Residents fly colorful kites from rooftops in Turkey’s Mardin

MARDİN

The residents of the southeastern province of Mardin practicing self-isolation rules due to the coronavirus outbreak are organizing on social media and flying kites from rooftops at certain times every day.

Those under the age of 20 and over 65, banned from leaving their houses to curb the spread of the virus, are especially among those flying the kites.

People living in historical houses in the protected area registered on the UNESCO Temporary Cultural Heritage Conservation List release hundreds of kites every day to the sky, making the already picturesque ancient city even more breathtaking.

The people of Mardin are saying this is entertaining them in times of boredom due to the outbreak.

“Everyone has been flying kites in Mardin for centuries. We have been going to the rooftops and flying our kites almost every day for the past two months. We continue this tradition and avoid boredom,” said Abdüselam Demir, a local.

Another local, Yasin Saraç, said that his kite, which has a five-kilometer string, flew so far, it was visible from the neighboring Syria, adding that he was happy to paint the skies.

Muzaffer Emir Muratoğlu said the initiative began after they took the idea to social media.

Last week, however, kite-flying was banned in the southern province of Adana after incidents in which the kites got stuck in overhead power lines, causing power outages and risking the lives of many patients connected to electronic devices in their homes or life support systems in hospitals.