Turkish knotted carpets and flat-weaves occupy a very important place in our cultural heritage as ethnographic documents relating to the Turkish inhabitants of Anatolia in each succeeding epoch, like all other such historical documents, carpets and kilims clearly reflect the values of the period in which they were made.

The motifs and colours typical of Turkish carpets and kilims constituted an important medium of expression for the weaver and his community. The values of the period to which it belonged may be reflected in the twist and quality of the wool, the manner in which the dye was manufactured and from what plants or insects it was produced, the fineness or looseness of the stitch and, most important of all, the symbolic significance of the motifs and the aesthetic dimensions of the stylisation. Turkish hand-woven carpets may thus be regarded as source material for the study of the anthropology, ethnology and ethnography of the periods to which they belonged, as well as of the general technical and economic background.

There are four kinds of flat weaves in Turkey : kilims, cicims, sumaks, and zilis : among these, kilim is the most common one.
 
KILIM
A kilim is always a weft-faced weave. Independent wefts are woven back and forth each in its own pattern area.

CICIM
The cicim is woven on a balanced plain or weft-faced weave with an additional design thread used in a semi-wrapping sequence.

ZILI
The zili is woven on a balanced plain or weft-faced weave in which two, three or rarely five warps are floated in horizontal sequences by an extra weft.

SUMAK
The sumak weave results from a complete wrapping of the warps in each shed by de- sign threads.