ISTANBUL (AP) — In the heart of Istanbul, on top of the towering minarets that dot the city’s skyline, 68-year-old Kahraman Yildiz toils away at a craft that has illuminated the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for generations.
Yildiz, a master of Mahya, the unique Turkish tradition of stringing religious messages and designs between minarets, is facing the twilight of a practice deeply ingrained in Turkish culture that is also taken for granted.