01716nas a2200205   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001100043653001700054653000900071653002400080653001600104100001600120245007200136856015400208300001200362490000700374520110900381022002001490                                       d10aUNESCO10aWestern Asia10aFood10aintangible heritage10aNationalism1 aBahar Aykan00aThe politics of intangible heritage and food fights in Western Asia  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84983520434&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2016.1218910&partnerID=40&md5=020c6083c6cd23aa9d84cef9bdb6d844  a799-8100 v223 aThis article critically examines the nationalistic uses to which UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on intangible heritage is put in Western Asia by looking at the conflicts it initiated amongst the countries in the region over the ownership of shared culinary traditions. I first detail the conflict that has arisen between Armenia and Turkey over the ownership of keşkek dish after its inscription in the Convention’s Representative List on behalf of Turkey in 2011. Then I discuss the ownership conflicts over tolma dish and lavash bread that ensued in the region following the listing of keşkek. Examined together, these cases demonstrate that while the Convention strongly influences the current processes of heritagization of food in Western Asia, these processes do not primarily serve the Convention’s purposes of safeguarding intangible heritage and ensuring mutual appreciation of it. The Convention rather functions as a source of nationalism in the region to identify and legitimate transnational food traditions as national heritage and to prevent other countries from laying claims over them.  a13527258 (ISSN)