We forget coronavirus here, says family living on island

KOCAELİ – İhlas News Agency

A family living alone on the island of Kefken, off the Kandıra district of the northwestern province of Kocaeli, happily said that they are coronavirus pandemic free as they do not contact anybody.

“I live here with my wife, three children and my sister. We are the luckiest people on earth. We forget everything here, even COVID-19,” said Mustafa Işık, the “head of the islanders.”

As the island is a protected site, Işık family can accommodate with the special permission from the state.

“My father was a watchman of the lighthouse. Due to his job, we came to the island when I was a year old, and I am here since then,” said Mustafa Işık, marking his happiness to be an islander.

“We live in a one-story house inside bay trees. This is a free island.”

The family earns money by fishing and selling the fruits and vegetables that they grow on the island, said the family members.

Life is simple on the island, added Mustafa Işık telling his daily routine.

“Going fishing after breakfast and working in the garden in the afternoons.”

Işık’s sister Biliz Kalfa on expressing her love for the island said, “We came to the island due to my father. But we could not leave after he retired. We cannot live in any other place than here because we love it here.”