SIPKI-DER | Cultural Diplomacy & Economic Empowerment Center

Who are the SIPKI?

The SIPKI are a culturally rich community shaped by centuries of migration, intercommunal alliances, oral traditions, and spiritual diversity. With Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, and Persian roots, the community has held significant influence across Mesopotamia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Until recent history, the SIPKI were composed of 27 interconnected lineages (components) originating from the Van and Hakkari regions of Eastern Anatolia. These lineages have preserved a strong collective identity through oral heritage, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and spiritual-cultural continuity. Today, SIPKI families are spread across Türkiye, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

Each of the 27 core components is linked to a central heritage hub, including:

Hoşap, Başkale, Esendere, Hakkari city, Şemdinli, Yüksekova, Erciş, Doğubayazıt, Van city, Gevaş, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Mersin, Adana, Antalya, İzmir, Batman, Iğdır, Urmia, Duhok, Sinjar, Qamishli, Erbil, and Cologne.

SIPKI-DER | Cultural & Economic Strategy Platform

Operating across 30+ cities in Europe, Türkiye, the Middle East, and North America, SIPKI-DER is a next-generation civil society organization where cultural identity meets economic empowerment.

Since 2017, we have united 1 million individuals from a 5 million+ culturally linked community through:

Rebuilding lost family ties through heritage-matching

Onboarding 300+ SMEs into a SIPKI-aligned cultural economy

Planning and securing 30+ micro-museum locations (physical & digital)

Launching the UNESCO nomination process for Hoşap Castle

Creating youth academies, award schemes, and storytelling archives

SIPKI-DER treats culture not only as a memory of the past but as a blueprint for future innovation. Our work spans digital platforms, oral storytelling, economic mapping, publishing, community-led branding, and cross-regional partnerships.