Hot weather starts ‘Carpet field’ season early

The Börekçi family and other families in the Döşemealtı district of the Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya returned to the fields two months earlier this year to lay their hand-woven carpets under the sun to give them their pastel colors.

During July each year, carpet makers lay thousands of second-hand carpets, which they have collected from various places in the country, on a 100-decares area of land, called the "carpet fields," in colloquial language.

However, due to torrid weather, the "carpet field season" started in May this year.

"We keep carpets in the sun for days to get rid of everything except organic root dye and wool," Can Börekçi, a carpet maker, said.

When the carpets get pastel colors, Börekçi then makes repairs to the carpets making them ready to sell.

However, he said that sales are not good "like in the old days," due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the 2000s, we used to lay around 50,000 carpets in the field. These days, that number is around 15,000," he said and added: "Pandemic had a harsh blow on our export. Due to the pandemic, none of our U.S. buyers came to Turkey. So now we are selling them online."

When asked about the prices, he noted, "That differs. I have carpets for 15 Turkish Liras, as well as for 50,000 liras."