Halal Travel Guide: Mardin — Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian Food and Lodging (Part 1)
Reposted from the web
Summary: Mardin is a stone-built city above the Mesopotamian plain where Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, and Muslim communities share a deep local food culture. This first part covers food, lodging, streets, and everyday travel details while preserving the original facts and photos.
Layover in Istanbul
I flew direct from Beijing to Istanbul on China Southern Airlines and finally arrived at the new Istanbul Airport after a 10-hour flight. This was my first time on such a long direct flight, but the China Southern seats were comfortable enough. I watched two movies, took a nap, and ate two meals, so the time passed without feeling too long. I remember flying from Beijing to Urumqi 10 years ago. Back then, we couldn't use phones and there was no entertainment system. Reading on the plane made me dizzy, and even four hours felt like a very long time.
My last trip to Istanbul was in 2018, when I flew into the old Ataturk Airport. That airport is closed now. I didn't stay at the new airport and transferred directly to a Turkish Airlines flight to Mardin. We took a wrong turn and accidentally went through immigration. We had to go to the departure hall, line up for check-in, go through security, and then enter the domestic departure lounge. Luckily, everything went smoothly without any crowds, and the whole process took less than an hour.
The restaurants in the domestic departure area of the new Istanbul Airport don't have as much variety as the international area, but they are relatively cheaper. I ended up choosing Burger King and got a double beef burger. The burger was huge! I specifically took a photo to compare it with my fist. It feels like there are very few McDonald's or KFCs in Turkey, but there are many Burger Kings on the street, and they are actually quite tasty.
Istanbul Airport also has many branches of the local snack shop Simit Sarayi, where you can grab a Turkish-style cheese sandwich with Turkish black tea.
Historic hotel in Mardin
After a flight of nearly two hours from Istanbul, I arrived in Mardin, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey near the borders of Syria and Iraq. I had already arranged for the hotel to send a car to pick me up through Agoda, and it took us straight to the hotel in the heart of the old city.
Mardin is located in the Upper Mesopotamia region, upstream of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The entire old city is built on the southern slope of a mountain ridge. At the very top of the cliff sits a thousand-year-old castle, with the terraced stone city built below it. Because of this, you can look out over the Mesopotamian plains from any terrace in the old city, and the view is spectacular.
Our hotel, Maristan Tarihi Konak, is inside a 700-year-old building. It was originally built by Jewish people and is now run by Kurds. Five hundred years ago, many Armenians and Jews lived in the ancient city of Mardin. Today, it is mainly home to Kurds and Arabs, along with a significant number of Assyrian Christians, making the culture very diverse.
The taxi drove into the maze-like alleys of the old city, weaving left and right up very steep slopes, which made us feel quite nervous. The car finally stopped on a slope. Idris, a young Kurdish man from the hotel, greeted us warmly by the roadside. It was a coincidence that my name is also Idris, which is the name of a prophet.
Idris led us further up the stone steps until we finally reached the Maristan Tarihi Konak hotel. I checked online before we left. Most hotels in the old city of Mardin feature stone houses. This one is not on the main road, so it offers better value for money. The reviews also mentioned that the staff are very friendly, and that turned out to be true.
The walls of our stone house are very thick. Even when it is 30 degrees outside in the summer, you do not need air conditioning inside. However, it does not get as much light as a wooden house because the windows are very small. It is very interesting that our door is also very traditional. You have to insert the large key and turn it several times in the opposite direction, which feels very ancient.
We had a very rich breakfast on the hotel terrace. It included four types of cheese, yogurt, two types of olives, honey, fig jam, pomegranate jam, and grape jam. The main staple was not the bread commonly found in Turkey, but Kurdish flatbread (nan).
The manager of Maristan Tarihi Konak is a Kurdish man named Zahit. He took us for a walk through the old city bazaar and pointed out the general direction of various historical sites on the main road, which was very thoughtful. The bazaar in the old city of Mardin is right behind the main road. It is very lively and stays open until 6:30 in the evening. We saw an older man wearing traditional clothing at the bazaar.
