Southeastern Turkey's ancient Assyrian Christian community has been making wine for thousands of years, but the political turmoil of the last few decades led to an exodus from the region and put many of the community's traditions at risk.
But as a new Voice of America report makes clear, the community is returning to its southeaster Turkish homeland and also reviving its winemaking tradition. From the report:
Assyrian Christian Yusuk Uluisik is crushing grapes by hand - a ritual that has not changed for centuries.
"From our fathers and grandfathers, all the way back to the time of the Jesus, we are making wine in the same way. My family has been making wine here and drinking it for centuries," he explained. "Every year they produce two to three small barrels and put them indoors until they are ready. Then we drink two to three glasses with oily food."
Gradually the juice of the grapes pours out of the bottom of a stone pot and trickles down a stone trench where it is collected and then stored in large plastic containers to ferment.
Once he was one of hundreds of families making wine but now he is just one of a few left. Most departed to escape fighting between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish state during the 1980's and 90's.
"In the past there was little demand, he noted. "Maybe a few bottles at Christmas, to a few Christian families that were left. As everyone else had gone abroad to escape the fighting and for a better life. But in the last five years there has been some kind of revival. There are many tourists visiting and we can't produce enough to meet the demand."
The full article can be found here.
On the other hand, as we previously reported here, not everyone is happy with the return of winemaking to the region.
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