Turkish delight form of "lokum" made with starch and sugar. The family business, now in its fifth generation, still operates under the founder's name. Tim Richardson, a historian of sweets, has questioned the popular attribution of Hacı Bekir as the inventor of Turkish Delight, writing that "specific names and dates are often erroneously associated with the invention of particular sweets, not least for commercial reasons". Similar Arab and Persian recipes, including the use of starch and sugar, predate Bekir by several centuries. The Oxford Companion to Food states that although Bekir is often credited with the invention, there is no hard evidence
Bekir Kaya Bekir Kaya <nowiki></nowiki> Bekir Kaya (born 1977) is a Kurdish politician of the Party DBP. He is married to Asli Kaya and father of 2 children. Kaya studied at the faculty of Law at Dicle University and graduated from it in the year 1999. In Van he began to work as a lawyer in the year 2001. He was elected deputy chair of the Van Bar Association. In 2009, Kaya was elected as the mayor of Van with 53,5% of the votes. On the 7th June 2012 Kaya was arrested over allegations of “being a member of a terrorist organization”.