Chieftain woman leads efforts to revive emptied village

KAPLER, Turkey — Kapler's chieftain Sirin Aslan is spearheading efforts to revive her village emptied by conflict in Dersim province.

Home to 35 families in the 1990s, only four remain in the village due to clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for greater rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority.

However, 24-year-old Aslan is eager to encourage people to return. 

"Our village has been empty for 25 years...we want everyone to return" she told Rudaw. 

Aslan says she became chieftain, or mukhtar in Kurdish, in 2019 to try and revive the village.

Life is not easy in Kapler. 

The village has no vehicles, running water or electricity. Aslan lives in the village's former  school. 

In addition to her village duties, she also studies at Firat University in neighboring Elazig province.

"I am a student as well. This is hard for me but I enjoy being a chieftain... life is hard here because people cannot work, except for in  livestock and agriculture - which is only available for those who have land or animals," she said.

Aslan is working to bring basic services to the village.

Translation by Karwan Faidhi Dri