Man lives alone in abandoned Central Anatolian village

NEVŞEHİR

AA Photo

A Turkish man has been living alone in a remote village for a year, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 15.

İsmail Varol has been fending for himself after his father passed away one year ago, following his mother’s loss. He has been living alone in Central Anatolia’s Nevşehir province’s Çekme Village.

Varol said he became accustomed to having animals as company in the remote part of the Derinkuyu district.

Until the end of 1990s, some 300 people occupied the village of Çekme, but as residents start to migrate and the remaining elders passed away, Varol was left alone in the area.

“I could not leave this place after [the parents’] death. I lived all my childhood here; all of my memories are hidden in this place,” Varol told Anadolu Agency reporters.

“The streets were filled [with people] and we used to chat with neighbors 10 years ago. Now, no one is left. I am alone with the nature from day to night but I am also together with history,” he added.

Varol also said that he has been occupied with sheep breeding but also voluntarily takes care of historic churches, tunnels and other heritages of the village.

“I am the last representative of the people who lived here. This village maybe has thousands of years of history. God knows who will come [to the village] after [me],” he said.