Turkish handmade carpets adorn homes in Japan

By Bulent Mazver

IGDIR, Turkey (AA) - Handmade carpets woven by women in Turkey's eastern Igdir province are adorning homes in Japan.

In a joint project by the Turkish Employment Agency and Igdir University, Turkish carpets were exported to Japan by women who are new to the profession.

Cavit Polat, vice dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, told Anadolu Agency that the carpets are specially woven, considering the size of the homes in Japan.

"Japanese people usually live in smaller houses, for this reason, smaller sizes of carpets are woven in our workshops," he said.

He added that the size of the carpets is around one to two square meters and that Turkish floral motifs are woven to them.

Melahat Teleri, head of the Handicrafts Department, said the carpet weaving courses for housewives have been going on for two months.

Teleri said that the project had opened foreign markets for local artisans.

She said that the requested patterns are engraved to the carpet loom.

Hatice Mengu, an instructor, said that the carpets decorated in the Mamluk style were inspired by motifs used in the Seljuk period.

She said that these Mamluk carpets were formerly hung on the walls for decoration.