Bosniak culture in Anatolia

SİVAS - Anatolia News Agency

There are 28 houses in the village and everyone can speak the Bosniak language. They serve their guests traditional Bosnian foods like pastry and bread. AA photo

Bosnians who moved to the Kayadibi village in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas’ Zara district many years ago are maintaining their Bosnian culture in Anatolia.

The village is 105 kilometers away from Sivas and 35 kilometers away from Zara.

There are 28 houses in the village and everyone from 7 to 70 can speak the Bosniak language. They also serve their guests traditional Bosnian foods like Bosnian pastry and Bosnian bread. Traditional dresses are worn by the villagers during the festivities that are organized in the city from time to time.

The villagers expressed great pleasure that the Anatolia news agency has started broadcasting in Bosniak language.

The head of the village, Vedat Çelebi, said the people of Kayadibi were immigrants from Yugoslavia and that their ancestors migrated to the village in 1924. “Since then, we have maintained our own traditions in this village, kept our culture alive with our traditional foods, dresses and language.

One of the residents in the village, Fatih Demir, 24, said that since their origins were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, they were doing their best to keep their own culture alive. “I hope that this will continue. We will do what our adults have done so far to keep our culture alive.”

Hİlmi Çelebi, 60, said that as Bosnians, they were respected people in the region. “We love and respect everyone, too. We are proud of being Bosnians.”

The founder of Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, settled Bosniaks in the Kayadibi village shortly after the foundation of the Turkish Republic. There are currently 100 Bosniaks living in the village, but the registered population is 1,000. A large proportion of Kayadibi’s population has moved to Istanbul.

One of the events organized in the village is Pita Day. During the event, Kayadibi’s women prepare Bosnia’s pita pastry and serve it to visitors of the village.