Yakutistan is one of the biggest countries in the world that I have been wondering for years, dreaming if I could go one day, where many people do not even know where they are. 65.inc eastern Siberia’s northern latitude of 3.1032 million square kilometers of surface area which is 20% of the Russian Federation, that is approximately four times larger than Turkey’s only inhabited 1 million people, 6 thousand km of Moscow. north-east, the coast of the Arctic Ocean (Arctic Ocean), where Asia and the Americas meet Bering Strait and neighboring world autonomous Republic of Yakutistan, one of the coldest places. The Yakuts, which make up the majority of the population, are in fact the Turkish people and the country’s full name is Saha Republic. It is also known as Yakutistan in Turkish.

The city of Yakuts, founded in 1932 on the banks of the Lena River, is the chief city of Yakutia. During the Russian tsarist times, many people, including Lenin and Stalin, were deported and forced to work in difficult conditions. Yakuts, with a population of 250,000, is at the beginning of the coldest places in the world, the average winter months are -45 degrees, -50 C life continues, and -52 degrees schools and official places are closed. During the winter, the engines of the cars are running continuously, the engines of the cars that do not work for more than half an hour immediately froze and it is no longer possible to start until summer. So life here is like living in a freezer. In very short summer days, the air temperature rises to 35 degrees. So the temperature difference between summer and winter can be between 80 and 90 degrees.

One of the oldest tribes of the Turks, the Sahas has been called the Yakuts in Russia and Europe since the 17th century, and the region where they lived was called Yakutia (Yakutia). The name Yakut used by the Russians for the Sahas is the plural form of the Yako name given to them by the Tungus. Today it is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation.

This is where we go

A total of 11 hours of flight, waiting, airport delays or something close to the end of the journey almost 20 hours Yakut’a Yakut could reach the capital. A small surprise, Moscow transferring baggage could not catch the plane stayed there, empty hands swinging came to the hotel.

 After a slight calm down the city tour, First the Treasury Museum.

Gold and silver, which have been discovered since the beginning of the 20th century, and later discovered diamonds, platinum, uranium, oil, natural gas and coal, as well as many other precious metals. In the Treasury Museum, especially gold, silver and diamond mainly raw and processed precious metals and dazzling jewelery made of them, information about them, local clothing, jewelery, special jewelry collections processed in traditional conditions, interesting and beautiful museum.

In many places that have a history of history, you can see the subcultures, civilizations and vital values ​​of many centuries ago when we say “old city.. We go to the old city by walking. Traditional Siberian houses are regular single-storey high-ceilinged buildings built with earth between thick walls for insulation against the cold, with a single-storey high ceiling, where the old city and old-looking buildings are located.

 In 1918, the Russian Communism regime was ruled by Lenin, but a pro-tsar group struggled to return to the old system. In the clashes between the Tsar supporters, the white army and the red army, which lasted until 1923, the white army lost the struggle and was erased from history. Actually, it was a civil war, and there were a lot of casualties. After this date, the communist party increased its activity in the whole country and took control of the Yakut people, Yakutistan, the area of ​​the Saha Turks. Later, people of Russian descent were settled here and the region was demographically balanced.

Between 1918 and 1923, the white army and the red army, the Tsar supporters and the communist Russian side in memory of those who died in the war, the regional shaman figures, including the extinguished fire monument. When there is plenty of natural gas here, day and night burn. A beautiful and meaningful monument.

**

In the Asian geography, the spring season, the awakening of nature, is very important. Isiah (Ysyash) is a celebration for Mother Nature to re-open her eyes. June 21 Isiah festivities in Yakutia have a different meaning and are celebrated with enthusiasm. The festival is celebrated with various events organized in a large area, where people wear traditional clothes, the most beautiful dresses and jewelry.

Today we are where these celebrations are held.

Incredible traffic everyone is going to the festival place. All preparations are complete on a huge area. We took our place among the people of Saha in enthusiasm, dressed in colorful national costumes, crowded mahşeri. In the middle of the big tent set up officials and protocol. Demonstrations symbolizing the awakening of nature by hundreds of people, sun dance telling how important the sun is for people, really great shows are beautifully prepared. Last but not least, the prayer of gratitude made by tens of thousands of people together for the sun and nature symbolizing the God Tengri. Terrificly impressive and emotional. Can you imagine, tens of thousands of people at the same time ayhal, ayhal, ayhal to the sky as amines.

In fact, there are also traditions, national and religious holidays, everyone used to wear festive dresses participated in celebrations. The socialization of society and being together, that is the foundation of being a nation. Today, these things happen through messaging, our increasingly lost national identity.

