UNESCO announces Gaziantep as world gastronomy city

Gaziantep cuisine has been added Saturday to UNESCO's "The Creative Cities Network," including 47 cities from 33 countries. Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin said the city can be now mentioned as one of the world's major gastronomic cities. The local dishes of Gaziantep are many and varied, ranging from kebab, dried aubergine dolma, and mumbar (stuffed sheep's intestines) to katmer (fried layered pastry). Aiming to achieve social, economic and cultural improvement in developed and developing countries, the network promotes local creativity and representation. The network has different sub-categories like design, cinema, gastronomy, literature, music, visual arts and handicrafts. Only eight cities had been added to UNESCO's gastronomy list from around the world until Gaziantep's inclusion. There are two cities from China as well as others from Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Lebanon, Sweden and Columbia. The network was established in 2004 with 116 member cities.