The ancient city of Mardin has a very long history. It was called Merida (castle) during the Roman period. It was incorporated into the Arab Empire in 640 and was later ruled in turns by several tribal dynasties of Mesopotamia. After 1085, Mardin was ruled successively by the Seljuk Empire, the Artuqid dynasty, and the Kara Koyunlu dynasty, all established by Oghuz Turkic tribes. It was finally incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
Assyrian pastries and salty yogurt drink (ayran).
At the old town bazaar, I ate the Mardin specialty Assyrian pastry (Süryani Çöreği) and drank the Kurdish version of salty yogurt drink (Doogh).
The Assyrian pastry (Süryani Çöreği) is said to have a 2,000-year history. It is made with 32 different spices and comes in flavors like date and almond. It is a signature food for Assyrian engagement ceremonies. Assyrians have lived on the Mesopotamian plains for 4,000 years. They built a massive Assyrian Empire before 2000 BC, which helped spread Assyrian culture widely. As an important settlement for Assyrians, many of the local delicacies in Mardin were invented by them. Although Assyrians are Christians, they live alongside Kurds and Arabs, so their snacks are safe for Muslims to eat.
Unlike the Turkish version of yogurt drink (ayran) which only uses salt, water, and yogurt, Kurds add dill, mint, and seeds from the Kurdish pistachio tree (Pistacia kurdica) to their (Doogh). Kurds also make a drink called (Ava Mast) by mixing water into milk and adding these same seasonings.
Purple basil sherbet
In another alley, we drank a Turkish summer specialty, purple basil sherbet (Reyhan Sherbet). It is made with purple basil, lemon salt, cinnamon, and cloves. It is a classic drink for Kurds to break their fast during Ramadan. The man selling the sherbet was very friendly. He used Google Translate to chat with us and pointed out the routes to various historical sites. We felt very grateful (alhamdulillah).
Copperware shop
There are many copperware shops in Mardin where you can buy handmade dried fruit plates and coffee pots. It is also popular here to craft the Hand of Fatima (Hamsa). Friends (dosti) in West Asia and North Africa use the right hand of Fatima as an amulet, believing it protects people from the evil eye and other dangers. The palm-shaped amulet dates back to ancient Mesopotamian civilization. It was later adopted by Sephardic Jews and then entered the traditions of Arabs and Berbers, becoming widely spread throughout the Middle East.
Street view of Mardin old town.
Mardin Museum of Life
We visited the Mardin Living Museum (Mardin Yaşayan Müze), which displays various traditional Mardin handicrafts. In the first room, an Assyrian man showed us silver filigree work and made beautiful earrings for us on the spot using silver wire.
In the second room, an Arab man was busy hammering out various copper items.
In the third room, a Kurdish woman sang traditional Kurdish folk songs for us and played the Kurdish frame drum (Daf). The Daf drum has a very long history. It appeared in Assyrian reliefs over 3,000 years ago and was an important instrument in Zoroastrian rituals. The museum's Daf drum features the Zoroastrian symbol, the Faravahar. As an Iranian-speaking group, Zoroastrianism once had a profound influence on Kurdish culture.
I read in reviews that the museum sometimes has Kurdish dance performances, but unfortunately, we missed them when we visited.
Pistachio dessert
In the old city of Mardin, we ate at a century-old Turkish dessert shop called HELVACI ALİ, which opened in 1900. They started opening branches across Turkey and former Ottoman countries in 2018, and now they have 200 locations.
We had the pistachio-flavored sesame fudge (Halva) served with Maraş goat milk ice cream (Maraş Dondurması). This ice cream contains mastic resin and a type of orchid flour called salep.
We also tried a fruit jam flavor that was delicious, containing several fruits like cherries, figs, and oranges.
