Türkiye'nin Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'nde yer alan Bitlis kenti, kendi adını taşıyan ilin yönetim merkezidir. Bu kent, Güneydoğu Toroslar üzerinde Bitlis Çayı tarafından açılmış kuzeyi güneye bağlayan bir ulaşım koridoru üzerindedir. Bu yüzden tarih boyunca Anadolu'nun doğu yarısını idare eden bir kültür merkezi özelliğini kazanmıştır. İlk Türk başkenti olan Ahlat'tan sonra, Anadolu'nun ikinci başkenti Bitlis olmuştur. Söz konusu iki yerleşme, gerek Orta Asya'dan ve gerekse Mezopotamya Bölgesi'nden alınan göçlerle nüfuslanmıştır. Bitlis ve Ahlat; pek çok özellikleriyle Türk-İslâm Dünyası için önemli sayılan kentler arasında anılır. Özellikle Bitlis kenti, hem Asya hem de Mezopotamya yemek kültürünün karşılaştığı, karışıp kaynaştığı ve bunlarla birlikte yeni yemek türlerinin ortaya çıktığı bir merkez olarak dikkati çeker. Hızlı göç veren bir alan olması yüzünden bugün kısmen unutulmuş olsa bile 200'den fazla yemek çeşidiyle gastronomi alanında çok önemli bir yere sahiptir. Gastronomik zenginlikten yararlanılmaya başlanması, hem Bitlis kentinin hem de Bitlis ilinin sahip olduğu turizm potansiyelini kullanabilmesi için öncü bir girişim anlamına gelebilir. Çünkü içinde yaşadığımız yüzyıl, turistik motivasyon kalıplarının önemli ölçüde değişime uğradığı bir zaman dilimi olarak bilinmektedir. Son yıllarda en fazla destinasyona sahip turizm türleri arasında, gastronomi turizmi ön plana çıkmaktadır. Maddi olmayan kültürel miras olarak da bilinen gastronomik zenginliğe sahip kentlerin çoğu, yüksek gelir sağlayan gastronomi turizmini keşfetmiş bulunuyor. Ancak gastronomik zenginliğinin bugüne kadar yasal olarak tescil edilmemesi nedeniyle Bitlis'e özgü bazı yemekler, komşu kentler tarafından sahiplenilmiş, hatta kendi adlarına tescil edilmiştir. Bu durum o kentin marka değerinin zedelenmesine ve telif hakları kaybına yol açan bir dizi soruna yol açmaktadır. Ortaya çıkan sorunların giderilebilmesi, kentlerin tanıtılması ve sürdürülebilir gelişmelerine yardımcı olmak amacıyla UNESCO tarafından 2004 yılında yedi farklı alanda oluşturulmuş yaratıcı kentler ağına Bitlis kentinin de katılması, çalışmanın temel amacını oluşturmaktadır. Pek çok kentin koruyucu etkisinden yararlanmak ve daha fazla gelir elde etmek amacıyla yaratıcı kentler ağına katılmak istemesi nedeniyle UNESCO, katılımcıların uymasını zorunlu tutan, altı ana kriter belirlemiştir. Bilgi paylaşımı, kentler arası işbirliği, yerel yönetimlerin konuya sahip çıkması, uzun süreli işbirliği ve kültürel geleneğe bağlılığın korunması gibi kriterler yaratıcı kentler ağının fonksiyonelliğine katkı sağlamak amacıyla istenmektedir. Dolayısıyla bu hedefe ulaşabilmek için çeşitli toplum katmanları arasında yoğun bir işbirliği gerekmekte, çevrenin korunması ve düzenlenmesi ve toplumun eğitim düzeyinin yükseltilmesi gibi pek çok konuda ilerleme sağlanması gerekmektedir. O halde Bitlis kentinin gastronomik zenginliğinin korunması için öncelikle başvuru işlemlerinin başlatılması, en kısa sürede Bitlis'in UNESCO Yaratıcı Kentler Ağı'na dâhil edilmesi ve bir Gastronomi Kenti olarak ilan edilmesi için gerekli çalışmalar yapılmalıdır. Bununla birlikte UNESCO'nun belirlediği katılım kriterlerinin sağlanabilmesi için öncelikle yetersiz olan kentsel altyapının hazırlanması ve yöre halkının eğitilmesi zorunludur. Bölgesel kalkınmayı sağlamada çok önemli olan bu tür girişimlerin başarıya ulaşabilmesi, ancak üniversiteler ve yerel yönetim işbirliği ile mümkün olabilir

Bitlis, located in Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, is the administrative center bearing its own name. This city is on a transport corridor connecting the north to the south opened by the Bitlis Stream on the Southeast Taurus Mountains. Therefore, it has been considered as administrative and cultural center of the eastern half of Anatolia throughout history. Following Ahlat, the first Turkish capital, Bitlis is the second capital of Anatolia. These two settlements in question were populated with migrations from both Central Asia and the Mesopotamian Region.Bitlis and Ahlat are mentioned among the cities considered important for the TurkishIslamic World with their many features.Especially Bitlis draws attention as a center where both the Asian food culture and the Mesopotamian food culture meet, mix, and new food types emerges. It has a very important place in Gastronomy with more than 200 types of food even though it is partially forgotten today due to the fact that it is a fast emigrating area. Beginning to benefit from gastronomic wealth can mean a pioneering initiative for both Bitlis city and Bitlis province to use their tourism potential. Because the century we live in is known as a period of time in which patterns of tourist motivation have changed considerably. In recent years, among the tourism types the most striking and have most destination tourism type is gastronomic tourism. For this reason, cities with gastronomic wealth, known as intangible heritage, have discovered gastronomic tourism providing high income. But, it is noteworthy that some food types specific to Bitlis are being imitated by neighbouring cities and are registered to their own names by using legal process. This situation causes a number of problems that lead to the destruction of the brand value of Bitlis city and the loss of copyright. In 2004, UNESCO created creative cities network in seven fields to eliminate such problems, to promote cities and help sustainable urban development. The fact that the city of Bitlis is added to the network of UNESCO creative cities is the main purpose of this work. UNESCO has set six main criteria that participants have to meet because of the fact that many cities are willing to be included to the network to get higher income and take advantage of the protective effect. Criteria such as information sharing, cooperation between cities, local governments to take ownership of the issue, long-term cooperation, preservation of a cultural tradition are required in order to improve functionality of the creative cities network. Therefore, progress in many areas such as intense cooperation between various levels of the community, protection and planning of the environment and raising education level of the community is required. In that case, legal initiatives for protection of gastronomic wealth should be firstly launched and necessary