From Pr1son to Freedom: He Chose Life in the Wild | 1700 Sheep, 5 Kangal Dogs
The steppe is of crucial significance for the sheep. The shepherd is always by his sheep ‘s side. But this job is not easy at all. Palaz is our heart and soul, you know, Palaz is like our child. He is so much more than just a dog; the deep bonds that we share, our friendship … he is a remarkable creature that can truly sense the sadness in a person ‘s eyes.
Because the steppe is full of dangers. To guard the flock, one must remain alert and cautious at every single moment. I spent seven years in prison. During the time I was in prison, I used to walk. As I walked, I mean, we were pacing back and forth. When we paced, I would hit the wall. Every time I hit the wall, I actually felt sad. I mean.
There was always a longing inside me. Like this. Man, if only I could get out one day, and when I look up, see an endless sky instead of just a square. If I could only see the vast sky, and walk and walk until my knees have no strength left at all, walk until my knees are completely tired and my feet can no longer carry me forward, and just keep walking on without ever turning back or hitting any walls.
Anatolia ‘s last nomadic shepherds, Purple Sheep. Being happy with tiny gifts … … is what it means to be a child. Being free is not about being rich. Being free … … is being able to be happy with the life you have. Just hold my hand.
With the arrival of the summer months, the sheep are being prepared for shearing. Uncle Mehmet, a shepherd from Iran, is giving salt to the sheep before he takes them up to the mountain. We sprinkle this salt for the sheep to eat. The sheep graze better when they eat salt. They spread out better. If the sheep do n’t eat salt, they keep moving constantly.
And salt is necessary for the health of the sheep. That ‘s why we give salt to the sheep. The sheep, having eaten the salt on the rocks, are moving toward the mountain where they ‘ll spend the night. Whoa! That is absolutely amazing!
Whoa! That is absolutely incredible. The dominance of power is the only reality of natural life. Nietzsche brought a perspective to these conditions that we actually endure. He summarizes it with these words. He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
Sometimes, looking from the outside, it can seem very difficult, very tough. But we have reasons to live. And we have to stru.ggle for it. The meaning of our lives is actually our responsibilities. Even this life is under our responsibility. And we are under its responsibility. Sometimes it happens that he risks his life for us. And sometimes it happens that we risk our lives for him. And we pay the price.
Let ‘s go. Come on, come on, come on, come on. I am Erdal Karadag. I am thirty six years old. In fact, as of yesterday, I have turned thirty seven. Our current location is part of the Sarikamis district of Kars. However, we are quite far from Sarikamis. Agri is right behind that mountain we see there. We are very close to the borders of Agri.
What time is it right now? Let ‘s see the time. It ‘s five thirty. We leave the camp starting from five thirty. Actually, for us, the day … Starts in the evening and ends at noon. Because we do night grazing. Right now, we ‘ve taken the sheep and are going. Toward the mountain. We ‘ll graze the sheep on the mountain and pasture them in the evening.
At night, we wake them for shevin and pasture them once more. We wake the sheep again in the morning, letting them rest in the open like this before we return to camp. And here at the camp, the milking is done. Milking is done. cheese is made. That ‘s why all this is here. The camp is set, tents are up, the kids are here. They ‘re also here for the cheese.
The cheese comes from these rented highlands. We rent these areas all the time. For example, one area belongs to someone, another to others, or a village. We rent this entire region like that. After that, we milk the sheep. With that cheese, we try to pay off these rents. I mean, we ‘re just trying. really. Most of the time, we ca n’t even pay it. this.
Female dogs are usually more alert in the herd. You know, they can sense things beforehand. dangers. This is also a somewhat d4ngerous area. Come on, boy, come, come. This is our neighbor ‘s pup. You, come on, go now, go. Go, go, go home now, go, go. Go on. It ‘s like … Like a public square, you ca n’t tell who ‘s coming or going.
Female dogs are always more alert in the herd. For instance, our female is probably in the lead now. She spotted wh@tever was out there on the mountain. The males were behind. When she barks, it actually acts as a trigger for them. I mean, it sets them into motion immediately. We had a childhood just like the kids we see in the camp.
Always in the camp, in the highlands. Then, when we first entered adolescence, we ran away from here. Because, you know, one gets curious about other worlds. Like Istanbul, Ankara, or Izmir. One thinks everything is glamorous like on television. In fact, reality is always … Reality is actually boring. Reality is boring, colorless, and tasteless. The nature here, for example, might look very different on screens.
