The distant bleat of sheep and goats echoes in the mountains as shepherds admire the view of pastures swiftly turning green at the peaks of the rugged mountains of eastern Turkey. It is time for the country's nomadic communities, which thrive on livestock breeding, to migrate to the highlands.
Every year, the nomads concentrated in the region travel to higher ground for summer. This year’s migration appears to have proven fruitful after an overwhelming drought last year deprived their livestock of the sought-after greenery usually available. A long winter, which continued into this month, added to their woes, but finally, they are back in the highlands, from Muş to Ağrı on the easternmost tip of the country.
In Muş, lush vegetation allows nomads to fatten their animals and derive quality milk and cheese from them. Dotted with colorful flowers, the meadows are a literal breath of fresh air for the nomads who are confined to small villages with little vegetation further down in the southeast, which is notorious for its scorching summers. The nomads are joined in Muş by local breeders who have struggled to feed their animals over the last five months marked with overbearing snowfall.
The pastures of Muş boost the livelihoods of the nomadic people who save on feeding expenses and earn a living by selling yogurt, butter and cheese from their livestock. Mehmet Gün, head of the local directorate of agriculture and forestry in Muş, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that the province has 400,000 hectares (988,421 acres) of pastures and hosts some 1.2 million sheep and goats. “The province is one of the most fertile places for animal breeding. Currently, breeders acquire some 78% of feed from the pastures,” he said, adding that some 330,000 sheep and goats are also brought to Muş every year from other provinces in the region for grazing.
Muharrem Göç, who arrived from Diyarbakır province, says Muş is their favorite location and they will spend some four months here. “I have some 1,000 sheep and they fare better when we brought them here. They produce better milk and cheese.” Emrah Yüzgüllü, who arrived from a district of Muş, says the winter was “costly” since they had to feed their animals in the stable with feed they bought. “Now we have free animal food here,” he hails.
In neighboring Ağrı, nomads walk for days with their sheep to reach the highlands of the province from Iğdır. They are among the first batches of nomads expected to arrive from Siirt and Bitlis in the coming days. Ağrı's highlands faced an intense drought last year, but a few weeks before summer, it regained its vegetation, just in time for the nomads who set out after the snow melted on roads leading to remote highlands.
The nomads' long journey was disrupted by cold weather and occasional snowfall, but spring has finally arrived in Ağrı.
Ömer Gültekin, who arrived from a small village in Iğdır, says they set out in early May and encountered several difficulties along the way, mostly heavy snow. "Last year's drought hurt us, but we have hope again, especially after (precipitation) in May," he says. Gültekin travels with a fellow nomad and will spend a week on a pasture before heading for the highlands at a higher elevation.
The drought last year affected the country's livestock breeders but it was felt most in eastern Turkey, which has a high livestock population and rangelands. Even though they did not entirely dry up, the rangelands offered little for the animals, leading to a drop in the quality of dairy products, according to experts.
