Best Things to Bring Back from Turkey

Turkey can lay claim to centuries-old olive trees, allowing it to produce some of the best natural and handmade soaps in the world. Pick up a few of these appealing green bars the next time you’re in the country. The all-natural ingredients are gentle on the skin and can even be used to wash babies. Try Derviş in the Grand Bazaar.

A sure sign that someone’s been to Turkey is the ownership of a blue-glass evil eye, as the nazar boncuk is known in the country. It adorns every kind of trinket, from necklaces to key rings. The power and the colour of the eye are said to ward off adversity and so you’ll see them nationwide, on doorways, in the walls in houses, and on babies’ clothing, as well as attached to horses and on the rear-view mirrors in vehicles. Have a look for elegant examples in branches of lifestyle store Pasabahce.

Incredibly portable (which means it’s easy to carry in a cabin bag), neatly stackable tulip Turkish tea glasses are an everyday symbol of Turkish culture. Turkey’s tea — or çay — culture is steeped in hundreds of years of tradition and tea is consumed all day long, starting from breakfast until bedtime. Offering tea and drinking tea together is a gesture of friendship. As well as looking pretty, the uniquely curved shape helps keep the tea warm, and your glass is usually handed to you on a colourful little saucer. Browse a branch of Pasabahce.

Inspired by the vivid decorations of the mighty sultans’ palaces, Turkey’s mosaic lamps display the colours of Ottoman cultures. Exquisitely handmade, they combine Turkey’s centuries-old tradition of glassmaking with the pre-electricity era of oil lamps. They can hang chandelier-style or be table- or freestanding. So attractive are they that Louis Comfort Tiffany returned from a trip to Istanbul and set about recreating his own, now world-famous version of the Turkish classic. Take a look at the many options sold by Tuncer Gift Shop (Taya Hatun Sokak 1) on the street that runs alongside Topkapi Palace.

Lemon cologne or kolonya has been a key element of Turkish hospitality since the days of the Ottoman Empire. This refreshing citrus multi-tasker is sprinkled on guests’ hands in homes, after meals at restaurants, during bus journeys and on many other occasions. Refreshing in the intense heat of a Turkish summer or when sprayed as a perfume, the cologne also functions as an effective hand-sanitiser, helping kill bacteria and germs. Ask about the fine brand Eyüp Sabri Tuncer in perfume shops.

The charcoal-burning samovar, or semaver in Turkish, is a traditional and usually very ornate tea urn used in the preparation of high-quality black tea. They are handmade by craftsmen, often in copper, and the metal affects the quality of the tea as well as its aroma. Now mainly used for larger gatherings, more contemporary two-tier electric versions have become the day-to-day utensil of choice. Try Tuncer Gift Shop (Taya Hatun Sokak 1) on the street that runs alongside Topkapi Palace.