The founder of HELVACI ALİ was Idris Efendi. He moved from Kosovo to Turkey in 1892 and opened his shop in 1900 to sell Middle Eastern sesame fudge (Halva) and a fermented grain drink (Boza). The business has now been in the family for four generations. Idris's son, Ali, started making Halva with his father after finishing elementary school. Because of his superb skills, people called him Helvaci, which is where the shop's name comes from.
Mardin grilled meat platter
For lunch, we went to the most popular restaurant in the old city of Mardin, Tarihi Sultan Sofrası. They specialize in the Mardin grilled meat platter (Mardin tabağı), which almost every table orders. The platter includes six types of food:
First is Mardin kebab (Mardin Kebabı), made by mixing minced meat with onions, chili peppers, black pepper, and salt before skewering it.
Stuffed lamb ribs (Kaburga dolması) is a rotisserie dish that is part of Ottoman cuisine, and it is especially famous in Mardin and Diyarbakır. When eating stuffed lamb ribs (Kaburga dolması), you must pair it with the local specialty pilaf, which is made with onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, cumin, cilantro, cinnamon, allspice, and various other spices.
Fried meatball (İçli Köfte) is a fried meatball that originated from the Levantine kibbeh. The shell is made from crushed bulgur wheat, flour, eggs, pepper, and spices, while the filling consists of minced meat, onions, parsley, and spices. Unlike the spindle-shaped kibbeh found in the Levant, the ones we ate in Mardin were shaped like meat patties.
Vegetable casserole (Güveç) is a clay pot dish containing stewed potatoes, eggplants, green peppers, and other vegetables.
Sembusek, also called Mardin pizza, is a thin meat pie that looks a bit like a sealed Turkish flatbread (Lahmacun). The minced meat filling includes onions, green peppers, parsley, black pepper, and various spices.
Lamb flatbread (Etli ekmek) is a lamb-filled pastry. It is made by mixing lamb mince with dried red chili and spices, kneading it into dough, and baking it in an oven. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, looking a bit like a cracker.
Besides this, whenever you order meat here, they always serve a plate of vegetables and a plate of onions. The vegetable plate includes cabbage, red cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro, and a squeeze of lemon makes it very refreshing. In Turkey, you can basically avoid the situation of only eating meat and no vegetables while traveling, which I think is great.
Finally, I have to praise the owner for being very welcoming! In the evening, after the sunset prayer (maghrib), I ran into the owner on the street again. He greeted me first, and I felt very grateful (shukr).
Local coffee and desserts
In the afternoon, I had coffee and dessert at a cozy cafe in Mardin, which had a very local feel. Local Mardin coffee is richer than standard Turkish coffee. It contains orchid root powder (salep) and carob powder (carob), and the local Kurds and Assyrians both enjoy drinking it this way. Tabbaka is a yellow rice pudding invented by the Assyrians. Harire is a brown pudding made from local Mazruna grapes, and we finished with a purple basil sherbet (Reyhan Sherbet).
Kurdish flatbread shop
At a Kurdish flatbread shop on the streets of Mardin, the bread is handmade with patterns pressed in by fingers. This flatbread goes well with grilled meat and stews, and restaurants serve it with almost any dish you order.
Traditional Kurdish dance
On the streets of Mardin in the evening, the passionate Kurdish people seem ready to dance at any time. A young man played traditional Kurdish music on a tanbur, and passersby spontaneously gathered to perform the traditional Kurdish dance, Helperkê.
Helperkê is a classic form of traditional Kurdish group dance where everyone holds hands to form an open circle and moves in a ring to the music. Both men and women can join this dance, and everyone can add their own spontaneous movements, reflecting the Kurdish spirit of unity and freedom.
A young Kurdish man sings folk songs while playing the tanbur.
Mardin barbecue
We had a traditional barbecue for dinner at a shop that has been open for 101 years, since 1922. Turkey has not gone through the social changes we saw in the 1950s and 1980s, so it feels common to see old shops that have been passed down through generations for decades or even a century.
Minced meat is charcoal-grilled with green peppers and served with thin flatbread, onions, tomatoes, and cabbage, much like Zibo barbecue where you wrap the meat in the bread. The main difference from our barbecue is that we grill chunks of meat and add seasoning while cooking, while they mix the seasoning into the meat paste beforehand and add nothing while grilling.
