One of the world’s largest carpet producers and exporters, Turkey is getting ready to increase the world stage of the handmade carpets, one of the greatest cultural treasures of these lands. Ahmet Hayri Diler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the İstanbul Carpet Exporters’ Association (İHİB), whom pointed out that the brand value of Turkish handmade carpets is above the standards and with the implementation of the right projects which can reach to the top again, said, “We aim to increase our exports by carrying out important promotional activities in target markets. The success of our initiatives will not only contribute to exports, but also to agricultural development and female employment.”
The İstanbul Carpet Exporters' Association (İHİB) organized a promotional tour to Hereke, where Hereke carpets, which have a history of nearly 200 years, are woven. At the events, Hereke carpets, which earned a global reputation with the fine craftsmanmanship and high quality woven carpets, were all taken to the appreciation of press members and participants around workshops where a visit was also achieved to the Hereke Carpet and Silk Weaving Factory which established in 1943. In this factory, which is affiliated with the Presidency of National Palaces of the Republic of Turkey and continues its production as a museum-factory; as a result of joint studies carried out with National Palace researchers, original Hereke fabric patterns are extracted, and then lost motifs are reproduced and in this way, the carpets in the palaces are brought back to their authentic style with unique patterned fabrics.
‘’We Export Hand-Made Carpets to 123 Countries’’
While stating that Turkey is one of the first countries that comes to mind when carpets are discussed in the world, Ahmet Hayri Diler, Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Carpet Exporters’ Association (İHİB), said, “As Turkey, we export hand-made carpets to 123 countries. The largest shares are the USA with 35 percent and Japan with 28 percent. Due to the fact that we export to higher number of countries, our market diversity and the power of Turkey in global markets are heightened.’’
Exports Will Rise With New Projects
Diler, whom stated that the most prevalent issue has been the insufficient amount of production despite the high potential, continued as follows; “As the Istanbul Carpet Exporters Association, we are aware of this obstacle and are developing projects to overcome that problem. While acknowledging the truth that Anatolia has been the homeland of rug and weaving artisanship, we pay premium attention to the hand-made carpets, which are one of the greatest cultural treasures of these lands. The success of our initiatives will not only contribute to exports, but also to agricultural development and female employment. In addition, the process of renewing and re-exporting of old hand-made carpets in our country also creates a significant economic contribution. The qualified labor force required for this task is also available in Turkey. We provide a critical foreign exchange inflow to our economy with both exports and sales to tourists.”
Diler, whom stated that although Turkey is the world leader in machine-woven carpets, it has lost its long-standing leadership in hand-woven carpet exports and has fallen to fourth place, said, “Currently, India, Nepal and China are ranked in the top three. The brand value of Turkish hand-woven carpets is above the standards and we believe that we can rise to the top once again by implementing the right projects. Our target markets include the USA, Japan, France, Italy and Germany. We aim to increase our exports by carrying out important promotional activities in these countries within the scope of the Turquality Promotion Project. The successes we have achieved in the USA and Japan in particular demonstrate how high our potential is in these markets.” Ahmet Hayri Diler, whom stated that Hereke carpets have a very high value not only in Turkey but also in the global market, said, “Hereke carpets have been preserving our country’s cultural heritage by bringing artisanship and craftsmanship together for centuries, and continuing to carry our country’s hand-craft heritage to future generations with their traditional weaving techniques and creative designs. We aim to ensure that these carpets, woven with great effort and special techniques in Hereke, are widespread to the world at the value they deserve. We attach great importance to the development of carpet weaving in Hereke, which represents Turkish carpet weaving in the best possible way in the global arena, and we are ready to do our best in this regard.”
About İHİB
Istanbul Carpet Exporters’ Association, founded in 1989, is one of the four export associations under the General Secretariat of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Associations. The Istanbul Carpet Exporters' Association (İHİB) represents the Turkish carpet export sector to a very large extent, as approximately 20% of Turkey's total carpet exports and almost all of the hand-made carpet exports are carried out by İHİB member companies. The fundamental aim of the Istanbul Carpet Exporters' Association (İHİB), which serves for approximately 500 carpet exporter companies, most of which are located in Istanbul and its surrounding provinces, is to increase Turkey's export potential in the carpet sector, to increase export performance and to assist its members in all of their export-related activities within this scope. On the other hand, beyond these goals, of course, İHİB aims to advocate and safeguard the interests of the sector at the highest level by representing Turkish carpet exporter companies to a large extent, both on national and international platforms and in the public eye. Istanbul Carpet Exporters’ Association (İHİB) carries out many activities to achieve this goal.
