Nineteen women from the Kosovan city of Gjilan who came to Turkey's Karabük to learn Turkish handicrafts, will familiarize their country with characteristic Turkish works, such as jewelry design, "tel kırma" and "tel sarma," a type of needlework embroidered with silver or copper yarn with a history dating back to the 17th century.

At workshops organized with the cooperation of the Embassy of Kosovo in Turkey, Karabük Municipality, Karabük City Council and the Public Training Center, Kosovan women worked on scarves, bags, slippers, wallets, belts, ties and dresses in addition to covers. They learned how to work on colorful textured fabric or tulle, stretched in a round frame, using special needles to bend the silver or copper yarns. Throughout the 10-day training, they embroidered the materials with patterns depicting roses, tulips, cloves, leaves, baklava, as well as flies, bees, butterflies and spiders.

Kosovans ready to host Turkish people

Remzije Radeci, one of the trainees, spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) and talked about how she enjoyed her Turkey experience.

"Here I've learned 'tel kırma' and its patterns. I have never had the chance to do something like this in Kosovo. We are open to learning more handicrafts in Turkey. We are also ready to host Turkish people in Kosovo," said Radeci.

Another trainee, Violeta İsmajli, stated that this is the first time she has been to Turkey and she really loved the country. Saying that she experienced fantastic works in Karabük, İsmajli said, "I've never seen 'tel kırma' before and I think we will contribute to the Kosovo economy with this craft."

Expressing their pleasure in hosting Kosovan women and training them, handicraft trainer Ayşe Şengün said: "In addition to traditional handicrafts dating back to the 17th century such as 'tel kırma' and 'tel sarma," they also attended workshops on jewelry design and skincare. They were quite successful considering it was just a 10-day workshop. They plan to create a small atelier in Kosovo and contribute to the country's economy by marketing the handicrafts. This is a real pleasure for us. We hope that we did our best in presenting Turkey and thank those who contributed."