Ava Sûsê: The Kurdish Licorice Drink They Renamed "Turkish Cola"

Sherko Sabir
May 28
4 min read

Ava Sûsê: The Kurdish Licorice Drink They Renamed "Turkish Cola"

Ava sûsê is the Kurdish name for licorice root drink — a cold, dark, foamy beverage made by soaking and pressing licorice root in water. It is one of the most consumed drinks in Kurdistan during summer. In Amed (Diyarbakır), the Kurdish capital, vendors have carried it on their backs in ornate brass containers through the streets of Sur district for generations. Cemil Batıbay, a 69-year-old Kurdish vendor in Amed, has been selling ava sûsê since he was 20. The same drink is called meyan şerbeti in Turkish, and international food encyclopaedias have rebranded it as "Turkish Cola" — attributing it to "Ottoman sherbet culture" and describing it as a product of "southeastern Turkey." The vendors are Kurdish. The cities are Kurdish. The licorice grows on Kurdish land. The name on the global record is Turkish.

Key Takeaways

• A cold licorice root drink served from ornate brass containers by Kurdish street vendors

• The top summer drink across Kurdistan — found on every street corner in Amed (Diyarbakır), Riha (Şanlıurfa), and Dîlok (Gaziantep)

• Kurdish vendors carry it on their backs in brass containers through the streets — a living Kurdish street culture tradition

• Rebranded as "Turkish Cola" and attributed to "Ottoman sherbet culture" in international food media

Quick Facts

Kurdish Name: Ava Sûsê (water of licorice)

Rebranded As: Meyan Şerbeti (Turkish), "Turkish Cola" (international media)

Type: Cold licorice root drink — street vendor beverage

Region: Amed (Diyarbakır), Riha (Şanlıurfa), Dîlok (Gaziantep), and across Kurdistan

Status: Kurdish street drink rebranded as Turkish and attributed to Ottoman culture

Origins: Licorice Root on Kurdish Land

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) grows wild across the river valleys and lowland plains of Kurdistan — particularly in the Tigris basin that runs through Amed, Riha, and Dîlok. The plant has been used medicinally and as a sweetener in this region for thousands of years, long before any modern state existed. The drink made from it is simple: dried licorice root is soaked in water, pressed, and the dark, sweet, slightly medicinal liquid is strained and served cold. It is valued for its cooling properties in the extreme summer heat of the Kurdish lowlands, where temperatures regularly exceed 40°C.

The street vendor tradition is the cultural heart of ava sûsê. In Amed's Sur district — the ancient walled city that is the historical centre of Kurdish urban life — vendors carry the drink in polished brass containers strapped to their backs. They walk the streets calling out, offering cups of cold licorice water to passersby. This is not a recent tourist attraction. Cemil Batıbay, profiled by ANF News in 2018, had been selling ava sûsê in Sur for nearly fifty years. The tradition is older than him.

"Turkish Cola": The Erasure of Kurdish Street Culture

International food encyclopaedias have renamed ava sûsê as "Turkish Cola" and placed it within "Ottoman sherbet culture." The vendors are described as operating in "southeastern Turkey" — the coded phrase this series has documented repeatedly. The cities where the drink is most consumed — Amed, Riha, Dîlok — are Kurdish cities. The vendors carrying brass containers through the streets of Sur are Kurdish men. The tradition of calling out to customers, the ornate containers, the seasonal rhythm of the trade — all Kurdish street culture. Attributing this to "Ottoman sherbet culture" is like attributing haggis to the British Empire.

The nickname "Turkish Cola" is particularly revealing. It takes a Kurdish drink — older than the Republic, older than the Empire — and rebrands it using the name of a modern nation-state and an American product. The Kurdish name, ava sûsê, is clear and descriptive: water of licorice. The Turkish name, meyan şerbeti, at least describes the plant. "Turkish Cola" erases everything — the Kurdish language, the Kurdish vendors, the Kurdish cities, the plant itself — and replaces it with a national brand and a foreign metaphor.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ava sûsê?

A cold licorice root drink, one of the most popular summer beverages in Kurdistan. It is served from ornate brass containers by Kurdish street vendors and valued for its cooling and medicinal properties.

Why is it called "Turkish Cola"?

International food media nicknamed it "Turkish Cola" because of its dark colour and foamy appearance. The nickname erases the Kurdish origin, the Kurdish name (ava sûsê), and the Kurdish vendors who have sold it for generations. It replaces a Kurdish drink with a Turkish national brand and an American metaphor.

Conclusion

Somewhere in the ancient streets of Sur, a Kurdish man is carrying a brass container of licorice water on his back, calling out to customers in the heat. His father did the same. His grandfather before that. The drink he sells is called ava sûsê. It has been called ava sûsê for as long as anyone in Sur can remember. The internet calls it "Turkish Cola." The Turkish state calls it meyan şerbeti and files it under Ottoman culture. The man walking the streets of Amed doesn’t call it either of those things. He calls it what it is: ava sûsê. Kurdish licorice water. The name that was there first.