But when you ‘re here, you fall into a kind of void. Actually, life itself is already boring. One grasps this over time, understands it, and gets used to living with that boredom. From that boredom, one tries to take small tastes, small pleasures, over time. Our childhood was just like those kids. We ‘d ride donkeys and go far away.
Then we ‘d be very curious about the shepherds. I wondered what they did at night in the mountains. How do they graze the sheep? They used to tell us stories. A wolf had come, there ‘d be a wounded sheep. All of us kids would go and gather around that sheep. These were very big events for us. The shepherd dogs, each of us would pick a dog.
Just like we have now, Besho, Hircho, Palash, Sarsilmaz, and Bozgar. One would say mine is better, the other would say mine is better. That ‘s how our childhood went. Then during adolescence and early youth, we worked a bit on construction sites here and there. After that, something happened, I had a period in prison. During that time in prison, for example, a person can begin to understand life a bit more just by reading.
you know. For instance, when you live life like this, always living, always rushing, you realize you ‘re missing most things. I mean, you continue with just one perspective. But when you read, you turn inward this time. You find something of yourself. As you read, well, maybe let ‘s not call it the truth, but, you might be getting closer to finding your own reality.
I noticed that as I read more. Different thoughts, different ideas, different perspectives. And something really affected me. The book Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. I read it many times. It has a final scene like this. Raskolnikov is in prison now. He ‘s serving his sentence. And there, he ‘s sitting on some logs. It ‘s like an open prison there.
They make them work there. He sits like that on pine trees, on pine logs. A river flows in front of him like this. And in the distance, there are the same things. The nomads there, their tents. Actually, Raskolnikov realizes there that the serenity, peace, and freedom of life, that true freedom is this life, this nature. That sentence, that subject, that composition, that sentence really affected me.
Actually, people always see their own lives as something like this, you know. They portray shepherding and such as something, how should I put it? Like it ‘s a job only ignorant people can do, a job done only by people who ca n’t do anything else, it seems in society, or rather, in a certain segment of society.
Among people who are strangers to this. In that sentence, I realized something. I mean, actually, this life we live, this life I lived before, was actually a very beautiful life, a free life. Completely away from many problems, many troubles, many depressions, and anxieties. We were actually living a beautiful life.
I realized it there. For example, there ‘s no such thing in nature, you realize it there. There ‘s no depression in nature, no giving up, no gloom in nature. Until the very last drop of its bl00d, no matter how hot the sun is for a flower. no matter how it is, it tries to take every last drop, every bit of moisture from that soil and tries to complete its cycle.
So, the whole purpose in nature is to complete the cycle. Just like us humans, we also do this unconsciously sometimes, actually. You know, we have children, we get married, we have children. Actually, we ‘re completing a cycle there. Into this nature where I always feel freer, more comfortable, where I can be myself, friends.
Let ‘s take a walk like this together today. with you. Let ‘s see what adventures await us tonight, what ‘s in store, what nature. What will nature offer us, what will it show us? We ‘ll all see together tonight. Just as Erdal once mentioned, life … consists of a cycle, and the cycle consists of a stru.ggle.
Dogs, sheep, and shepherds, who are integral parts of this eternal cycle, surrender to the flow of nature in their constant stru.ggle for existence. Managing this herd can seem very simple from the outside. But actually, it requires serious experience and knowledge; it should always be learned through a master apprentice relationship.
Otherwise, let me give an example. A friend and I herded sheep together. The kid was new to shepherding. I ‘m leading him from the front. Turn the sheep. He says they ‘re not turning. I say turn them, he says they ‘re not turning. I took off my hat to the sheep and tossed it up like this. All the sheep turned back. Wow, he said.
How did you turn them, brother, he said. This requires something. Something unwritten like that. Something unrecorded. But you can only learn it from a master like that. What we call a Sershivan. There ‘s a Sershivan, and there ‘s a Diyaci. Actually, master and apprentice. You always learn this job from them.
The responsibility of three thousand sheep rests on Erdal. He knows the seriousness of the task. Nature does n’t forgive mistakes. Now is the time to apply all the experience he learned from his masters. Shout to the front! Just do n’t let the front go! Okay, do n’t let them turn back here. All members of the herd are aware of their responsibilities.
The oldest and most experienced of the dogs. Palas is on alert at all times for any dangers that may come from afar. Palas is currently the oldest dog in our flock, after Besho. Besho is at home, he ‘s still serving the flock. He is ten years old now, born in twenty fourteen. If he were a young dog, he would have fallen for the tricks we just did.
