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The Geographical Indication Products of Şırnak

Most people who find Şırnak on a map know it for its mountains, its deep valleys and the Cizre plain on the banks of the Tigris. This landscape also has a second map, one drawn at the table and on the loom.

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The Geographical Indication Products of Şırnak

Most people who find Şırnak on a map know it for its mountains, its deep valleys and the Cizre plain on the banks of the Tigris. This landscape also has a second map, one drawn at the table and on the loom. The geographical indication database of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office currently lists twenty-one records under Şırnak; fourteen of them are registered and seven are still at the application stage. From the kilim woven in the high valleys of Beytüşşebap to the tahini ground in the water mills of Kumçatı, from the figs of Silopi to the sweets of Cizre, these products can be read as small documents describing how different corners of the province live. This article introduces them on the basis of what their registration documents say, and offers a few suggestions on how a visitor to Şırnak can look for them.

What a geographical indication means

The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office defines a geographical indication as a quality mark that shows and guarantees a product's origin, its characteristic features and the link between those features and a geographical area. Registration protects products that have gained a reputation through raw materials from a particular locality, a traditional method of production and local qualities. Almost all of the Şırnak records are designations of origin of the "mahreç" type, meaning that at least one stage of production takes place within the stated geographical boundary. Each document sets out the definition of the product, its production method and how inspection is to be carried out in detail. The applications were mostly made by district directorates of agriculture and forestry, district governorships, municipalities and provincial directorates. This shows that local institutions and producers stand together behind these products.

Beytüşşebap Jirki Kilim

The Şırnak Governorship lists felt making, carpet weaving and kilim weaving among the leading handicrafts of the province. The registered representative of this tradition is the Beytüşşebap Jirki Kilim, registered in 2024. According to the registration document, the kilim is woven densely on vertical looms using fine yarn spun from pure wool. The colours come entirely from natural sources. Walnut husk gives black and brown, onion skin gives yellow and a root known locally as rın gives red, with sumac used as the mordant for red. The main colours are a red close to burgundy, navy, brown, black and white, while green, yellow and blue are used as secondary colours.

What truly sets the kilim apart is its motifs. The document lists more than twenty of them by name. Çılgül, meaning forty roses, gulhezar, meaning a thousand roses, lüleper, named after a flower that blooms in wetlands, and kesneker, meaning that nobody else can make it because it is so difficult to weave, are only a few. The wolf's paw and scorpion motifs express feelings such as jealousy and fear, the ram's horn stands for courage, and plant and flower figures represent abundance. A story told in the document explains the name of the rose earring motif; a weaver who had lost a pair of earrings left with her by a neighbour sold her kilim, bought a new pair and returned what had been entrusted to her. The kilim is traditionally woven as part of a bride's trousseau and is stored rolled up to protect it from sunlight.

Beytüşşebap's honey and its kebab on stone

The second registered product of the same district is Beytüşşebap Honey. According to the document, it is a blossom honey produced in a valley about 60 kilometres long within the district boundary, at altitudes between 1700 and 3000 metres. Its colour ranges from light amber to dark amber and it is sold as strained honey, comb honey or honey from traditional log hives. Beekeeping is largely migratory; the colonies are moved into the valley at the end of spring and the main nectar flow lasts from mid May to mid September. The document states that the honey contains pollen from at least one of St John's wort, the parsley family, mullein and scabious. It also explains that cool winds blowing from north to south keep the production season cool.

Beytüşşebap Sehleber Kebab is one of the newest records, registered in 2026. Its name means a griddle made of stone in the local language; sehl is the bread griddle and ber means stone. The kebab is cooked between flat limestone slabs, known locally as bereziv, which are quarried in the district and do not crack in fire. Three stones are set in a U shape to form a hearth and two flat stones are laid on top. Boneless lamb or mutton is salted only with rock salt; no spices, sauces or vegetables are added. The stone is ready when tail fat rubbed on it melts at once. The meat is covered with a second hot stone and cooked by being turned several times. The document also notes that the kebab is one of the highlights of the Sheep Shearing Festival held in the district every year.

The water mill tahini of Kumçatı

Şırnak Dergul Tahini is produced in the town of Kumçatı in the central district; Dergul is the town's old name. The registration document describes the process step by step. The sesame is harvested in October, dried in the sun, soaked in water and beaten with mallets to separate the husk. The hulled sesame is lightly roasted until it turns pale yellow on a stone slab set over a stone hearth that resembles a fireplace. It is then ground in a stone mill turned by water power. Electric mills are not used, because they turn faster and the heat they generate can give the tahini a burnt taste. The stream running through the middle of the town once allowed many water mills to be built; according to the document, three historic water mills survive in the town today. The result is a fluid, off-white tahini whose oil does not separate on the surface and which leaves no sediment at the bottom.