steps should be taken to involve Bitlis in UNESCO Creative Cities Network and designate as a City of Gastronomy. On the other hand, firstly a substructure should be prepared to meet participation criteria designed by UNESCO and local community is compelled to be educated. Such initiatives, which are very important for regional development, can be achieved only through cooperation between universities and local government The century we live in is known as a period of time in which patterns of tourist motivation have changed considerably. In recent years, the most striking tourism type is gastronomic tourism. This tourism type includes people who are educated, middle aged, working in administrative and professional fields, staying in qualified hotels wherever they go and spending on average. For this reason, cities with gastronomic wealth, known as intangible heritage, have discovered gastronomic tourism providing high income. However, it is noteworthy that a cultural wealth of a city can be copied because of the fact that competition has reached the highest level between countries, regions and even cities. This situation causes a number of problems that lead to the destruction of the brand value of that city and the loss of copyright. In 2004, UNESCO created creative cities network in seven fields which are literature, cinema, music, crafts and folk arts, design, media arts and gastronomy to eliminate such problems and help sustainable urban development. 116 cities meeting required criteria have been included to this network all over the world until now and 18 of them are cities of gastronomy. UNESCO has set six main criteria that participants have to meet because of the fact that many cities are willing to be included to the network to get higher income. Criteria such as information sharing, cooperation between cities, local governments to take ownership of the issue, long-term cooperation, preservation of a cultural tradition are required in order to improve functionality of the creative cities network. Therefore, progress in many areas such as intense cooperation between various levels of the community, protection and planning of the environment and raising education level of the community is required. Therefore, the process of joining the creative cities network has become very difficult. It is obvious that a long termed, patient and meticulous preparation time is necessary. The food culture areas transmitted from generation to generation through cultural heritage are very limited in the world. Turkey, located in the geometric center of the Old World, is a country known for its gastronomic wealth. However, the centers drawing attention with their gastronomic wealth in different provinces in this country are limited. Among these centers, Gaziantep, Bitlis, Bolu and Kahramanmaraş are at the top of the list. While Gaziantep has been included to creative cities network, Bitlis which is richer in terms of food culture could not benefit from any protective facilities. Moreover, it is noteworthy that some food types specific to Bitlis are being imitated by neighboring cities and are registered to their own names by using legal process. However, Bitlis is a culture center governing a large area populated since the first era due to its strategic location. A very special gastronomic wealth has emerged in this city due to the mixing of communities from Asia and Mesopotamia. Most of the dishes, whose number is around 200, are cooked in cookware and will contribute to healthy eating. It is necessary to employ the female population intensively because of the need for fine craftsmanship and mastery in order to enable to produce these dishes and to involve in restaurant foods. Registration of Bitlis as a city of gastronomy and participation to UNESCO creative cities network will help employment of this undeveloped province and contribute to its sustainable development. On the other hand, according to experiences all over the world, it has been understood that only gastronomic wealth is not enough for a province to attract tourists adequately and to generate income. It is noteworthy that provinces with natural and cultural tourism icons, in addition to making those who participated to tourism phenomenon acquainted with food culture, can gain more advantages in attracting tourists. In this way, it can be said that Bitlis will provide significant gains by its tourism potential because Bitlis province is a completely tourism area. Bitlis is almost a geology science lab. When Bitlis is in question, unique banks of Lake Van, the volcanoes of Nemrut and Süphan, winter tourism centers, imbricate structure of Bitlis Massif which is the oldest geological structure in the world come to the mind. It is known that Bitlis, administrative center of Bitlis province, has many important historical artifacts. Bitlis is a stone housing culture area. In the same way, it is one of the most important open-air museums in the world with its touristic values such as Ahlat, which is in hinterland of this city, vaults, castles, cave houses and Great Seljuk Square Cemetery. If tourism values are used to support gastronomic culture, creating a successful tourism area can be possible in this province. Participation of Bitlis to UNESCO creative cities network as a city of gastronomy will contribute to sustainable development. Nonetheless, some disadvantages due to its location exist. Terrorist actions which have been going on since 1983 in the eastern half of Turkey have caused economic activities, especially tourism activities, to slow down. This situation constitutes a major obstacle towards the city's getting populated and development. The fact that educated and skilled workforce continuously immigrate with various reasons is another problem. An unplanned development, rapid destruction of historic stone houses and mansions and, instead of them, building concrete blocks are in question in the city. This situation, which will harm the city's cultural status should be prevented before time runs out. It is extremely difficult to create a city of gastronomy. It is necessary to take the support of non-governmental organizations and universities in the leadership of local government to ensure this. First of all, re-planning, controlling and inspecting the historical identity of the city is vital for its protection.