 The feast of Isiah is held on June 21st, during which the light of the day is the longest and the darkest, the shortest of the night. The day the light defeated the darkness.

The fields gather together during the term Isı rebirth of nature Isı and conduct various ceremonies for 2-3 days to celebrate the rebirth of nature. During the celebrations, many sports and competitions are performed, songs are sung.

One of the important events is singing while holding hands and dancing together in the form of a ring. This symbolizes the unification of people and means the ring of life. Participants of the dance, singing songs on the one hand, while slowly turning in the direction of the sun and circles almost in time and space … In doing so, thank the sun, people for the gift of light and energy. It is also accepted that everyone who dances and is part of the ring will accumulate enough energy for a year. The most important ritual of the feast is the sprinkling of lamb made of horse milk on fire, trees and grass. It symbolizes nature and the birth of man.

Isiah, the last day of the morning sunrise hands turning to the sun ends with a collective prayer ceremony. This means taking solar energy, sharing it with nature, soil, water, air and all plants.

All of this is not very foreign customs to our culture, we welcome the spring with the celebrations of Nevruz, fires and dances to meet the morning sun. Is Hıdırellez not welcome the spring?

Due to the geographical situation of the country, in the north at the 65th latitude, during this period the sun rises again a few hours after sunset, the day is always bright. So here in the short summer, the days are always bright, in the winter almost the sun never rises, always dark. It’s a psychologically difficult situation.

In the surrounding area, many activities are being held on one side of the demonstrations and on the other side are food and beverage restaurants. Tent venues made of traditional wood, singers in front of or in front of them, music with big orchestra, dances artistic activities, wrestling competitions important for this place on the other side, pulling and pushing each other. It doesn’t seem to end with walking, but we’ve come from the other end of the world and we’ll see it all. Those who dance in colorful clothes are really big feasts, so the shutter sound of the camera doesn’t stop. A different visual wherever you turn.

We’d better rest, but now it’s not the time, my brain can’t control my feet, they’re drifting more than stepping.

People are gathering around someone and taking pictures. We’re taking pictures, people get in front of the selfie or something. We asked who they were, they said president. At first I understood him as the president and wife of this organization, and I shouted at him “bravo president”. President and wife of Yakutia. You see, when we call the guy hello mello, he’s the president and his wife. We’re not used to it, it’s not convincing if thousands of shots wouldn’t be pushed without protection. I insisted that yes, I asked the truth, the president of the country, wow to say that it can be. Not to be afraid of the people you manage, to dance with them, to be the president of humanitarian should be such a thing. Anyway you keep wandering, dances, shows with local music. I was very interested in a dance performance, you asked, accumulated from local dances here. The costumes dances are almost the same as the Indian dance we saw in the cinema. According to a claim, the ethnic community, known as the Indian, originates from Saha Turks who migrated from there through the Berring Strait to the United States thousands of years ago. Physical images are very similar. A messy world …

Here the official language is Russian and the native language is Yakuts language. Actually, if you listen carefully, you catch the words of Turkish origin. In the future, a group of people holding hands holding a large ring dancing, we turned to the music is good. People in colorful clothes celebrate the blessings of the sun with exuberant dance. The public is getting bigger, I press the shutter button, the camera is very hot today and it works continuously. When I looked through the viewfinder, I got a familiar eye, and this is our President of Yakutia, dancing hand in hand with people, that is, with his people. Like jokes, things that we don’t have, who choose oneself, who are not afraid of the people they lead, to be in real life without bodyguards … not from looking at the hills from the palaces, shouting insults …

After a nice and tiring day, we crawled to the hotel. In front of the door of the largest model of the Toyota jeeps black four-five-vehicle convoy, the Turkish flag on the front. No hope is he, Turkey President’s son Bilal Erdogan appeared at the door with 10 protection. We learned that he came to the kiIliah celebrations for arrow shooting. Another nation’s national and national body feast show … O Almighty God, punishment or reward this day I did not know whether to show. There is a shaman proverb that I like and use.

 “the lesson continues until you learn” …

It’s gonna take us a while to learn this lesson.

**

The nights don’t get dark, even in the middle of the night. I’m on the streets early in the morning, 5:00 in the morning for the sake of photography. In the center of Lenin square no one like the weather during the day. Yakuts is a beautiful and tidy city, opera houses, museums, cathedrals, theaters, universities …

 Sixty km. We go to Hongolas, the oldest settlement since 1127. This place came under Russian control in 1997. Today, the majority of the population consists of Yakutlar Sahas.

