Engaged in glass art in Eskişehir, Taha Yoldaş emphasized that the city has turned into a glass center after the meerschaum, stating, “There aren’t many people who combine glass with metal like we do to create jewelry. We are number one in Turkey in this regard.” With the protocol implemented by the Odunpazarı Municipality, glass art has been attracting significant attention from local and foreign tourists for many years. In Eskişehir, which is the center of meerschaum in Turkey, glass craftsmanship continues along with meerschaum processing art. Taha Yoldaş, a 36-year-old glass artist, produces glass jewelry and works that achieve great success in representing traditional handicrafts in Eskişehir. Highlighting that Odunpazarı has become an important center for glass, especially in recent years, Yoldaş mentioned about his profession in glass craftsmanship and the works he produces, saying, “we ship the products we make at 1400 degrees to all over the world.”He mentioned that he started his career in Medical Oncology and initially engaged in glass as a hobby. Later on, he continued this pursuit professionally and has been involved with glass for many years.Yoldaş expressed his journey in glass craftsmanship by saying, “This was my hobby, a job I did as a hobby on Saturdays and Sundays. Then I started to work professionally in the glass sector. After 7 years, I became a master instructor and started training students. In my 9th year of my career, I received the artist certificate. I have been professionally producing glass works for 14 years.”Stating that he works with the technique of shaping glass in an open flame and produces jewelry by combining glass with metal, Yoldaş described the process of working with glass from scratch to a finished work as follows: “Our main technique is shaping glass in an open flame. The Italians call this ‘lampworking.’ In ‘lampworking,’ you have two glass rods or one glass rod. We heat these glass rods in a flame called a torch up to 1400 degrees and shape them. Of course, the sensitivity of glass is a key factor, and within this sensitivity, you practice your art. Glass is truly a delicate object. You need to heat it properly and cool it slowly. Then you need to reheat it slowly in the same way. When you achieve this, it gives a great feeling to the other person, and we enjoy doing it very much. Working with glass is like dancing between 550 degrees to 1400 degrees.” Taha Yoldaş stated that the value given to glass and glass production in Odunpazarı has increased over time with the support of Anadolu University. Emphasizing the importance of the spread of glass craftsmanship and the production of works made of glass at an international level for Eskişehir, Yoldaş stated, “Glass in Eskişehir started on a factory level and then continued with Anadolu University’s Department of Ceramics and Glass. We made a protocol with the Odunpazarı Municipality. With this protocol and the support of Anadolu University, we brought glass to Odunpazarı. We have been educating students in Eskişehir for 19 years. But I still think this is not enough. Changes in Anadolu University, becoming a bit more specialized, and changes in the political environment in Eskişehir naturally resulted in glass being affected positively or negatively. Thanks to our efforts and people’s appreciation, Odunpazarı has become an important glass center, especially. But this is not enough. Eskişehir should be compared to a Venice or a Murano Island. There should be a bit of competition for this to happen. This is not very possible at the moment. For this to happen, we need to educate more students and there should be more interest in this field.”Lastly, Yoldaş emphasized that Eskişehir is number one in meerschaum and secondly focused on promoting glass, highlighting the ongoing efforts in this regard. Reminding that Eskişehir is the only place in Turkey where meerschaum is extracted, Yoldaş stated, “In addition, the second thing we have been doing is putting an emphasis on glass art. Now, there is a sweet competition between us, the meerschaum crafters, but ultimately, these bring Eskişehir’s name to the fore. We send the products we make at 1400 degrees all over the world. Mainly in America, England, and Australia. Turkish citizens there are showing great interest in us. There are not many products like ours that combine glass with metal and turn them into jewelry because there is no range of products. We can say that we are number one in Turkey in this regard.”