But Palas does n’t fall for it. He ‘s an old wolf, is n’t he Palas? Palas is our heart and soul. Palas is like our own child. He ‘s not just a dog, you know. The bonds we ‘ve built, our friendship, he ‘s a creature who can even sense the sadness in a person ‘s eyes. He ‘s not just a dog that protects the flock, I mean.
He ‘s also a soul we share a friendship with. Sometimes when we ‘re alone in the mountains like this, we share our troubles silently. Not out loud, but silently. We can understand each other. Right, Palas? Right, my boy? Palas, let ‘s go, the sheep have moved on. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Palas, hey Palas. Shh shh shh. Come on, come on. Go Palas, hey. Hey Palas, hey. This terrain is actually not suitable for grazing sheep at all. It leaves a person breathless like this. In fact, if you get separated from the flock, you ‘re done for. You ca n’t keep up with the flock. Normally, the land where sheep graze should be somewhat flat.
This year, we rented a place where we ‘re a bit inexperienced, you see. Well, there ‘s some good in every bad situation, right? The good thing about here is that the land is large and vast. And also, always like this, it offers us a chance to experience natural beauty without thinking about financial gain. Nothing in this world is ever truly perfect.
The beauty found within the flaws of this place is the very essence of nature itself. If it were n’t for these flaws, land unsuitable for grazing sheep would offer a profound blessing to the vast wilderness. Look how the trees have turned green. Then there are the bears here, lynx, wolves, mountain goats, all kinds of birds, butterflies, eagles, and flowers. You know, there ‘s beauty in every flaw.
And within this flaw, these beauties exist. The sun is setting slowly. We should head up towards the peak now. Towards the sheep ‘s bedding area. Both the pasture where we ‘ll feed our sheep, and the place where we ‘ll settle them for the night, we ‘re heading there. The area between these trees is also extremely d4ngerous. I mean.
At any moment a bear could appear here; I ‘ve seen bears and boars here. A huge boar like that could jump out at any time, and that ‘s extremely d4ngerous. Because the moment you come face to face, the only thing it will do is @ttack. I mean, it wo n’t choose to run away anymore. Hello there! It is great to see you, Uncle Mehmet! Yeah, exactly! Uncle, let them go slowly, do n’t turn the sheep back, okay? Let them go for two or three hours while it is still light out so they can pa.ss through that narrow pa.ss.
Alright, God bless you. The sheep are already full anyway, Uncle Mehmet. They ‘ve pretty much had their evening meal already. Yeah! From the moment we leave the camp, we act with a plan at every step. Because there are crossing points and rocky areas. The sheep need to reach a certain spot before it gets dark.
If there ‘s a delay, if you slack off or do n’t take it seriously, the sheep will get stuck here as darkness falls. Right here until morning. You ‘ll be miserable; the dogs, the sheep, and the shepherds will all suffer, so every moment is planned. Actually, it looks like the shepherd just puts his staff on his back and walks, but he ‘s always planning.
Thinking, at this hour I ‘ll turn here, at that hour I ‘ll graze them there, by then the sheep will be full. At this time, I ‘ll get them settled for the night and head back to the fold; everything is meticulously planned, for both the mornings and the evenings alike, but it ‘s especially the evenings that require some very careful planning. Wolves are the true masters of the Anatolian Steppe; they ‘re seeking their livelihood in these mountains, just as we are.
We actually carefully adjust most of our night grazing routines specifically because of them, trying to reduce any ha.rm or damage to the flock and get through the night without any losses. As evening turns to night and darkness falls, our primary concern is the wolves, the undisputed rulers of these rugged mountains.
In this kind of terrain, the dogs can … … drive the wolf away or keep it at a distance. They can spot it early and prevent it from getting close. But in this terrain, catching a wolf … … and taking it down is something no dog is capable of doing. Because these eyes have witnessed … … how these wolves can scale these rocky cliffs.
By the time a dog goes around the rocks, the wolf has already covered nearly a kilometer. And its stamina is incredible, it has unbelievable lung capacity. It stands right there on that mountain; I ‘ve watched them from afar. From the opposite mountain, it sees that there ‘s prey, like a sheep … … or a whole flock. The back of the herd is unattended.
It only takes it a few minutes to cross from here to the opposite mountain. It ‘s like a shadow. What kind of shadow? Like the shadow of a flying eagle. How it glides over the mountains and the rocks. It glides away like that, you know. It ‘s a completely different creature. Oho! Oho! Now, usually you say ho at the front of the herd.
