Hasim Gureli poses at his carpet shop in Grand Bazaar

Where heritage Turkish crafts once flourished under the Ottoman-era marketplace's painted ceilings, the elegant carpet store run by Hasim Gureli is now surrounded by shops selling designer dupes.

"Back in the day, imitations were rare," said Gureli, who is vice-president of the bazaar's traders' association and a member of its board of directors. "When some people started selling fake bags, they kept themselves hidden. They were afraid of the state," the carpet-seller added.

Many others among the bazaar's old-timers, who have fond memories of the small workshops that used to fill its labyrinthine alleyways, despair at seeing it overrun by fraudulent facsimiles.

Tea set-seller Gazi Uludag lamented that the Grand Bazaar has "lost its unique character". "There is nothing but imported or counterfeit goods left and it's getting worse every year," he said.

In her handmade carpet store, Florence Heilbronn-Ogutgen bemoaned the fact that an artisan friend "who used to make real, beautiful bags in very good leather" had to shutter his shop, unable to make a living. For the shopkeeper, who has been at the bazaar since 1998, artisans "can no longer survive" in the face of competition from the dubious dupes.

One of the world's largest covered markets, the almost six-centuries-old Grand Bazaar attracts millions of tourists every year -- many of them lured by the promise of cheap luxury.  As one of the main countries for the production and transit of counterfeit goods, along with China and Hong Kong, knock-offs are ubiquitous in Turkey.