Sunday was World Breakfast Day, courtesy of Turkey which declared the occasion two years ago to promote its rich cuisine.

Several activities were held across the country to mark the day with the eastern province of Van leading the celebrations. Van, with its invention of a large breakfast, is viewed as the country’s breakfast capital, drawing visitors from around the country to taste diverse dishes served in the morning in its restaurants every day.

Visitors came together at a traditional breakfast at Van citadel to observe the day by indulging the dishes and vegetables. The province has broken the world’s most crowded breakfast table record in 2014 with the participation of 51,793 people. However, In the past two years, events were muted due to the COVID-19 pandemic but this year’s edition brought together breakfast enthusiasts without restrictions.

Breakfast tables had everything from traditional cheese with herbs, karakovan honey cultivated in the highlands, murtuğa, a dish made of flour, butter and egg, and kavut, made of fried butter and ground wheat.

Speaking at the event, Van Governor Ozan Balcı said the Van breakfast was a "cultural product" and "a reflection of people’s labor, culture and hospitality." Necdet Takva, head of Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which contributed to the declaration of June 5 as World Breakfast Day, said the Van breakfast has become an important brand of Van. Takva noted that the country backed their efforts to make their breakfast more known, adding that the day was also observed with traditional breakfast servings at Turkish Embassies abroad, from Paris to Doha.