Turkish souvenirs made in New Zealand

By Charlotte Shipman

The painstaking craft of hand knotting Turkish rugs is thousands of years old and based thousands of kilometres from these shores.

But the modern versions of the ancient art have a distinctly kiwi connection.

Throughout the world, Turkish rugs are a highly sought after souvenir. On the streets and in the markets of Istanbul there is a carpet on every corner.

But what most buyers do not know is how much Kiwi’s weave.

“It’s 50 percent New Zealand wool and 50 percent local wool,” says Mustafa Gozne, a wool importer.

Gozne has been getting his wool from New Zealand Wool Services since 1992.

Last year he imported 60 percent of New Zealand wool exports to Turkey – that is nearly two thousand tonnes of wool, worth $7 million.

It is mainly used in machine made carpets, blended with Turkish wool

But 10 percent is used for traditional hand knotted carpets, an art which cheap labour in Pakistan, China and India is threatening to destroy.

“They give the designs, the colours, patterns and they produce Turkish carpet but not in Turkey,” says Gozne.

Hand knotting carpet is extremely labour intensive. Each square metre has 360 knots and takes more than a month to complete.

Our wool is valued for being readily available and having a consistent texture.

“When you use this wool you will not have any headache. I mean the quality during the dying and the knotting,” says Gozne.

There is only one problem – customers do not realise the secret of the rugs and do not give New Zealand credit.

“They wouldn’t really have great understanding that it’s always coming from New Zealand which is something we are looking to change throughout the world,” says Paul Steel from NZ wool services.

But awareness is growing.

Twenty years a go, hand knotted carpet manufacturers did not know anything about New Zealand wool. Now it is synonymous with quality

Of the millions of tourists who visit Turkey every year, some are leaving with a small piece of New Zealand.

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