Kurdish traditional clothing
I took a walk in the old city of Mardin in the evening and bought a traditional Kurdish mesh headscarf (pushi) and baggy trousers (shalwar) at a local Kurdish clothing shop.
Shalwar are traditional baggy trousers introduced to the Middle East from Persia during the Ottoman period, and the word literally means "trousers" in Persian. These trousers are very loose and held at the waist with an elastic band, and they are especially popular in the farming and herding regions of southeastern Anatolia.
The pushi headscarf is called a keffiyeh in Arabic and is common throughout the Middle East as a way to protect against sunburn and sand in arid regions. However, the styles and ways of wearing these headscarves vary across the Middle East. For example, people on the Arabian Peninsula usually wear a black headband (agal) over a plain white headscarf, while Palestinians use a fishnet-patterned headscarf as a symbol of their national identity. Kurdish headscarves, like those of the neighboring Arabs and Yazidis, generally have a black-and-white or red-and-white mesh pattern, and they are worn by rolling up one side to keep them in place. Today, young Kurds in Mardin mostly use the pushi as a scarf.
Assyrian snack shop
In the evening, I ate fried chickpea balls (falafel) and chickpea dip (hummus) at an Assyrian snack shop, served with tomatoes, pickles, and cabbage. The shop is very popular, and the food was truly delicious.
I chatted with the owner and asked if he was Kurdish or Arab, and he told me he was a Syriac. I initially thought he meant he had moved from Syria, but after looking it up, I learned that Syriacs refers to Syrian Christians, which includes all denominations that use Classical Syriac for their rituals. The Church of the East (Jingjiao), which was popular in China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties, was one of these branches. Therefore, the term Syriac today refers to a group that includes several peoples, such as modern Arameans, Assyrians, and Chaldeans.
Street view
The old town of Mardin has many shops selling prayer beads (tasbih), and they come in a wide variety of materials.
Summary: Mardin is a stone-built city above the Mesopotamian plain where Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, and Muslim communities share a deep local food culture. This first part covers food, lodging, streets, and everyday travel details while preserving the original facts and photos.
Layover in Istanbul
I flew direct from Beijing to Istanbul on China Southern Airlines and finally arrived at the new Istanbul Airport after a 10-hour flight. This was my first time on such a long direct flight, but the China Southern seats were comfortable enough. I watched two movies, took a nap, and ate two meals, so the time passed without feeling too long. I remember flying from Beijing to Urumqi 10 years ago. Back then, we couldn't use phones and there was no entertainment system. Reading on the plane made me dizzy, and even four hours felt like a very long time.
My last trip to Istanbul was in 2018, when I flew into the old Ataturk Airport. That airport is closed now. I didn't stay at the new airport and transferred directly to a Turkish Airlines flight to Mardin. We took a wrong turn and accidentally went through immigration. We had to go to the departure hall, line up for check-in, go through security, and then enter the domestic departure lounge. Luckily, everything went smoothly without any crowds, and the whole process took less than an hour.
The restaurants in the domestic departure area of the new Istanbul Airport don't have as much variety as the international area, but they are relatively cheaper. I ended up choosing Burger King and got a double beef burger. The burger was huge! I specifically took a photo to compare it with my fist. It feels like there are very few McDonald's or KFCs in Turkey, but there are many Burger Kings on the street, and they are actually quite tasty.
Istanbul Airport also has many branches of the local snack shop Simit Sarayi, where you can grab a Turkish-style cheese sandwich with Turkish black tea.
Historic hotel in Mardin
After a flight of nearly two hours from Istanbul, I arrived in Mardin, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey near the borders of Syria and Iraq. I had already arranged for the hotel to send a car to pick me up through Agoda, and it took us straight to the hotel in the heart of the old city.
