Turkish Cotton and Where to Find It

Cotton, in essence, is a must-to-produce material with its extensive and imperative usage while creating countless job opportunities. Cotton growing is a common act and job of many countries, in which eight countries produce 80% of the cotton in the world and continuously show great values of increase over the years. Speaking of worldwide cotton production, Turkey is the 7th on the list, producing more than a million tons annually.

Cotton and Turkey

The usage of the cotton plant varies widely in Turkey. Thanks to the quality of cotton grown in Turkey, people commonly use it in their clothes, rugs, quilts, covers, and much more. Textile and weaving industries are the leading fields that use cotton. As much as cotton gets used in domestic trades, Turkey is the world’s fourth cotton exporter. With such high values and numbers, Turkey manages to supply many countries with their high-quality cotton. Turkey, exporting such valuable amounts of cotton to the world, continuously takes big steps to improve its cotton production outcome while maintaining a stable production level. 

Various locations in Turkey focus on the production of cotton and make the best of their products. The most well-known locations that grown and produce cotton could be listed as the Aegean region, Antalya, Adana, Mersin, and some points in the Southeastern Anatolia region. Cotton growing in Turkey has drastically increased, especially after the 1960s with the initiative of GAP (Southeastern Anatolia Region Project). With more than a million hectares of fields, solely producing cotton, cotton produce in Turkey is a prominent work. The fruitful soil and the rainy structure of Anatolia enable such high values of cotton to be grown and produced in Turkey. Let us take a look further into details about where to find the best Turkish cotton.

Locations of Turkish Cotton

In the Aegean region cities such Aydın, Manisa, and Balıkesir are the most well-known province that produces cotton. Cotton grown in these provinces is generally used nationwide and has a softer texture when compared with the ones that are grown in the southeastern part of Turkey.

Bursa and Çanakkale are the main cotton producers in the Marmara region, but as the weather and the soil are not quite suitable, cotton produced remains in low quantity.

The most renowned location of Turkish cotton remains the same even after 50 years: Çukurova. As a district of Adana province in the Mediterranean region, Çukurova is the most signified location of cotton-making in Turkey. With a deep history of wealthy families with plantations and grand farms, Çukurova is still a large cotton producer in Turkey. Along with Adana, many other locations produce cotton in the Mediterranean region such as Antalya, Hatay, and Mersin.

As cotton requires high temperatures and somewhat dry weather, the region where cotton produce has reached incredible levels of prosperity in the last ten years is the Southeastern Anatolian region of Turkey. Cities such as Elazığ, Malatya, and Iğdır are the leading producers of cotton.

Even though cotton is highly grown in various parts of Turkey, you can always find the best quality of cotton in Istanbul, as every product has a way to reach there in the easiest way possible. So, to acquire the best Turkish cotton, you don't have to visit these specific regions. Visiting the appropriate market in Istanbul will provide you the types of cotton that you need.