So while on vacation in Turkey we used the above article and went out in search of the Yoruks. First we found a poster advertizing the "2002 Annual Yoruk Festival" near the costal resort of Fetiye. We drove 60 kilometers North East from Fetiye and sure enough we came upon the Yoruk Festival. Here is a foto of a Yoruk shepherd who demonstrating Yoruk culture at the festival.
Most of the 300 Yoruks who were at the festival near Fetiye live in towns or villages. To find Yoruks who live in tents we went to lake Egidir which is 100 Kilometers East of Isparta. The tourism office in Egidir sent a guide with us who helped us drive in our rental car 40 kilometers North East from Egidir where we saw a dozen Yoruk tents. Here is one family who welcomed us into their tent for tea.
From reading the Turkish Air article on the Yoruks I made this map of where Yoruks can be found.
I also found this good summary from this website: http://www.allaboutturkey.com/nomad.htm
THE NOMADS (Yörük)
Throughout the coastal region of Turkey You will come across groups of nomadic herders, the yörüks, who in the winter come down to the pastures by the coast and in the summer, when the sun shrivels the vegetation on the coast, travel up into the mountains to the yaylas, the high mountain plateaus and valleys where there is sufficient grass and fodder for the animals until the autumn rains again regenerate the pastures on the coast.
In
Lycia you will see a few of the traditional black goat-hair tents, usually
covered in plastic sheets nowadays, of the truly nomadic yörüks,
though many now have more permanent houses on the coast and in the mountains.
In other parts of Turkey there are larger numbers of these nomads, who
carry everything with them on donkeys and camels along with their flocks
of sheep and goats. To control the large flocks of sheep and guard their
property, a large breed of dog is employed and these animals can be ferocious
beasts, keep well clear of them. They are usually bred in the East to
take on the wolves that used to, and sometimes still do, attack the flocks,
and these large dogs could successfully and will take on a wolf.
Though the life of the yörüks is becoming less nomadic in modern Turkey and they are losing many of their traditions, they still make superb kilims with patterns and colors particular to the clan and region they belong to. The dress of these nomadic herdmen has changed and though you still see some in the black shaggy goats-hair capes, more and more have adopted western style dress. The women more traditionally wear the 'salvar', the baggy trousers and short jacket, usually in a floral material, and on their heads a scarf cleverly arranged and knotted so it looks almost like a hat.
The Yörüks are not gypsies as is sometimes suggested. Their origins are probably from the indigenous peoples of Anatolia and it is likely they were here before the Turcoman tribes migrated down from the North. They do not wander the length and breadth of Turkey, but have definite routes and areas in the lowlands and highlands bordering the coast. They are a proud people who have to some extent been left behind in rapidly modernizing Turkey and their traditional routes and rights would appear to have been overlooked as roads are cut through the country and property is snapped up by developers.
END
I also found this good site about trekking in areas where the Yoruk are located...
http://www.lycianway.com
From this site http://korkuteli.tripod.com/yoruk.htm in Turkish....
Yörükler (Göçebe Türkler)
Yörükler hayvancilikla ugrasan göçebe Türkmenlerdir.
En çok keçi, koyun, sigir ve deve beslerler ve bu hayvanlardan
elde ettikleri mahsullerle geçimlerini temin ederler. Yörüklerin
belirli bir yerleri yoktur. Ancak hayvanlarina bol ot ve su bulabilmek
için yaz aylarinda serin yaylak adi verilen yerlere, kis aylarinda
ise iklimi daha iliman kislak adi verilen yerlere göç ederler.
Bu göçler yörükler açisindan ayri bir anlam
tasir, büyük bir sevinç ve nese kaynagi olur, özel
eglenceler yapilir. Antalya yöresinde yasayan yörükler
Ekim ayi sonlarinda serin, bol sulu ve otlu olan Toroslardaki yaylalara
göç ederler. Yaylaklarin en önemlileri Seydisehir, Beysehir,
Egirdir, Korkuteli, Elmali ve Beydaglari gibi yüksek yaylalardir.
Yörükler kildan yapilmis çadirlarda otururlar. Çadirlarinin
içini keçe, kilim, hali, heybe gibi kendi dokuduklari esyalar
ile döserler. Birtakim sosyal ihtiyaçlarindan mahrum halde
yasamaktadirlar. Tabii ki bu da onlarin kendi kültürlerini ve
yasama biçimlerini devam ettirmelerine önemli bir etkendir.
Tahsil bakimindan çok geri kalmislardir. Yörükler cesur,
cengaver, zeki ve dürüst insanlardir. Belki bazi görgü
noksanliklari olabilir. O da günümüz ölçüleri
açisindan.
Antalya yöresinde yasayan yörükler degisik sebeplerden
dolayi Osmanli Imparatorlugu zamanindan beri yerlesik hayata geçirilmeye
çalisilmaktadir. Ancak bunda tam basari saglanamamistir.
Antalya’nin Akseki ilçesinden Bademli bucagina giderken ormanlarla
kapli bir tepenin basinda çatlak bir çinar agacinin gövdesinden
soguk bir pinar akar. Bu pinarla ilgili yöre halki bir efsane anlatir.
Efsaneye göre buralarda bir zamanlar yörükler yasarlarmis.
Bir gün yörük kizi elinde kirman egirip, keçilerini
otlatirken, Temmuz sicaginda ak sakalli, elinde kuru bir degnek, yasli,
pirifani bir adam görünür. Yörük kizina yaklasarak:
-‘Tanri rizasi için, suyun var mi bacim?’ der.
Kiz yasli adama çok acir, yüregi burkulur:
-‘Suyum yok ama, iki bakraç taze sütüm var. Al kana
kana iç ’ der ve bakraci uzatir. Ak sakalli ihtiyar sütü
içer ve dua eder.
–‘Tanri gönlünün muradini versin’ diyerek elindeki degnegi
oraya diker. Degnek dalli budakli kocaman bir çinar olur. Çinarin
gövdesi yarilir, içinden buz gibi bir pinar akmaya baslar.
O günden sonra da buraya ‘Er Pinari’ denmistir. Buradan su içenler,
pinarin süt kokusu verdigini söylerler.
I would love to find out more about the Yoruk Nomads of Turkey. I would love to meet a Yoruk person.
Please e-mail me at yoruk@nomadplace.com