(Sabah Newspaper, 1 January 2015)
Topakli's 'Dorothy': "There's no place like home."
Mehmet and Perihan Demir, who now live in Kahramanmaras,
left for Istanbul to make a better livelihood for themselves years
ago. Once in Istanbul, they first worked as street vendors and
then sold clothes they got from ready-made clothes factories
in Mahmutpasa. Five years later they had their own ready-made
clothes workshop and continued to make sales.
Business kept improving for the Demir couple and they ultimately
set up an even bigger clothes factory. Nevertheless, from the day
they first left their village for Istanbul they treasured the dream of
one day returning home.
Admit it. You've thought about doing it, too.
Finally, in 2010 the Demirs sold their business and home in
Istanbul and returned to their hometown of Topakli village in
Kahramanmaras's Elbistan district. They built a 2,500 square
meter stable and started to raise 200 sheep. Today the flock is
800-strong.
Perihan Demir (42) leaves home early in the morning with her rifle,
shepherd's cane and her Kangal dog 'Cirkin' to take the sheep
up into the mountains to graze, returning home at sunset. She
has two children, one at university, and says "for 25 years I had
the good and the bad of Istanbul. But we never lost our love for
the village we left reluctantly so long ago. I'm very happy in these
mountains. I could have been the 'lady boss' in Istanbul but here
I'm the 'shepherd lady'".
Elbistan district is in northeast Kahramanmaras province.
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