Mardin is located in the Upper Mesopotamia region, upstream of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The entire old city is built on the southern slope of a mountain ridge. At the very top of the cliff sits a thousand-year-old castle, with the terraced stone city built below it. Because of this, you can look out over the Mesopotamian plains from any terrace in the old city, and the view is spectacular.
Our hotel, Maristan Tarihi Konak, is inside a 700-year-old building. It was originally built by Jewish people and is now run by Kurds. Five hundred years ago, many Armenians and Jews lived in the ancient city of Mardin. Today, it is mainly home to Kurds and Arabs, along with a significant number of Assyrian Christians, making the culture very diverse.
The taxi drove into the maze-like alleys of the old city, weaving left and right up very steep slopes, which made us feel quite nervous. The car finally stopped on a slope. Idris, a young Kurdish man from the hotel, greeted us warmly by the roadside. It was a coincidence that my name is also Idris, which is the name of a prophet.
Idris led us further up the stone steps until we finally reached the Maristan Tarihi Konak hotel. I checked online before we left. Most hotels in the old city of Mardin feature stone houses. This one is not on the main road, so it offers better value for money. The reviews also mentioned that the staff are very friendly, and that turned out to be true.
The walls of our stone house are very thick. Even when it is 30 degrees outside in the summer, you do not need air conditioning inside. However, it does not get as much light as a wooden house because the windows are very small. It is very interesting that our door is also very traditional. You have to insert the large key and turn it several times in the opposite direction, which feels very ancient.
We had a very rich breakfast on the hotel terrace. It included four types of cheese, yogurt, two types of olives, honey, fig jam, pomegranate jam, and grape jam. The main staple was not the bread commonly found in Turkey, but Kurdish flatbread (nan).
The manager of Maristan Tarihi Konak is a Kurdish man named Zahit. He took us for a walk through the old city bazaar and pointed out the general direction of various historical sites on the main road, which was very thoughtful. The bazaar in the old city of Mardin is right behind the main road. It is very lively and stays open until 6:30 in the evening. We saw an older man wearing traditional clothing at the bazaar.
The ancient city of Mardin has a very long history. It was called Merida (castle) during the Roman period. It was incorporated into the Arab Empire in 640 and was later ruled in turns by several tribal dynasties of Mesopotamia. After 1085, Mardin was ruled successively by the Seljuk Empire, the Artuqid dynasty, and the Kara Koyunlu dynasty, all established by Oghuz Turkic tribes. It was finally incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
Assyrian pastries and salty yogurt drink (ayran).
At the old town bazaar, I ate the Mardin specialty Assyrian pastry (Süryani Çöreği) and drank the Kurdish version of salty yogurt drink (Doogh).
The Assyrian pastry (Süryani Çöreği) is said to have a 2,000-year history. It is made with 32 different spices and comes in flavors like date and almond. It is a signature food for Assyrian engagement ceremonies. Assyrians have lived on the Mesopotamian plains for 4,000 years. They built a massive Assyrian Empire before 2000 BC, which helped spread Assyrian culture widely. As an important settlement for Assyrians, many of the local delicacies in Mardin were invented by them. Although Assyrians are Christians, they live alongside Kurds and Arabs, so their snacks are safe for Muslims to eat.
Unlike the Turkish version of yogurt drink (ayran) which only uses salt, water, and yogurt, Kurds add dill, mint, and seeds from the Kurdish pistachio tree (Pistacia kurdica) to their (Doogh). Kurds also make a drink called (Ava Mast) by mixing water into milk and adding these same seasonings.
Purple basil sherbet
In another alley, we drank a Turkish summer specialty, purple basil sherbet (Reyhan Sherbet). It is made with purple basil, lemon salt, cinnamon, and cloves. It is a classic drink for Kurds to break their fast during Ramadan. The man selling the sherbet was very friendly. He used Google Translate to chat with us and pointed out the routes to various historical sites. We felt very grateful (alhamdulillah).
