Türkiye is the country with the most items on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List after China.
There are a total of 32 items from Türkiye on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) list for the protection of the world's intangible cultural heritage. Türkiye ranks second in the world after China on this indicator and is among the countries that are conducting the most successful work in this field worldwide. Prof. M. Öcal Oğuz, President of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO, underscored this point in his remarks to Anadolu Agency.
At the most recent UNESCO conference convened in India, "Gaziantep-style embroidery" was inscribed as the 32nd entry on the organisation's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
"Gaziantep işi" or "Antep işi" embroidery is a form of handcrafted needlework that derives its name from the Gaziantep region in Southeastern Anatolia. This type of embroidery is traditionally executed by drawing threads on white fabric; these threads are then wrapped and interlaced with white, yellow, and cream-coloured threads to create an openwork structure.
This handicraft is believed to have originated in the 1850s in the villages of Gaziantep, located near the Syrian border.
Initially, the motifs created with threads were embroidered onto men’s slippers; over time, the same motifs also began to be worked onto finer fabrics. It has been reported that these embroidered products manufactured in Gaziantep are exported to European markets. According to the Agency, the fact that this embroidery is still widely practised today by the people of Gaziantep and continues to preserve the characteristics of ancient Turkic embroidery is regarded as evidence of its origins. Contemporary Antep embroidery is produced using multicoloured metallic threads and auxiliary embroidery needles, while preserving the original technique without alteration.
In addition to embroidery, Gaziantep also stands out for a wide range of traditional crafts, including mother-of-pearl inlay, copperware, silver items, carpet weaving, Yemen cloth, pottery, saddle-making, and local musical instruments.
According to statistics, the country with the most items on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List is China. Türkiye ranks second, followed by France, Iran, India, and Croatia.