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Turkey's last Armenian village fears for its future after quake
Thirty of the village's 40 stone houses, which are single or double storey and surrounded by orange and lemon orchards, are heavily damaged, and since a third huge earthquake hit, the 130 villagers are without power. They gather at the tea house for shelter and warmth.
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A view of the damaged house of Berc Kartun, the village chief of Vakifli in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Samandag, Turkey, February 24, 2023. (Reuters /Eloisa Lopez)
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n Turkey's only remaining ethnic Armenian village, Vakifli, the elderly population thank God that not one of them died during the devastating earthquakes that struck the region. But they fear for the future of their cherished home.
Thirty of the village's 40 stone houses, which are single or double storey and surrounded by orange and lemon orchards, are heavily damaged, and since a third huge earthquake hit, the 130 villagers are without power. They gather at the tea house for shelter and warmth.
"Vakifli is all we have, the only Armenian village in Turkey. It is our home. Seeing it like this is breaking my heart," said Masis, a 67-year-old retired jeweller, who moved back to his hometown after spending 17 years in Istanbul.
"This village is tiny and our children mostly prefer to live in Istanbul... This is the only home we've ever known. After this disaster, I don't know how long it will take for the village to be rebuilt. I get really scared that most people will leave and the village will be abandoned," he added.
Masis, who gave only his first name, vowed to stay as long as it takes to reconstruct.
Vakifli sits on Moses mountain in the province of Hatay, overlooking Samandag, a city on the western edge of Turkey's long border with Syria. Villagers speak to each other in a local Armenian dialect, known as Moses Mountain Armenian, which is diluted with Arabic and Turkish words.
Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim but hosts some ancient Christian communities - dwindling remnants of sizeable populations that lived in the Muslim-led but multi-ethnic, multi-faith Ottoman Empire, predecessor to modern Turkey.
