Photos

South of the Lake of Van, in Eastern Turkey, we found this village. While in much of the rest of Turkey the summer had arrived, here in the mountains towards the Iranian border the weather was cold and unagreeable and an icy wind blowed, unhindered by any tree.

This, despite the satellite dishes and the electricity, was plain poverty. Like in so many villages in Turkey, no attempt at waste collection was made and rubbish was all over the place. The mountains and the climate do not allow for abundant harvests. The Armenians who once lived here, were in the habit to walk every year to Istanbul 1500 km away to work as hamals (porters) in the winter. The Kurds, who now live here, have not much different lives; most of the men still use to work in the big cities of Western Turkey.

Turkey will perhaps enter the European Union in the next decade. Will this village benefit from it ? Will it turn prosperous ?