Since the Caucasus and the Kars plateau is a stockbreeding region, it is inevitable that carpet making is highly developed in the region. The motifs are generally in the form of geometric shapes or medallions. Lezgi Kazak carpets are good examples of this. There are also carpets with flower designs. The borders of Kars carpets add to their beauty. The carpets which are mostly produced in the Caucasus are influenced by the multicultural identity of the region. Kars carpet motifs reflect this multicultural aspect beautifully, with many influences from the Caucasian style. The broken lines of the Adler and Lezgi Sirvan carpets are the lines of the Kars and Azerbaijan regions. The shapes of crosses or butterflies are generally of Armenian, Georgian and Lezgi origin. These designs are considered to reflect the synergy of the cultural richness of all the countries in the Caucasus.

Photograph: Ertugrul Erdem

Each city accumulates its cultural heritage like a vintage wine. This culture finds its flesh and bone through the hands of poets and writers.
Examples of the “Divan Literature” which grew up in the palace sphere in Ottoman times are not found in Kars, which was too far away from the palace. However folk literature was well developed and countless folk tales were told or written. The ashiks with a sharp plectrum, and later more contemporary writers followed Turkey’s pulse in every period and expressed them with a
most refined literary sensibility.
The “social realism” movement at the beginning of the 1960s included many famous poets and writers of Kars origin, such as Ataol Behramoglu, Tekin Sönmez, Ümit Kaftancıoglu, Erkan Karagöz, Nihat Behram and Dursun.
There are also many historical studies about Kars. The Kars historian Fahrettin Kırzıoglu is responsible for many: his work on Kars history, culture and literature is among the basic sources for others.
The dictionary published by the Turkish Language Board in 1952 contained more than 3,000 words that originated in Kars dialect.
Âsık Senlik pops up suddenly in an Anatolian story. He teaches pupils who later become ashiks. Murat Çobanoglu, Seref Taslıova and many others... On a frosty February day, Nihat Berham gazes out, “Smiling All The Same”. If you like, ask Cemal Süreyya where the snowman is from...