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Nature and lasting bond: stork journeys 2,500 miles visiting fisherman friend in Turkish village every year for 14 years
The Old Man and the Stork: An Unlikely Friendship That Captivated a Nation
From Turkiye comes the story of an annual spring reunion that has captivated the hearts of a nation for 14 years. It involves a simple rural fisherman Adem Yilmaz, waiting in his boat for the return of a dear friend: a white stork named Yaren.
Casting his lines and nets upon the beautiful Uluabat Lake near Yilmaz’s home of Eskikaraagac Village in the region of Bursa, he has waited patiently, eagerly, for the white stork’s arrival. “Yaren generally comes at the beginning of the month, and when it didn’t show up, I feared something had happened to it,” Yilmaz told national news. “I spent a week in sorrow, thinking it might have faced danger on the way. But thankfully, Yaren has returned. This morning, it came to my boat and ate the fish I had brought for it.”
It is the 14th year that Yaren has come to the lake to perch on the prow of Yilmaz’s rowboat after making a 2,500-mile journey from the species’ winter breeding grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) flies this route, via the Balkans, Greece, and Turkiye, or via Gibraltar, every year before returning in spring to nest and raise its young. Eskikaraagac is part of the European Stork Villages Network, an organization that honors and celebrates towns whose members prioritize and engage with stork conservation strategies.
“Spring has come, longing is over… That heart-warming reunion happened again on its 14th anniversary,” Ibrahim Yumakli, the Turkish Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, wrote on X. “Uncle Adem and Yaren are together again.” “It’s a beautiful reminder of the importance of nature, friendship, and the deep connections that can transcend the barriers of species,” wrote Turkiye Today. “For those lucky enough to witness this annual reunion, it’s a heartwarming sight that continues to inspire and delight.”
The Eskikaraağaç Stork Village, the only village representing Turkey in the European Stork Villages Association, is on a migration route that tens of thousands of storks use every year during the migration period. The village is also home to resident storks.
The duo’s story gained international fame after it was photographed on the lake. The story was performed as a shadow play in Greece and became the subject of textbooks in Austria and Germany.
In 2019, the documentary “Yaren,” filmed by Burak Doğansoysal and prepared with the contributions of the Karacabey Municipality, returned from the Prague Film Awards with the title of best documentary.
