In the province of Bursa, in north-western Turkey, there is a small village on the shores of Lake Ulubat where, for the last 14 years, a fisherman named Adem Yılmaz and a stork called ‘Yaren’ have been the protagonists of a touching love story, which is repeated every year with the arrival of spring, and which is enacted with the bird landing on the small fishing boat of his old friend.
For 13 years, the stork Yaren has returned every spring to the village of Eskikaraağaç, settling in its nest and frequently landing on Yılmaz’s boat when the old fisherman goes out on the lake. Yaren’s partner, called ‘Nazlı’, arrived on 15 March, but there was no sign of Yaren and both Yılmaz and many of the villagers feared that the stork would not show up this year. Finally, two days later, he did, putting an end to the nostalgia and longing since he left with the arrival of autumn last year: a story that has been echoed by the main media outlets in Turkey.
‘I clung to the hope that Yaren would arrive, but I grew increasingly anxious because he was arriving later than in previous years. When I finally saw him, I was overwhelmed with pure happiness,’ the 69-year-old fisherman told the Turkish press. ’Yaren is like a child to me. Every morning I feed him with fish, and then he returns to the nest to take care of his breed. If it is hungry again, it always returns to my boat,’ says Yılmaz.
The tender story of love and friendship between this fisherman and the stork, who has returned to the same village every spring for the last 14 years so that they can enjoy each other’s company, has indeed transcended the borders of Turkey and has even inspired a documentary film that won the ‘Best Documentary’ award at the 2019 Prague Film Festival. Yılmaz and Yaren also have a statue representing them in the main square of the village that immortalises their bond; even it’s possible to watch the nest of Yaren live 24 hours a day thanks to a webcam installed in the village.
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As a history lover, Pablo Gómez was captivated by Turkey from the first day he visited it in 2006: he got married there, has a house there… and has since become an expert on Turkey’s current affairs. With a long experience in media, he has been at the helm of hispanatolia.com since 2011.