Copperware shop
There are many copperware shops in Mardin where you can buy handmade dried fruit plates and coffee pots. It is also popular here to craft the Hand of Fatima (Hamsa). Friends (dosti) in West Asia and North Africa use the right hand of Fatima as an amulet, believing it protects people from the evil eye and other dangers. The palm-shaped amulet dates back to ancient Mesopotamian civilization. It was later adopted by Sephardic Jews and then entered the traditions of Arabs and Berbers, becoming widely spread throughout the Middle East.
Street view of Mardin old town.
Mardin Museum of Life
We visited the Mardin Living Museum (Mardin Yaşayan Müze), which displays various traditional Mardin handicrafts. In the first room, an Assyrian man showed us silver filigree work and made beautiful earrings for us on the spot using silver wire.
In the second room, an Arab man was busy hammering out various copper items.
In the third room, a Kurdish woman sang traditional Kurdish folk songs for us and played the Kurdish frame drum (Daf). The Daf drum has a very long history. It appeared in Assyrian reliefs over 3,000 years ago and was an important instrument in Zoroastrian rituals. The museum's Daf drum features the Zoroastrian symbol, the Faravahar. As an Iranian-speaking group, Zoroastrianism once had a profound influence on Kurdish culture.
I read in reviews that the museum sometimes has Kurdish dance performances, but unfortunately, we missed them when we visited.
Pistachio dessert
In the old city of Mardin, we ate at a century-old Turkish dessert shop called HELVACI ALİ, which opened in 1900. They started opening branches across Turkey and former Ottoman countries in 2018, and now they have 200 locations.
We had the pistachio-flavored sesame fudge (Halva) served with Maraş goat milk ice cream (Maraş Dondurması). This ice cream contains mastic resin and a type of orchid flour called salep.
We also tried a fruit jam flavor that was delicious, containing several fruits like cherries, figs, and oranges.
The founder of HELVACI ALİ was Idris Efendi. He moved from Kosovo to Turkey in 1892 and opened his shop in 1900 to sell Middle Eastern sesame fudge (Halva) and a fermented grain drink (Boza). The business has now been in the family for four generations. Idris's son, Ali, started making Halva with his father after finishing elementary school. Because of his superb skills, people called him Helvaci, which is where the shop's name comes from.
Mardin grilled meat platter
For lunch, we went to the most popular restaurant in the old city of Mardin, Tarihi Sultan Sofrası. They specialize in the Mardin grilled meat platter (Mardin tabağı), which almost every table orders. The platter includes six types of food:
First is Mardin kebab (Mardin Kebabı), made by mixing minced meat with onions, chili peppers, black pepper, and salt before skewering it.
Stuffed lamb ribs (Kaburga dolması) is a rotisserie dish that is part of Ottoman cuisine, and it is especially famous in Mardin and Diyarbakır. When eating stuffed lamb ribs (Kaburga dolması), you must pair it with the local specialty pilaf, which is made with onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, cumin, cilantro, cinnamon, allspice, and various other spices.
Fried meatball (İçli Köfte) is a fried meatball that originated from the Levantine kibbeh. The shell is made from crushed bulgur wheat, flour, eggs, pepper, and spices, while the filling consists of minced meat, onions, parsley, and spices. Unlike the spindle-shaped kibbeh found in the Levant, the ones we ate in Mardin were shaped like meat patties.
Vegetable casserole (Güveç) is a clay pot dish containing stewed potatoes, eggplants, green peppers, and other vegetables.
Sembusek, also called Mardin pizza, is a thin meat pie that looks a bit like a sealed Turkish flatbread (Lahmacun). The minced meat filling includes onions, green peppers, parsley, black pepper, and various spices.
Lamb flatbread (Etli ekmek) is a lamb-filled pastry. It is made by mixing lamb mince with dried red chili and spices, kneading it into dough, and baking it in an oven. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, looking a bit like a cracker.
Besides this, whenever you order meat here, they always serve a plate of vegetables and a plate of onions. The vegetable plate includes cabbage, red cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro, and a squeeze of lemon makes it very refreshing. In Turkey, you can basically avoid the situation of only eating meat and no vegetables while traveling, which I think is great.
