Iranian culture

Striking geometric shapes that recall 20th century abstract art are not what you would expect to see adorning a handmade Iranian rug. But changing tastes and increased competition from Asia have forced some in the trade to redesign and resize a tradition dating back more than 2,000 years.

The occupancy rate of the hotels in the eastern province of Van has hit 100 percent as Iranians have thronged the city with the start of a national three-day holiday in their country.

"Some 5,000 Iranians entered on the first day of their holiday," Yunus Yüksel, the board chair of the Van Hotel Owners and Tourism Professionals Association, told Demirören News Agency on June 5.

Within the scope of a project called "Nevizade U.K.," a group of Turks living in London has been converting the restaurants they rent into traditional Turkish "meyhanes" in a bid to enjoy traditional mezes and local food and drinks together.

Hand-woven carpets lying in fields for sterilization and gaining their pastel colors in the sun create colorful images in Turkey's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.

Shop owners in the eastern province of Van have begun learning Persian to communicate better with tourists from Iran and to provide better service to them.

The last weaver in Kastamonu unveils traditional handmade rugs

There is rejoicing in our Antalya and Van provinces, where one Iranian plane lands after the other. Tourists are pouring in like rain. As the ones who arrive are from wealthy segments, they do a lot of shopping. 

This does not compensate the lack of Western tourists, but this of course is good.