Man roams Turkey to plant trees


Yunus Emre Karaca, a 29-year-old man who quit his white-collar job in western Turkey's Aydın, dedicated his life to travel around Turkey and plant trees wherever he goes.

Karaca was working as a manager at a construction company but decided to quit to pursue his dream of "World Peace Forests," an ambitious plan to plant trees. Karaca hitchhikes his way around the country, his latest stopover was in Çanakkale in northwestern Turkey. He has already traveled to Kastamonu, Hakkari, Kocaeli, Şırnak, Muş, Karabük where he personally planted trees. In Çanakkale he visited a local nonprofit organization. He planted a sapling in a forest where the nonprofit planted trees in memory of terror victims.

Karaca says he hit the road with only a few personal belongings in his backpack. "I donated all my clothes to the Red Crescent and donated my book collection to a local library. I just want to plant trees every place I go, so we can have a greener Turkey and eventually, a greener world," he told İhlas News Agency. "I want to leave my mark in the world and everything is fine for me for now," said Karaca, who now plans to travel to the capitals of other countries to plant trees.