I ‘m at the back because this terrain is a bit wooded and the sheep get spooked. So I ‘m saying oho. To the sheep, I ‘m right behind you. Do n’t be afraid, just graze peacefully, move slowly, that is the exact idea I am trying to give them. To the sheep. Oho! It ‘s what gives life meaning. Responsibility.
For instance, without it, you could never endure this constant exhaustion. Right now, over fifteen hundred lives are entrusted to us here. Any way you look at it, there ‘s almost a hundred people ‘s … Livelihood here, their source of income. They ‘re all entrusted to us, and that places a heavy responsibility on our shoulders. Responsibility also adds a beautiful meaning to our lives.
And the stru.ggle, the stru.ggle until the very end. The sheep are crowding each other over there. Let me get over there. That ‘s the incredibly narrow mountain pa.ss we were discussing earlier. Thank God, if we were even fifteen minutes later, this place would have been a ma.ssive obstacle for us to overcome. Actually, we should have pa.ssed through there ten minutes earlier.
Well, well, look at that! Oho! Hosh! Hosh! Turk! Hosh hosh hosh! It ‘s going to crush the sheep. Oh, gosh! Hosh! Hosh! And just like that, it is all finished! Slow, slow, slow, go a bit slower. Go a bit slower. Go a bit slower. Dursun. This part is actually more d4ngerous.
Places like this require much more seriousness. I mean, God forbid anything like that happens. We ‘ve had a very painful experience in a place like this before. Hundreds of our sheep crushed each other to death in a place like this. Okay, from here on, thank God, no trouble. No problem with the pa.ssage. Slowly. Slowly.
Come slowly. Come slowly. Come slowly. Come slowly. Easy, easy. Come very slowly. Move quite slowly. Come slowly. Come slowly. Easy, easy, easy. To prevent the sheep from crushing each other, the slower the back comes, the smoother the pa.ssage they ‘ll have. Actually, it ‘s great that they scattered like this.
Some going from above, some going from below. It prevents the herd from crushing each other in such a narrow place. Descending like this is very d4ngerous. Like this, God forbid. If the front gets blocked, the back does n’t listen to the front. The back comes and tries to jump over the sheep in front, stepping on them to pa.ss.
That ‘s when, God forbid, it ‘s a disaster. That ‘s why, you know, the time … is so important. If darkness falls, those sheep wo n’t split in two. They wo n’t go over the tops in threes or fours. They all try to pa.ss through a single point. Every moment is like this. It requires full attention. When our sheep pa.ss like this, I breathe a sigh of relief. From places like this.
Because I think I ‘ve been tr4umatized. Previously, when we pa.ssed through such a crossing point, hundreds of our sheep perished. And it became one of the most unforgettable painful memories of my life. At that moment, Rilke ‘s poem came to my mind. How much suffering there was to be endured in the world. Those words of that poem first came to my mind then.
One gets used to it over time, I guess. The pain turns into sadness later. One gets used to living with the sadness. Pain, hardship, regret, helplessness, and tears can eventually be forgotten as valuable experience is gained. This unfortunate and difficult experience Erdal had has now transformed him into a much more careful and cautious shepherd.
We can say this is the bravest dog in the herd. His name is Pozgar. This dog … Once, he went after five wolves. And wolves even have this legendary move. They tuck their tails, arch their backs, turn around, and send a threat3ning message. A big threat3ning message like that.
Even though two wolves did that, he did n’t listen and just ran right at them. He scattered them. Of course, Hırçov went after him then. In the meantime, I lost sight of them, of course. Then, when they returned, there was a brief sight. Five wolves had surrounded Hırçov like this. And he ‘s running towards Hırçov, chasing after the five wolves. And when he came back, he had a small wound right here.
Of course, these collars on their necks protected them very well. Both Hırçov and he had them. And there were signs of a stru.ggle around here. And in their second encounter with the fierce wolves, him waiting patiently for Hırçov and standing back to back with Hırçov against the wolves was a very clear and significant sign.
I realized that in that first encounter, they had engaged in a serious f1ght with the wolves. Is n’t that right, boy? Did you f1ght hard? Was it very serious? It ‘s already in one of my videos. He keeps chasing after this wolf. He chases a wolf for miles like this. He goes, and then he falls down like this.
