Village in Anatolia waiting for electricity for 60 years

NİĞDE - Anatolia News Agency

Children living in Niğde’s Keçikalesi district are doing homework with the help of candlelight as the village is deprived of electricity for the 60 years. AA photo

In the Central Anatolian province of Niğde’s Keçikalesi district, a village inhabited by just 60 people has been lit only by candles as it has been deprived of electricity for the last 60 years.

The problem remained unsolvable for years, despite village residents possessing land titles and completing applications to the proper authorities multiple times, village local Necati Şimşek said.

“We have been suffering from a lack of electricity. My father passed away when he was 60, but he had never seen electricity. I’m 43 and I haven’t seen it yet, either. We demand support from authorities,” another resident Yunus Şimşek said. Şimşek’s son, Recep Şimşek, said he couldn’t go to school since he burned his face on a stove after an accident in the middle of the dark. Altunhisar Governor Mehmet Yaşar Yeşiltaş said they had paid a visit to the neighborhood to observe current conditions. “I met the authorities of MEDAŞ, the region’s electricity distribution office. We will solve the electricity problem with a joint project by the governor’s office and the Keçikalesi Municipality,” he said.

Keçikalesi mayor Lütfi Öztürk claimed the low number of residents was behind the issue. “[The authorities] said they could not connect [electricity] due to the insufficient number of houses.”