University lecturer calls for renaming terebinth coffee ‘Kurdish coffee’ 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A university lecturer in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil province has argued that the original name of terebinth coffee was “Kurdish coffee” until it was renamed Menengic by the Kemalists in Turkey in the 1930s. 

Karwan Sabah Hawrami is a lecturer at the Salahaddin University-Hawler. In a Dec. 22 Facebook post, he argued that coffee has a history that dates back to 1635.

The coffee is made from the terebinth berries of Kurdistan’s mountains.

A French company was marketing the coffee in Europe before the Kemalists forcibly changed its name to “Turkish coffee”, Hawrami wrote. 

The Turkish name of the coffee is Menengiç. 

Locally, the coffee is now called Qazwan (terebinth) by people in the Kurdistan Region and is served under that name in restaurants and coffee shops. 

Hawrami calls on the government, coffee shops, and restaurant owners to name it “Kurdish coffee” instead of “Qazwan”, as the former is the “original” moniker.

Hawrami is an expert in hydrology and geography. 

Terebinth berries are roasted to extract the paste of the fruit for making the coffee, which is mixed with milk and served in demitasses. It is a popular drink in the Kurdistan Region.