Salabağ and Juniper...

The heat has truly set in. It is the perfect time for the highlands. Two weeks have passed since the end of the 22nd Göcek Gürsu Pırnaz Highland Walk. Its impact, with its conversations and beautiful memories, still lingers. Last week, I mentioned Garkın Highland. I would like to share the final days of the walk as well. Let it be recorded. In the meantime, I would like to thank 12Punto and Göcek Gazete online newspapers for publishing my articles in my "Health Every Now and Then" column.

Municipalities in Turkey have a very difficult job. I know. There are no resources. There is no money. The central government not only fails to provide assistance but also hinders the elected officials from performing their duties through practices that even extend to arrests. I do not know how much the Denizli Metropolitan Municipality can concern itself with the highlands. As nomads, we have a request. We would be pleased if the mountain road from the place called "Nomad Homeland" (Yörük Yurdu) on the Gürsu side of Garkın Highland to Gürsu could be widened. If it does not fall under the municipality's jurisdiction, we ask the Denizli Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to look into this request of ours. As the saying goes, he who asks has one face blackened, he who does not has two.

The 3rd evening of our walk was the final day of accommodation. The cherry orchard of the Gürsu Hotel in the Gürsu neighborhood of Denizli's Çameli district had become too small for us nomads. There was no room to step. Compared to previous years, there was not a single piece of fruit on the cherry trees. Due to frost and weather conditions across Turkey, there is a complete scarcity of fruits and vegetables. Cherries have been sold for 600 TL per kilogram.

On the 4th day, the final day of the walk, after about a 2-hour hike, we arrived at the Salabağ spring head in the Göcek (Göcekiçi) locality of the Elmalıyurt (Pırnaz) neighborhood in the Gölhisar district of Burdur province. Mesut Dim built a beautiful highland house on the slope near the spring. May they live in it happily.

On the signpost of the spring where we stayed in previous years, it was written as Salaba and Salabaa, while this year it was written as Salabağ. What does it mean? I am continuing my research.

In our title deeds in the Elmalıyurt neighborhood, the location is written as "Göcek". You are not surprised, are you? The highland walk that started in Fethiye's Göcek was completed in Göcek in Pırnaz. As the Turks migrated from Central Asia to Anatolia, they brought not only their culture, customs, and traditions but also the names of the places where they were born. You can see the counterparts of the geographical names of many places in Anatolia in the places where the Turks migrated from.

The brother-in-law of the late nomad Sabahattin Bektaş, who participated in our walk, wrote a poem for Göcek. I would like to share it.

Göcek

You are the sultan of my heart with your smiling people.

The Skopea Gulf has no equal

You bring happiness to people of every nation with your marinas

All kinds of fruits and vegetables in your highlands...

You are the pearl of the world and Turkey,

While the cicadas in the mornings

Present their unique concerts

Squirrels frolic in the pine trees

You are the rose of the Teke region, oh Göcek...

The billy goats play in your highlands, at the source of cool waters,

May the pure-hearted people find happiness.

Hilmi Toprak

The area around where the Salabağ water emerges is covered with juniper trees. We reached the finale with beautiful concerts by Ergün Demir, Darpaklı Şerif Şimşek, and one of our Fethiye's favorite artists, Adem Kazan, under the junipers. As the new and old nomads received their certificates, their nomadism was officially registered.

The nomads danced as if they had not been tired for 4 days. After all, juniper trees open the breath. Juniper is a cure for every ailment. It is used as a supplement for conditions such as asthma, diabetes, vascular occlusion, rheumatism, and anemia.

On behalf of the nomads, I would like to thank our Fethiye Mayor Alim Karaca, our Fethiye Municipality Social Affairs Manager Halime Ok, Mehmet Gök, who provided an excellent organization, and the municipal staff. I also extend my sincere thanks to the experienced names of many years, İsmet Dim and Ramazan Sarı, as well as our nomads who came from all over Turkey and our sponsors.