MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed- Koçer people living on the foothills of Month Karacadağ begin to make preparation to go to plateaus in spring or in the beginning of summer. They live there to release their livestock onto large vegetated outdoor lands for grazing until winter. During this period, they live in tents without electricity and water. Koçer women shoulder the entire burden of living on the plateau.

“They are our only livelihood”

Seniha Kızıltepe living on the foothills of Karacadağ has been a Koçer for years like her mother. She moves to the plateaus in spring for her only livelihood. “Animals are our only livelihood. But looking after them is not easy as it seems. Every morning, we go to milk the sheep. As the animals are grazing, we look after their babies in tents. When the animals come back towards evening, we milk them again,” Seniha Kızıltepe said.

“We have no other job”

Seniha told us that doing this job is very hard but she likes her job and life on the plateaus. “There aren’t enough green vegetables here (foothill) in summer, that’s why we take our animals to the plateaus in summer. There is no electricity on the plateaus do we face many difficulties in cooking and washing the clothes. It is a hard job but it becomes our job. We cannot work in other jobs anymore. We bear it for our animals and livelihood despite all difficulties we face. Surely, we get tired but everyone doing something to earn a livelihood, we do our job.”

“We do everything”

Seniha told us that women do almost everything on the plateaus, “When people see us, they probably think that we are wandering around. But women do everything; we look after our children and animals, we milk the sheep and feed them. Sometimes, we sell the milk but sometimes, we make cheese from it. Women always work, on the plateaus in summer, at home in winter. We shoulder the entire burden.”