Turkish traditional craft preservation

In early July, a 74‑year‑old tin‑working craftsman in Manisa’s Sarıgöl district and a farmer in Çorum highlighted personal, hands‑on efforts to keep local heritage alive, from repairing metal items to creating a community picnic area named after a family member. By the end of the month, attention shifted to Bursa, where a former greengrocer has turned a historic market hall into a small museum‑shop that restores and sells copper household objects, drawing both domestic and foreign visitors.

Later in July, Mehmet Ali Bozkurt, also a former greengrocer, expanded this Bursa story by operating a shop in the historic Tahtakale Han that collects, restores, and sells copper pots, plates and ibriks, preserving original patina with natural oils and attracting tourists interested in traditional Turkish material culture.

In Konya, 71‑year‑old Mahmut Sami Özcan continues a 57‑year practice of hand‑binding Qur’an volumes, serving customers from Europe and emphasizing the craft as a service to the sacred text. Meanwhile, in the coastal town of Fatsa, Ordu, Serkan Özçelik maintains a 26‑year tin‑working workshop that produces tin‑coated copper items and repairs cookware, lamenting the shortage of apprentices but persisting to keep the skill alive. Together, these snapshots trace a continuing grassroots movement across Turkey to safeguard traditional material culture—whether through solitary workshop practice or more public, tourism‑oriented displays—while urging younger generations to value these skills.