Shepherds are perhaps those who know the languages of the mountains best, and also their darker side. They are also guardians of the lake, trees and people.

We conversed with Ridvan Koyun during the migration of the shepherds. At the beginning we thought to accompany the story of shepherding, but in these lands of extraordinary situations, shepherding is now part of the state of emergency.

Rıdvan Koyun is 30 years old and he said that he has been a shepherd for 20. His family and children stay in his hometown of Kurtalan. He said he longs for his family, but added: "I haven't seen my family for four months."

He hit the road in the first days of spring. Ridvan Koyun is a shepherd who took care of his animals for months in Şırnak / Faraşin.

We ask "What kind of profession is shepherding?" He answers: "It is beautiful," pondering whether to leave the state cruelty he encountered on the roads to his next sentences.

Koyun has been on the road for 20 days, and will travel for another month and a half to Nusaybin. “It's nice to stay immersed in nature, we go to the springs. We have our sheep, we milk them, we feed them. We walk up to the highlands where we will be on foot for months. Shepherding is good for me, our elders have been living like this for fifty years. We hit the road in the spring, came to the plateaus. We have been in the highlands for three months. We are on the road for another month and a half. It is a nomadic life, it is like that, time passes on the roads.”

There is oppression on the road

When we ask, "What are the difficulties on these roads?" Those romantic mountain landscapes disappear in a flash and the images of the persecution carried out by the state darken the air.

Koyun said: “The state persecutes us a lot on these roads. One day they threw our sheep off the cliff. We remained in their hands until the morning, they held us hostage. They took our IDs and insulted us. They left us go in the morning. They gave us a penalty, but didn't give us any paper. They wrote our names, some of our friends were fined 20-30 thousand TL."

The state is forbidding shepherding

Koyun has been on the same roads, mountains and plateaus for 20 years. He continued: “These roads have been the shepherding paths for centuries. They tell us that this road is forbidden. When we asked, they said that this commander was newly appointed, the expert sergeant pulled a gun at my ear and cursed. They persecuted us greatly. I responded and said 'you have no right to this'. They have no right to persecute shepherds."

They told shepherds that the roads they had used for years were suddenly prohibited. Koyun is sure that the issue is an excuse. “It is forbidden to come to these lands, said the newly appointed sergeant. They said that if we come, we will be fined. The animals had to have their papers, if they have papers, they would let us pass. But there is no paper in autumn, these papers are available in spring. We also give the papers they give to police stations during our crossing. Making a living is also difficult. Nomadism is not the same anymore. We are having difficulty making a living. Cattle are no longer taken this year. Shepherds have become poorer than before. We have to sell half of the animals so we can pass through winter."