Afghan shepherds replace the Kurds in the mountains of eastern Turkey
Abdullah Omari has been tending his flock in Turkey's Mirkan Valley for seven years. The white-bearded man knows the details of the slopes of the valley in Tunceli province, where Afghan shepherds have gradually replaced the Kurds.
The presence of Kurdish shepherds has become a rarity in these grassy and stone-clad mountains in eastern Turkey.
Regardless of the language barrier, Mustafa Akoun, a livestock breeder from the area who owns about 100 heads of cattle, says, “We don’t know what they do while they are in the mountains, but they return the herd after grazing, which indicates that things are fine.”
The herders complain about the lack of returns from the task of grazing livestock, which they practice alone in an area that rises 2000 meters above sea level and is hours away from the nearest village.
The shepherds depend in their work on the rhythm of the sheep and goats, which prefer to graze at night when the temperatures drop.
But getting the job done during the night puts the herd at risk because predators roam the area at this time.
Abdullah does not give up his old rifle after two of his cattle died two days ago as a result of an attack by a bear.
"The area is full of wolves and bears that do not stop attacking the herds," said Suleiman Azam, a 29-year-old shepherd who has been exposed to the sun since he arrived in Turkey in 2015 leaving his wife and three-month-old child in Afghanistan.
- An impromptu assignment - Azam was working on construction sites in Iran before moving to Turkey, where hundreds of thousands of Afghans live, to begin practicing impromptu grazing.
For his work, he receives a good wage of 8,000-15,000 Turkish liras per month (between $458 and $855), which is two to three and a half times more than the minimum wage.
Despite this, this return is considered insufficient, even in crisis phases, to attract young people in the region towards this profession.
"Our sons do not even want to do this work or are unable to do it," said Mustafa Akoun, who admires the courage of the Afghan shepherds.
This remote region has not escaped the consequences of hyperinflation and the devaluation of the Turkish lira.
Selling sheep and goat milk no longer generates profits as before, while some breeders are considering providing a portion of their flock to slaughterhouses.
As for the shepherds who transfer a large percentage of their earnings to their relatives in Afghanistan, the value of their money evaporates after it is converted into dollars.
Some Afghan shepherds are currently obsessed with the idea of returning to their country despite the hard-line rule of the Taliban.
"No one leaves his country unless he is forced to," said Hafiz Hashemi Memin, 20, whose fiancée is anxiously awaiting his return to Afghanistan, adding, "We come to Turkey to earn money through the herding profession to send to our families."
Under these prevailing conditions, Hafez, a young Afghan shepherd from the valley, dreams of new horizons.
"Do you know how I can go to Canada?" asks AFP journalists.
Do you have acquaintances who can help me?”
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