‘Clean Food, Ecologic Living: From Seed To Soil, Soil To Table’

A group of citizens in Dersim carry out activities that encourage traditional production through the civil initiative launched under the name "Anka Dersim". Eyüp Hanoğlu, one of the volunteers of the Anka Dersim initiative, responded to the question of "why" regarding their initiative and their work as: “Because we aim to incarnate our bonds with traditional production based on respect for nature, human beings and for all living things we share nature with.”

The seeds of “Karakılçık Wheat”, which were found as a result of the research carried out by Anka Dersim volunteers and stated to have a history of at least 150 years, were planted in a farmer’s garden and reproduced. In the event organized by Anka Dersim volunteers on August 15, the seeds obtained as a result of sowing were distributed to citizens farming in the region.

Why ‘Anka Dersim’?

Because we aim to incarnate our bonds with traditional production based on respect for nature, human beings and for all living things we share nature with. Because we want to contribute Dersim community to reborn over its own roots, language, culture and values.

What is the importance Dersim represents in means of natural food?

While the world spends a lot of money and resource to Access natural food, we sit on those resources. People in cities are restless and unhappy! Most importantly, while 5 out of 10 people get sick in the cities, only 1 out of 10 people get sick in the countryside. Most of the things that we cannot achieve with money exist spontaneously in this land. Turkey’s and Europe’s largest endemic area is Dersim region. Again, the strongest water collection basin is Fırat river and its roots are also in Dersim.

But Dersim is one of the most sending provinces of Turkey at the same time? 

Yes. We can avoid migration by ensuring that Dersim develops here with its own products and varieties, so that our people stay in their homes. Because this culture can only be sustained by creating a living option in these lands! We see the creation of the possibilities of this essential, and we strive for it.

Why do you attach importance on being traditional?

In addition to natural food and clean environment, we also care for the return of Dersim to its history, culture, values and native languages. For example, an ox that ploughed for 3 or 4 years would not be sold immediately when it got old. It would be respected as the veteran of the house. It would be sold a few years later. In the world which has deteriorated this much, we care to ensure that our values of such would come to life within the production culture that would be created today and to be passed on to the next generations.

This road in which we’ve taken a philosophy of ethical production and ethical distribution, away from any chemical additive that is a sign of greed to get more products and that poison both humans and natural life itself; and without using any hybrid / artificial seeds, we act with our traditional values as Anka Dersim. We strive to create the tradition of our ancestors who lived with Alevi values that accept the soil’s food as it is, who share the product fairly, and who take consents in every step, in the possibilities of today’s modern world.

In this respect, Anka Dersim consists of a production understanding and concrete practices that give priority to its own discipline, that respects the creations of nature and grows with a sense of protecting it and that wants to exist without harming any living creature that shares the same nature with us. Besides, we care about the wisdom of not making someone else eat a product that we would not eat.

What have you done so far?

First thing we did was to focus on wheat, because the biggest threat to our health is the Daily bread we eat that has high gluten and bromide ratios. The fact that traditional seeds being gradually removed from circulation and the abundance of agricultural fields poisoned with chemicals to increase yield keeps this threat alive.
In order to paddle against this stream, we aim to plant larger areas by reproducing more ancestry seeds and spreading them to the villages. So far, we have planted four local wheat types.
One of them, Karakılçık is a black-spiked wheat type that grows at cool and relatively higher altitudes and has been widely planted in Dersim until recently, but has gradually disappeared because of foreign hybrid seeds. Its gluten rate is below 1 percent and it is very special in terms of taste and nutritional values. It is very rich in terms of potassium and phosphorus and has a high content of vitamins A, E, K, C as well as iron, fibers and proteins. In Dersim geography, this wheat is best grown in Pülümür and Erzincan in terms of climate, seasonal conditions and altitude.
As Anka Dersim, we brought together a ton of seed seeds with soil in this region that has not been exposed to chemical poisons. We made our first planting in the village of Pülümür Armağan with Ali Budak, asking for the consents of the soil and the wheat. Later, in the Pülümür’s villages of Yarbaşı and Pancılas and in the village of Karacalar in Erzincan, we have made Karakılçık wheat one with soil.
Our second ancestry seed Aşure wheat has been the local wheat of Dersim for at least five years. It is planted in autumn, its widespread production in central districts is made with waterless agriculture, it is dark in color. It is a bread wheat type that dates back to BC 1000s. We have cultivated and harvested this wheat with our friends in wide areas in Kavaktepe and Sörek (Karabulut) villages of our Mazgirt district where we had access to the seed source.
Our third ancestry seed is Bare, one of the summer wheat of Dersim. It is called “Usare” in zazaki. It is light colored and easy to digest. We continue to plant this wheat type in Dersim and Pertek in order to reproduce seeds.
Our last type of wheat is Gerek 79. It is white grained, red spiked and resistant to winter and drought. It’s also the second most important bread wheat to be considered among modern types. We continue its production due to the quality of bread. We’ve also harvested our wheat fields’ autumn cultivation in Pertek’s Çay village with an event.