Silopi Behnat Fig

The registered product of Silopi is a fig named after Behnat, a village that is abandoned today. The document describes it as a yellow, thin-skinned, soft fruit with a pinkish red interior and a very sweet taste. Trees are planted from cuttings or as rooted saplings; trees grown from cuttings come into fruit within a few years. Because winters are mild, pruning can be done from autumn through to spring. The harvest usually runs from July to October. Anyone passing through the Silopi area at the end of summer can find this fig fresh in its season.

The table of Cizre

The products registered by the Cizre District Governorship read almost like a menu of the district's cuisine. Cizre Meyre, also called Cizre Mehir, is a dish cooked with yogurt, pounded wheat, marrow and a wild mint known locally as pünk. According to the document it is eaten at every meal, especially at breakfast, and is served hot or cold. Cizre Bırınczer, whose name means yellow rice, is a thick dessert made with rice, sugar, cinnamon and saffron or turmeric. It turns yellow with saffron and orange with turmeric, and it is eaten cold.

Cizre Memilheva Cookies are made with blanched almonds, sugar and egg white and are recognised by their shape, which resembles a cogwheel. The cookies are shaped by hand with six, nine or twelve points, and whole almonds are pressed onto them. According to the document they are offered to guests at weddings and on visits. Cizre Luzine Dessert is prepared with semolina, sugar, flour and walnuts and cut into diamond-shaped slices. Cizre Leyminete, also known as milky lemonade, is a tangy, yellow drink made with milk, sugar and lemon juice; the document describes it above all as a drink for hot summer days.

Flavours of the provincial centre

Two products registered by the Şırnak Municipality are born from plants the mountains provide. Şırnak Hanuhin is made by grinding the fruit of the terebinth tree and mixing it in equal parts with grape or mulberry molasses, and it is eaten especially in winter, at breakfast and between meals. Şırnak Soryaz consists of the soryaz plant, gathered from the wild in spring and preserved in brine for winter, cooked with onion and egg. The oldest entry on the list is Şımşıpe; it was registered in 2017 and its geographical boundary is the whole province. It is a mixed dish of stuffed onions, marrows, aubergines, peppers and tomatoes together with stuffed leaves, all cooked in one pot with sumac water under the weight of stones placed on top.

Applications in progress

The database also lists seven products whose applications are still pending. Among them are Cizre Guzubez, Cizre Mehdık, the Cizre Serkezi handicraft, Cizre Sirik, Şırnak Kevzan Coffee, Şırnak Kıtılnefs Grape and the Şırnak Şaluşapık weaving, for which a designation of origin has been applied. As these applications are concluded, the Şırnak list will grow longer. Readers who want to see the current status can select Şırnak as the province in the database and reach all of the records and the registration document of each one.

How to look for these products in Şırnak

The registered products depend on the season. Figs are easier to find in late summer and autumn, honey at the end of summer after the harvest, and soryaz in spring when it is freshly gathered. Products that keep, such as tahini and hanuhin, can be sought for much of the year. For kilims, the best place is Beytüşşebap itself, where the weaving is done, together with fairs and events attended by local producers. Those who want to see sehleber kebab in its own setting can look up the date of the Sheep Shearing Festival held in the district in advance. Since festival and event dates change every year, check the current information on the official websites of the governorship and the district governorships.

When buying, look for the geographical indication emblem and the registered name on the product itself or on its packaging. According to the registration documents, if the emblem cannot be placed on the product, it must be displayed somewhere easy to see in the business. On kilims, the logo is placed on the back of the kilim. This small mark is the guarantee that the product has been made by the method described in the document and within the stated geographical boundary. Inspection is carried out by the inspection bodies defined in the documents, made up of experts from institutions such as district governorships, municipalities and provincial directorates.

Products as the memory of a province

Looking at Şırnak's geographical indication products together, a common thread appears. Almost all of them rest on what nearby nature provides: the flowers of the valley, the water that turns the stream's mills, stone that withstands fire, the terebinth tree, roots and husks. Each one also demands skill, such as roasting sesame without burning it, cooking a kebab by reading the heat of the stone, or weaving motifs without a single mistake. That is why this list can be read not only as a shopping guide but also as a summary of the everyday life that continues in the mountains and plains of Şırnak.

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