‘Winter graves’ dug in Erzurum

ERZURUM

In the eastern province of Erzurum, where the temperature drops to 30 degrees below zero in winter, “winter graves” are dug every year before the arrival of the cold weather to ensure duties for those who passed away are fulfilled in every condition.

Pointing out that the soil freezes due to extremely cold weather in winter, Mayor Mehmet Sekmen stated that the workers dug 800 graves with pickaxes and shovels in two graveyards.

“It is a great convenience for us to prepare burial places in fall as there are periods of excessive snowfall and freezing. We make them ready by opening a certain number of burial places in the fall,” Sekmen explained.

“We want no one to die, but life can stop suddenly. All duties for those who passed away must be fulfilled in every condition,” he added.

Stating that funeral services in Erzurum are organized by the municipality without allowing the relatives of the deceased to put a burden on their backs, Sekmen pointed out that the municipality only demands the death certificate from the relatives and then carries out the rest of the funeral services.

Salim Uğur, one of the workers who fix the graves opened by diggers, said, “I work at the Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Cemetery Directorate. We do lots of burials all day long.”

“When we have spare time during the day, we dig graves to prepare for the winter. There is frost in winter, it becomes difficult to open a grave, we are already preparing for it,” he added.