In the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, women’s cooperatives bridge local cuisine, cultural heritage and tourism inside a 150-year-old historic building repurposed as the Gastro Innovation Center.
Founded in 2024, the initiative brings together seven women’s cooperatives under one structure, producing food items entirely through women’s labor — from field to kitchen.
Cooperative chair Meryem Özdemir Ok says the initiative began in 2020 with the aim of strengthening tourism through gastronomy while increasing women’s income and participation in the workforce. “Women work here as if they were at home,” she notes, adding that 9 women are employed full-time while around 30 contribute through flexible arrangements.
The center has compiled nearly 350 traditional recipes collected from different districts of Diyarbakır, many of them preserved through oral transmission from older women. The focus is on reviving and standardizing local dishes, while also advancing geographical indication applications. So far, 59 products have been officially registered, with four more in the application stage and around 300 additional items identified as having registration potential.
Among the most prominent local products are Diyarbakır’s signature peppers, including the Çermik pepper, noted for its distinct aroma and flavor. Efforts are underway to introduce the pepper into international markets, including its use on pizzas in the U.S., as part of a broader strategy to globalize the city’s gastronomic identity.
The initiative also extends to education. A “Diyarbakır Cuisine” training module, developed with the Provincial Directorate of Education, is now being used in adult training programs, with plans to expand into high schools and universities.
Production has also begun in the historic Hevsel Gardens, where women are involved in agricultural output that is processed and brought to market through the cooperative system.