When he fell, something inside me just broke, and I said, man. I thought we lost Pozgar. Then a few seconds pa.ssed. He stood up, looked around. And he just kept going. This is incredible. He was small too, just this big. He was only eight or nine months old. He went after a bear in terrain like this. He ‘s snapping at the bear.
The bear turns around, and he jumps away like a cat. I said, what kind of courage and heart does he have? Courage is not simply a matter of training or anything like that. True courage must naturally course through his veins. That wild bl00d has to flow through here, instilling a sense of fierce intensity in his mind so he can @ttack with that kind of raw ferocity.
Is n’t that right, boy? His bl00d must run wild. Otherwise, it ‘s not something that can be done with training. Come, Pozgar, come on, let ‘s see if there are any wolves, come. We are slowly heading towards the sheep ‘s bedding area. Darkness has fallen over the landscape, and when it does, someone always keeps a close watch on the lower flank.
This is because in this terrain, wolves usually grab the sheep from the bottom. They pull them down to the stream or behind a rock, k1ll them almost instantly, and then eat as much as they can. That ‘s why I ‘m always watching the lower part like this. Our veteran Uncle Mehmet is ahead, he manages things, I ‘m the shepherd, I do n’t interfere, he tells me.
Erdogan, turn them this way, turn them this way. One person should listen to another. In this shepherding business, I mean, mostly by consulting, but generally, one person should listen to another. I mean, out of respect for their age and experience, you should l
isten to them so that … the flock can reach autumn safely, or get through the night, get through the day. After the sun sets, the wind here usually starts to blow cold. Like … If your face, your neck, any part is exposed, your hand instinctively goes to cover them up. Night falls, darkness sets in. A sense of fear also settles in one ‘s heart, you know. These rocks, they all turn into living entities.
Actually, like this … The rocks, the trees, it ‘s as if to a person, they ‘re a bit like … It feels like the person is a pimple on this mountain, and it ‘s a body trying to cast them off. Uncle Mehmet, please turn them back around. Alright, I ‘ve turned them back, now we just have to hope the sheep do n’t decide to head up that way, ho! Yes, by God, look at them they ‘re going straight through the middle, right through the middle there.
Ho, that ‘s the high ground, I ‘ll stay on the high ground, ho! It is right there. Alright, then. Oho! Trrr da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da! Look at that go! Well, would you just look at that! That ‘s quite something! Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas to you all! And a Happy New Year! The wolf has come to our flock in this bedding area a few times.
Anyway, as soon as the sheep got spooked and ran, Bozgevir … … headed that way immediately. The others followed one after another, of course, but with the sheep spooking, Bozgevir … … bolted over there like a bull3t in an instant. We are going to stay over here tonight. Let ‘s unload the donkeys. Together with Uncle Mehmet.
Whoa, boy, stay, stay, stay. Where are you going? Stay, stay. Stay, stay. These are such poor, humble animals. They carry our load, and when we ‘re tired, we ride on their backs. That ‘s really how it is. They used to do that thing, you know … They usually did it to their teachers. And so on. I used to …
… laugh at that, it was cr4zy. At work, the boss, my boss says, he heaps praise on me, saying, ‘He ‘s so humble, so wonderful, so good.’ He says, ‘He carries our load, bears all our troubles and woes, and when we ‘re tired, we ride on his back.’ Good boy. He ‘s so handsome. Uncle, give me that, let me tie him up.
Give me the rope. Okay. Look, I ‘m coming. They take their positions here based on … … the wolf ‘s presence around the flock. Depending on where it ‘s coming from. Usually, our Palaz, wherever we tie this donkey, they have a very strong friendship between them. He sleeps right there with him. And Sarsılmaz is usually in areas where there ‘s danger.
Bozgar usually sleeps on the ridges like this. I mean, in places where he can see the sheep clearly. He ‘s lying down over there, for example. The flock will soon … … descend right down to here. And Hırçın, well, he ‘s watching for … … watching for danger. Wherever the danger comes from, he goes … …
way out, a bit far from the sheep, and lies down right in the direction the danger is coming from. They surround the sheep on all four sides. Each and every one of them lies down in a different spot, and they stay on high alert, you know. The moment the sheep get spooked, they ‘re right there instantly.
The other day, for instance, a wolf came from here … … towards the flock. When the sheep got spooked, I saw Bozgar and Sarsılmaz … … chasing after it, tumbling down that way in an instant. Who taught the dogs how to distribute their duties among themselves? This is actually a genetic legacy from their ancestors, thousands of years old. Hırçın is usually on the lookout.
