Traditional Sohbet meetings

The traditional Sohbet meetings (Turkish: Geleneksel Sohbet Toplantıları) is a Turkish social practice of community conversations. The communities consist exclusively of men above a certain age (typically 15 or 16), regardless of ethnicity, religion or status. The members must have honest families, trustworthy to keep secrets, respectful of their elders, and not gamble or display public drunkenness. In addition to conversations, the meetings may also include dancing, music, plays, and feasts of traditional dishes.^[1][2]

Traditional Sohbet meetings were included in the UNESCO lists of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The decision of the UNESCO Committee stated:^[1]

Traditional Sohbet meetings are social practices that provide a forum for community members to keep alive their oral traditions, transmit their history and share their cultural values, providing them with a sense of identity and continuity;