Is baklava Turkish or greek

Answer 1

It actually has its roots in ancient Greece (the treat of γάστρι -same as backlava but the outside had sesame biscuit layer instead). This was modified under Byzantine years by Byzantine Greeks who formed alot of pastries and sweets because of important religious celebrations such as Easter. Some people believe its 'Turkish' because the Ottomon Turks invaded Asia Minor (the bulk of Byzantine Empire) and overtook many such recipes beginning in the mid and culminating in the later middle ages. There were no Turks in what is called 'Turkey' before 1100AD but once they spread in that region by war they often copied and modified many cultural artifacts (another example is the dome structure of mosques which was copied from Byzantine churches. Remember the Ottomons were Islamic and this was a fairly new religion --having begun in the 600s AD --the religion spread fast through old pagan Arabia and by war conquered that region (and later Persia and Asia Minor) and then grew fast enough that it absorbed much of the culture around it. Many fine Persian cultural traditions were also encapsulated by Islam and are claimed to be 'Arabic' in the same way as baklava is claimed to be 'Turkish').

Answer 2

As much as Greeks may tell the world that it is a Greek dessert, it is actually a Turkish dessert.