You know, from whichever side a bear or wolf might come, he goes and lies down in that direction, a bit away from the sheep. Actually, that trait is really great. Because, you see, any wild animal coming for the sheep must pa.ss Hırçın first before it can reach them. And many times, he ‘s even managed to lure wolves into a trap like that.
He and his son, along with our other dogs, actually got into a f1ght with a wolf last year. The wolf ended up de@d. I think he used the same tactic again. He lies down far away from the sheep like this. The wolf approaches the flock. It tries to get past him. As it pa.sses, he ends up behind the wolf. So, he basically leads it into a complete trap.
Let ‘s see where he went. Look, do you see where he is? Remember how the sheep got spooked and ran from that side just now? Where are its eyes shining? Chov chov chov chov chov Look, do you see it? So if the wolf tries to come from there, Hırçın will have it surrounded from behind. Chov chov chov chov chov Let ‘s go up there, a bit closer.
Ah, it stood up, do you see it, brother? Chov chov chov chov chov If we do n’t call it, it ‘ll stay there. This trait demonstrates just how brave and courageous this animal truly is, exhibiting the sheer guts required to face d4ngerous wild animals on its own, and it ‘s a clear sign of its tactical boldness to flank them and lead them into a trap. Now, let ‘s not call our dogs too much and mess up their order, their stance, or their positions.
Let ‘s get started on our own tea and soup now. Right, Bozgev? Grazing the sheep by day, taking them home at night, and so on. Almost anyone can do that kind of shepherding, really. That ‘s the easy part. The shepherding we do requires serious experience, a lot of effort, and constant attention. Sometimes you give up your sleep, your food, and your tea. We are nomadic shepherds.
For instance, we ‘re out for about seven and a half to eight months a year. That is, if in the autumn the snow falls late, and if it thaws early in the spring, it sometimes even stretches to eight and a half months. We ‘re constantly out here in the mountains and the wilderness.
In summer, for two or three months, families arrive, tents are pitched, and the sheep are milked. After that, they pack up and leave again. We ‘re left here in the mountains, alone with the wolves, the bears, and the dogs. There ‘s God above, and down here, it ‘s just us and the wild. And the shepherding we do, I think we ‘re the last generation doing this.
We do n’t know what the world or our country will face in the next generation, but I do n’t think people will be able to endure these conditions much longer. I suppose we ‘re the last generation still doing this work. Because I know from my own family and my brothers. Even though the family is nomadic, they do n’t choose this life anymore.
In a little while, we want to have our tea quickly. We ‘ve lit our fire. But there ‘s a cloud back there that I can make out even in the dark. The weight has settled like this. Rain and storm are coming. I can feel it. We can not direct nature. Here, we just try to adapt to nature.
Even if nature sometimes rolls over us just like a steamroller, we still gladly welcome it. Oh my, oh my, look at these lions. The day has beg.un again. It is time to feed the dogs now, and of course, the sheep over there too. Come on, it is eleven o’clock.
Uncle Mehmet. Let ‘s not repeat that second fat1gue. My celery. Across this incredibly vast and endless steppe, the most loyal and devoted companions are the shepherds. dogs. If I let go, he ‘ll jump right on me. Okay, okay, I give up. I give up, I give up. I give up. Okay, I give up, I give up. I give up. My needle is pricking. You ‘re jumping on me like an animal.
I give up, okay, I give up. Dogs are a shepherd ‘s best friends, helpers, and protectors. Thanks to them, we can roam these mountains and rocks. That ‘s why we must maintain a good relationship with them. Besides, a dog is n’t like sheep or anything; it ‘s like this, it forms an emotional bond with humans, it does so naturally. He ‘s playing, having fun.
Just as he looks after us, we try to look after them in the same way. As the new day dawns, the dogs’ sharp alertness and control over the herd give Erdal renewed strength. Having caught the scent of the wolf, the dogs are aware of the danger. Hey there! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Hey yah yah! Well, hey there! Uncle Mehmet, do you see? Where on earth is Pozger? Right there in the trees.
Yeah, sure. Sarsi is looking for him too. Sarsi is following Pozger. He ‘ll take action if anything happens. Uncle Mehmet, do you see? Where on earth is Pozger? Did you see him? Yeah, sure. He ‘s searching for the wolves right now. He ‘s looking for those two wolves that are around here. He ‘s picked up the scent, he ‘s following the scent trail.