Finally, I have to praise the owner for being very welcoming! In the evening, after the sunset prayer (maghrib), I ran into the owner on the street again. He greeted me first, and I felt very grateful (shukr).
Local coffee and desserts
In the afternoon, I had coffee and dessert at a cozy cafe in Mardin, which had a very local feel. Local Mardin coffee is richer than standard Turkish coffee. It contains orchid root powder (salep) and carob powder (carob), and the local Kurds and Assyrians both enjoy drinking it this way. Tabbaka is a yellow rice pudding invented by the Assyrians. Harire is a brown pudding made from local Mazruna grapes, and we finished with a purple basil sherbet (Reyhan Sherbet).
Kurdish flatbread shop
At a Kurdish flatbread shop on the streets of Mardin, the bread is handmade with patterns pressed in by fingers. This flatbread goes well with grilled meat and stews, and restaurants serve it with almost any dish you order.
Traditional Kurdish dance
On the streets of Mardin in the evening, the passionate Kurdish people seem ready to dance at any time. A young man played traditional Kurdish music on a tanbur, and passersby spontaneously gathered to perform the traditional Kurdish dance, Helperkê.
Helperkê is a classic form of traditional Kurdish group dance where everyone holds hands to form an open circle and moves in a ring to the music. Both men and women can join this dance, and everyone can add their own spontaneous movements, reflecting the Kurdish spirit of unity and freedom.
A young Kurdish man sings folk songs while playing the tanbur.
Mardin barbecue
We had a traditional barbecue for dinner at a shop that has been open for 101 years, since 1922. Turkey has not gone through the social changes we saw in the 1950s and 1980s, so it feels common to see old shops that have been passed down through generations for decades or even a century.
Minced meat is charcoal-grilled with green peppers and served with thin flatbread, onions, tomatoes, and cabbage, much like Zibo barbecue where you wrap the meat in the bread. The main difference from our barbecue is that we grill chunks of meat and add seasoning while cooking, while they mix the seasoning into the meat paste beforehand and add nothing while grilling.
Kurdish traditional clothing
I took a walk in the old city of Mardin in the evening and bought a traditional Kurdish mesh headscarf (pushi) and baggy trousers (shalwar) at a local Kurdish clothing shop.
Shalwar are traditional baggy trousers introduced to the Middle East from Persia during the Ottoman period, and the word literally means "trousers" in Persian. These trousers are very loose and held at the waist with an elastic band, and they are especially popular in the farming and herding regions of southeastern Anatolia.
The pushi headscarf is called a keffiyeh in Arabic and is common throughout the Middle East as a way to protect against sunburn and sand in arid regions. However, the styles and ways of wearing these headscarves vary across the Middle East. For example, people on the Arabian Peninsula usually wear a black headband (agal) over a plain white headscarf, while Palestinians use a fishnet-patterned headscarf as a symbol of their national identity. Kurdish headscarves, like those of the neighboring Arabs and Yazidis, generally have a black-and-white or red-and-white mesh pattern, and they are worn by rolling up one side to keep them in place. Today, young Kurds in Mardin mostly use the pushi as a scarf.
Assyrian snack shop
In the evening, I ate fried chickpea balls (falafel) and chickpea dip (hummus) at an Assyrian snack shop, served with tomatoes, pickles, and cabbage. The shop is very popular, and the food was truly delicious.
I chatted with the owner and asked if he was Kurdish or Arab, and he told me he was a Syriac. I initially thought he meant he had moved from Syria, but after looking it up, I learned that Syriacs refers to Syrian Christians, which includes all denominations that use Classical Syriac for their rituals. The Church of the East (Jingjiao), which was popular in China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties, was one of these branches. Therefore, the term Syriac today refers to a group that includes several peoples, such as modern Arameans, Assyrians, and Chaldeans.
Street view
The old town of Mardin has many shops selling prayer beads (tasbih), and they come in a wide variety of materials.
