacteriaceae, coliform bacteria, E.coli, and coagulase (+) Staph .aureus, B.cereus, sulphite reducing anaerobic bacteria and yeast and mould counts and chemically for moisture, dry matter, fat, fat in dry matter and salt in dry matter and titratable lactic acid content. The average aerobic mesophilic and psycrophilic, coliform, Enterobacteriaceae, E.coli, coagulase positive Staphylococcus and yeast and mould Log10 counts were 8.53, 7.48, 4.61, 5.44, 2.99, 4.34 and 5.50 cfu/g, respectively. Of the 40 otlu cheese samples 52.5 % for Staph.aureus, at least 30% for coliform bacteria and 27.5% for E.coli counts did not comply the current Turkish microbiological standards. None of the samples contained B.cereus and sulphite reducing anaerobes. The mean percentage values of moisture, fat in dry matter and salt in dry matter of the samples were 50.06, 42.59, 10.10 respectively, while the samples had 0.815 % lactic acid on average. Of the samples 5 % for moisture content were over the maximum limit in White Cheese Standard, while 50% contained salt in dry matter over the legal limit. In conclusion the results indicate that dry salted otlu cheese in Hakkari has not been manufactured by a standard technique under hygienic conditions and seems to represent considerable potential hazard for public health.