Yeah, I saw him. He ‘s searching anyway. Pozger! Pozger! Pozger! Pozger! Pozger! Pozger! Wait just a second, let me call him. Pozger! Hey! Oy ho! Ho ho ho! Oy ho! Look at that, he suddenly started chasing right after that very fresh scent now. He ‘s tracking the scent all around, Uncle Mehmet. That ‘s why he ‘s not coming back.
There are two wolves here anyway, the ones that came by before, he ‘s looking for them. We saw them here too. There were two wolves here. How many are there? One of them, oh, Bozgar, did you see? He ‘s here. I called out, and he ‘s coming out. He ‘s right here. He ‘s still on the scent. For instance, he hears us, but he ‘s following the scent.
He came right out of the forest over there. Tracking the scent. Bozgar, Bozgar, Bozgar, Bozgar, Bozgar, Bozgar! Come on boy, let ‘s go, come on, never mind. You ca n’t control everything. Come. Sarsi is following him too. These are our females, he sees them as sisters, like family. He does n’t mate with them.
How so? I swear, we even tried to force it, but he bites us. He just wo n’t do it. He looks for a stranger, a dog he does n’t know, to mate with. He wo n’t give in. Bozgar. Hircin is there too, do you see him? He ‘s picked up the scent as well. They ‘re around here. Right now, those wolves, Uncle Mehmet.
They ‘re following us from somewhere in those rocks or among the trees. As a matter of fact, even as we speak, they ‘re probably planning their next @ttack. Because the dogs are so focused on the scent, it means it is still very fresh. Hircin pursued the scent as well, for example. Bozgar goes a bit wild, but when Hircin gets a very close scent …
He goes even further. The female is also following them from across. Actually, the female is a bit tired tonight, so she ‘s following from a distance. If anything serious happens, she ‘ll jump into action. Right now, the males are tracking the scent. She ‘s always got an eye on them. I see her keeping one eye on Bozgar and one on Hircin.
Let ‘s see what happens. If they appear, she ‘ll @ttack immediately. Palas is completely focused. Like this. Since he ‘s older, he ‘s all about protecting the flock. At night, if the dogs leave, he returns to the flock right away. The elderly sheepdog Palas stayed behind with the flock. The young sheepdogs worked to ward off the danger.
Grazing the sheep right now is like giving them breakfast. The sheep, at seven in the morning. They get up at six thirty or seven. They graze until about nine, and we follow them, for example. We decide beforehand where we ‘re going to graze them. It ‘s gra.ssy here, so we let them roam for two or three hours.
Then, when it ‘s around nine thirty or ten … We head back towards the camp and go. When we reach the camp, the flock is split into five groups. Five families milk them. Everyone ‘s sheep are separated. There ‘s a wire fence. They enter the milking areas we call beri. The sheep. The barren ones stay out, those to be milked go in.
To the pens. Milking is done there. The animals are milked and they also rest. Until five in the evening. At five, we head back up the mountain. It ‘s a cycle like this. Whoa there! Easy now, easy girl! Steady … steady now … Whoa! The sole purpose of all these hardships endured, is for the sheep to be properly fed.
We now realize just how much dedication goes into that single bite of cheese we eat. Astragalus is a very important herb for shepherds. Sometimes when we ‘re very cold, the weather usually gets chilly quite early. In the mountains. Summer arrives late in the spring. To warm up, you just light it with a lighter like this. You warm up instantly, but of course, it houses many living creatures.
So, I ‘m not really in favor of burning it. It ‘s also a plant that prevents erosion very well. For example, this part where it ‘s located, this area. At least twice or thrice its size is underground, holding the soil. It kind of wraps around the soil, preventing it from sliding or eroding. It stops it.
Walking through astragalus is so dense in some places that, just as Yashar Kemal described it, it looks like a lush green slope from afar, but inside, it ‘s like falling into a barrel of thorns. Thorns prick you from every side. Even if your shoes are leather, they pierce right through them. Especially as it gets more sunlight and the surrounding air warms up, the thorns become even sharper and considerably harder.
While walking constantly on these mountains, I always remember the days I was stuck in that tiny space. I spent seven years in prison. During my time in prison, well, I was young back then too. It was about twelve years ago or so. I used to walk back then. As I walked, I mean, we were pacing. When we paced, I would hit the wall.
Every time I hit the wall, like that, I was actually feeling sad, you know. I always had this longing inside me. Like, man, if I could just get out one day, and when I look up, not see a square of sky, but if I could see an endless sky. If I could just walk and walk, like this. If I could walk until my knees have no strength left.
