A woman who moved to a village in Kırklareli with her family to escape the stress of the metropolis of Istanbul found the peaceful life she longed for thanks to the animal husbandry she started with the support of the state.

Ilker Yıldız, who worked for an insurance company in Istanbul, started to look for land in Thrace four years ago to get away from the busy and stressful life of Istanbul.

In 2021, she moved to Akıncılar village of the Vize district of Kırklareli, where she found the land and could live her dream with her husband Sebahat and 12-year-old son Ünal Kerem.

Yıldız, who had a small prefabricated house built on the land she bought then applied to the Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry for cattle. She started with three pregnant cows within the scope of the Expert Hands Project and has since increased their number to 16. Yıldız, who started a peaceful and pleasant life away from the stress of the metropolis said, "I've waited 45 years to drink a cup of coffee with the smell of cattle around."

"For me, life is just a game. Some play it well, and get a standing ovation, while some have their curtains drawn, unfinished."

Explaining her daily routine, Yıldız said: "I don't have breakfast in the morning until I get into the barn and feed all my animals one by one, and do the necessary maintenance. When I go somewhere I feel uncomfortable, my mind remains with them. I love this life so much that even the smell of dung relaxes me."

Comparing it to her life in Istanbul, she said: "I was born and raised in Istanbul. But now it's hard to live in Istanbul, nothing is easy. If I come back to the world again, I'd wish to be born in a village."