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Sakarya's Directorate of Culture and Tourism is seeking to add the traditional game "Karacik" to Türkiye's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The game is now played in only one neighborhood, Akcapinar, in the Tarakli district of Sakarya, a province in northwest Türkiye, east of Istanbul.
Under a process started by the provincial directorate, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Identification Commission visited Akcapinar to examine the game's history, how it is played, and its cultural function in the area. A technical report on Karacik will be sent to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's General Directorate of Living Heritage and Cultural Events.
The national inventory is a register of living traditions kept by the ministry under Türkiye's obligations to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which the country joined in 2006. Inclusion on the list is the first step in formally recognizing a tradition.
Karacik is played in village coffeehouses by two teams or in groups of two, with players reciting rhymes. A player who becomes confused or makes a mistake has black paint smeared on their face and is eliminated from the game.
Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Suleyman Acar told Anadolu Agency (AA) that traditional cultural heritage must be kept alive sustainably and passed on to future generations. He said the directorate has added 26 intangible cultural heritage elements to the national inventory so far, while three more are under evaluation.
Acar said fieldwork on Karacik in Akcapinar is complete. "The identification work for the Karacik game, which has survived in our neighborhood from the past to the present, was carried out and its technical report was prepared.
It will be sent to the General Directorate for inclusion in the national inventory," he said.
Akcapinar resident Ibrahim Arslan said the game is a tradition inherited from ancestors and elders. "We play these games at our homes, in the village coffeehouse and at times when we get together," he said, adding that residents want to pass it on.
Mehmet Sanli, the neighborhood's mukhtar, or elected local administrator, said he learned the game by watching older generations and that young people now learn it the same way. "Unfortunately, today I was the first one eliminated as mukhtar," he said.
Mustafa Celikpence, a participant, said players continue the tradition of passing it to the next generation. He said his team won first place on the day.
"What matters for us is not only winning but keeping this tradition alive," he said.
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