If my knees get tired, I wish I could walk until my feet can no longer carry me. And if I could just keep walking without ever looking back or hitting any walls. This was always inside of me. It was a feeling I was constantly focused on back then. And when I got out, adapting this, you know, into a job … It was already the work we used to do. What we did in our childhood. Shepherding, actually, I realized this.
And well, there, we were constantly with people. Twenty or thirty of us were staying together. And I can say it ‘s a bit about people ‘s … Disloyalty. Getting hu.rt by every person you get close to. This eventually pushes a person … To run away from people a bit, to escape from them. It pushed me to this too. It felt very good for me.
Like this. When you first go out like this, for example, you get swept up. It ‘s like a kind of cha0s. Grazing sheep, shepherding, the mountains, the rocks. It ‘s like cha0s. You just get carried away by it. There ‘s no getting bored here, no feeling trapped or overwhelmed. What happens is just … Your body gets very tired.
You get exhausted, you go and rest for a day. The next day you miss it again and come running back. When one witnesses the constant, grueling stru.ggles of wild animals in nature, one feels deeply ash4med to even use the word bored.
Because for them, every single moment is a desperate stru.ggle; they live every waking second on that incredibly thin line between life and death. And it is on that line that they build their lives, sustain themselves, keep up their daily routines, train their young, and carefully raise their offspring. This observation teaches a person that we actually belong to this vast, intricate nature too.
Within this nature, a person finds themselves. They can escape from all those troubles and depressions. And of course, hope is still in people; we ca n’t just cast humanity aside. Saying, I ‘m tired of people, so I fled to the mountains. That ‘s not a solution either. Hope is still in people, in friends, in companions.
Uncle Mehmet, for instance, is my companion on the mountain. He ‘s from Iran, and I ‘m from Turkey. We perform this work together here. I truly believe that if something were to happen to me here, like if I broke my leg, he ‘s the kind of person who ‘d take care of the sheep and carry me on his back to the hospital or to a spot where a car could finally reach us.
And I would do the exact same for him, of course, if needed. It still does n’t work without people. I share with him, we talk together. We have other friends too, of course. We share and talk with them as well. We both work together and carry out our duties. T
here ‘s a saying by Yashar Kemal. He says … A person who sees filth in everyone they look at is a bastard of humanity. They are not truly human. After reading that, I actually read that sentence over and over again. I read it again and again. As I read, I tried to digest it. I realized then what he was trying to convey. Because there are also very good people in this life. Not everyone is that bad or self serving. There are very good people in this world too.
Come on. Let ‘s go. Another day has come to an end now. It ‘s time to head back home. We ‘ve reached the end of today ‘s cycle. Erdal ‘s tough stru.ggle for life will continue on the following day. Come on. Let ‘s go. Besho is our oldest dog. He ‘s fifteen years old in the herd now. Normally, a dog does n’t easily reach this age.
Out here in these mountains and rocks. We feed Besho well, and he ‘s also got quite an appetite. As long as there ‘s food. Even at his age, with no teeth in his mouth. He ‘s still one to tear off and eat meat himself. We already love him very much. I mean, as a whole family, we love him dearly. He has character. And he ‘s such a protective dog.
If he senses a person is in danger, he ‘ll never leave them. He ‘s always by your side in the mountains and rocks. And when he catches a wolf ‘s scent, even at his age, he barks all night. Right? He ‘s living out his retirement now. Sometimes he wo n’t accept it and follows us to the mountain. But I see him struggling, so the next day he stays home.
Working dogs, our shepherd dogs, open their eyes among the sheep. They ‘re at work, in the mountains and rocks. They live this life constantly until they take their last breath. Chaining them up, say he ‘s old now and you think it ‘s a pity. I ‘ll chain him so he does n’t go. That ‘s actually k1lling him before he ‘s de@d. You have to let him be free. Let him roam and live in the mountains.
Under normal circumstances, all the flavor and the joy of life actually comes from this sense of exhaustion. Being in this life, in this cha0s, and this stru.ggle, one might not fully realize it while still being inside. But when a person steps outside of it for a bit, they understand better. Actually, these moments, these minutes, this stru.ggle is very precious and valuable.
And no matter what happens, we must never give up the stru.ggle. Because there are lives depending on us, our loved ones, our children. We have our future, we have our hope. For all of these, we will keep f1ghting until the very end. May God be with you.
