Nomads Have Goats, Will Travel

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 4 July 2020)

                 
                                    They own the road.

For the past 20 years, every June, brothers Ersan and Emin Çakal
of the Aegean Karakeçili Yörüks (Karakeçeli nomads), together
with their wives, Pınar and Yurdagül, drive their herd of 1,100 goats (!)
from Ortaköy village in Denizli's Çal district to the higher elevations
of Banaz district in Uşak province so the goats can graze in the cool
pastures there.

This year some of their teenage children joined in the trek, where the
first stop was in Denizli's Bekilli district. The "yörüks" spent the
night in their tractor's trailer-cum-caravan.  In the morning, they
hit the road early and reached Beki village in Uşak's Karahallı
district.


             Breakfast includes lots (and lots) of goats milk.

The Çakal family navigated rough terrain and wooded areas with
their herd and occasionally stopped in villages along the way,
spending nights in Paşalar and Çokaklı, before arriving at the
Pınarbaşı region of Uşak's Sivaslı district. 

Their final destination was the Ayvacık region of Banaz district,
where the "yörüks" set up their tents and prepared pens for the goats.
They plan to remain in Ayvacık until November.



Starting point Çal is a bit NE of Denizli city.  From there the
Yörüks went via Bekilli, Karahallı and Sivaslı to Banaz.