We utilize a significant part of the wheat we obtain as seeds and grind the rest in the water mill. For this purpose, as the Anka Dersim team, we brought a centuries-old water mill back to life together with the villagers in the Dere region. Our goal is to make these mills and ecological production culture with ancestry seeds to become more widespread in Dersim.
In addition to these, we have brought three different local ancestry seeds of string beans together with soil in Karayonca (Pardi) and Isıtma (Heniye Sıti) villages of Ovacik. String beans are no longer preferred because they are inconvenient and grow in a long time. Because it has not been able to compete with Konya seed which has been brought to Ovacık in recent years that grows fast and effortlessly. However, string bean is a great bean that strengthens the body and that does not create weight problems with its white small grains, high nutritional values and as it is filling.

Do you establish relations with municipalities?

We work with municipalities in Pülümür, Ovacık and Pertek. We offer supports for the realization of new projects in different areas of the districts. We endeavor to support culture and art as much as possible. We are still in infancy in terms of awaking the healing tradition of Dersim, developing this area and enlivening apicultural activities. On the other hand, we encourage workshops especially in order to involve our women in the production process. In a study we started with Pülümür Public Education Center, our women friends sew ecological bags for the products produced in Dersim.

Do you encounter any challenges?

First of all, there is a believing problem with our people. Since Dersim has been deprived for many years, and our people there have lived generally in negative conditions, there are little or no expectations of optimism about new things! In addition to this, projects that have been left unfinished or not realized have turned into a dumpster there. Our people’s beliefs and trust have been abused very much. Therefore, you have to show it concretely to them first. Although this is also a disadvantage, it turns into an advantage in Anka Dersim’s approach. Because the reason we exist is precisely to realize our ideas!
Our second problem is the scarcity of watery lands, although we live among abundant water resources. This situation challenges the producers very much and causes most of the agricultural areas to remain idle. In addition, the fact that agricultural production conditions are lagging behind and the lack of machinery and technical equipment are other negative factors.

What are your goals in the short-medium-long terms?

Although we are just at the bottom of the ladder for now, we have accumulated serious knowledge and experience. Working with different seed types in a wide area, with different climatic and soil characteristics in the field has been very developing for us. Nowadays, we are planning the production of the next period with what we’ve learned from these experiences. This year we had the opportunity to reproduce our seeds a little more. As the seeds multiply, we strive to replace the hybrid seeds in Dersim by replacing the hybrid seeds with ancestry seeds by distributing the relevant appropriate seeds to the villagers according to the region.
When we first went into action, we had a goal of exposing highly healing plants of Dersim and working on them together with the academic field. Then, we want to cultivate garlic, rhubarb and similar species that are about to become endangered because of the demand. For this purpose, we intend to turn our attempts that we had started on some plants, into widespread cultivation.

We’ve already started to cultivate Ovacık wild garlic in different areas which is considered to be the ancestor of garlic. As a result of these studies, we plan to plant garlic in Ovacık by finding the most effective form of wild garlic. In addition, we test the plants with high added value and which do not grow in our geography, together with our friends in the soil of Dersim. For this purpose, our attempts of planting lavender and saffron plants in Ovacık and Pertek had begun. If the conditions allow us, we want to develop and encourage such attempts.
Another area we are interested in is apiculture. We encourage and support the development of honey, propolis, pollen and royal jelly and encourage healthy, additive-free productions in this field. Also, there are honey products among Anka Dersim product items.
It is among our goals to build gardens with local seeds of garden plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplants, melons and zucchinis which are becoming extinct in Dersim.
Again, Dersim’s traditional handicrafts (such as saddlebags, handicraft knitting products) to be produced especially with women’s labor is one of the things we want to do in the medium term. We see this very important both in terms of our traditional products not being lost, and for our women to participate in the production process and make their own living.
Finally, we are in search of a place where we can deliver the philosophy, approach, tradition and production bonds of Anka Dersim. We are trying to realize this as well.