Pokrovsk region, this is one of the old settlements of Yakuts. A big square in the middle, the people of the region celebrate the traditional Isahah. Since the foreigners are not frequented, the ceremony held here is more authentic than the old ones.

 Interesting doors made of tree with symbols, which symbolize 12 months of the year and 30 days of each month. The first month of the year starts in June, and each month describes the events that took place at that time. For example, the month in which the grass grows is called ot otya, and the month in which the horses give birth is called at atya “. Many names are of Turkish origin. In fact, some of the names of the months we describe the period in which, in January, when the hearths were burned, as in October, when the cultivation of agricultural products such as wheat barley. We have a lot of cultural similarities with Saha Turks, our roots are the same.

We’re going to the area where there are tablets with inscriptions on them. There is information on a large black stone that this area was a settlement area of ​​the Turks of the past. We learn from these tablets that there are many in the region and from them information about the pitches.

Shaman tree in which the shoddings are attached to the forests.

The sites still embrace and believe in the shamanic faith from the past. The shaman tree is one of the cornerstones of this culture. According to the region in Asia, the world tree, life tree, evliya tree, ulukayın, bayterek, is referred to by different names such as iron poplar. Shaman Tree, which has many meanings in mythological and philosophical ways, has also affected many different cultures.

Clothing and making wishes on the branches of the tree shows how strong the belief in the power of the life-giving tree is. This tradition is still continuing in Turkey as in many regions where Turks live. The shaman tree or Tree of Life is located in the middle of the upper world (sky god Tengri), the middle world (Ulgen god of the earth), the lower world (Erlik the underground god) and provides the transition between these three worlds with roots, trunk and branches. Wishes and offerings to this tree reach up to the sky god through the branches of the tree.

We stop by the zoo on the way, the white and black bears that interest me the most. Both are biologically charged animals. Except for a few winter-hardy animals, they are all taken off in winter. It’s not a very well-groomed place, I think it’s a pity for animals.

We watch the Lena River, which lives here on a hill. He was born in the middle of Yakutia, feeding on hundreds of branches and pouring into the northern ice sea.

There are 22 republics connected to the Russian Federation, six of which are autonomous republics of the Turkish lineage. Saha Republic, Tuva Republic, Hakasya Republic, Altai Republic, Republic of Kurdistan and Tatarstan. These are autonomous republics of Turkish descent to the federation. The Turkish-speaking states, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan. These are the republics that have their own flag and Independent parliament. The countries with the status of observers of the International Turkish Culture and Organization and the Turkish lineage are the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Gagavusya Autonomous Turkish Republic in Moldova.

Yakuts also has two natural gas cycle power plants, central heating and general lighting through these power plants. In case of failure of these plants or gas interruption for any reason, they can be tolerated for a maximum of two days, especially in winter. Such a knife-back life.

The Lena River is one of the most important life vessels and there are 800 lakes and 700 rivers that feed it. So this place is like a land of lakes and rivers. The river Lena is 10-15 km from some places. width of the river can reach up to 5-6 meters thick ice in the winter over tons of trucks can pass. In the summer, ferries operate on the same route. We cross Lena by ferry to Nizhny-Styakh with a population of 1000 on the opposite coast. Light coffee break and two hours drive from Kyrylyye Waterfall. Our dream is to see a majestic waterfall that flows from meters high. We saw! The water that jumps over half a stone. Still, the calming sound of running water softened us all. We are in the countryside, the roads are broken and dusty, and the jumps for the car started to jump.

On the way, a shaman tree stops immediately and there are plenty of picture offerings.

Hop on and off again, we’re going to the Buluus glacier. Frozen lake bed in the valley, where the ice does not melt in thick layers of self-preservation. It runs from the light to the freezing season without being completely destroyed. One of the famous homus artists here is filming on ice. We immediately stepped in and joined the photo and video recording.

“Homus” is a regional musical instrument that makes a sound by vibrating two metals in the form of thin strips that are stuck between the teeth which are well known in this geography. Metal strips are made by hand, tongue and lip movements in different tones and traditional music is produced. Actually, it’s not easy to play. At first it sounds a little scratchy, but then you get used to it, you even like it. In the end, I think we’ve got too much in the film crew, the guys kindly kicked us out, we’ve already done a lot of photos and videos.

We’il bring the night to the town of Elenka with a population of 500. The day went on, the roads began to come from the broken light. We are wanted but the expected facility does not appear.

Eventually it appeared, it seems like the night will be difficult, accommodation made from a few sheds and old buses.

When you get out of the car, a full-armed army of sharp flies welcomes us in joy because new goods have arrived. The war has begun immediately, from our side, but the low mosquito army is attacking mercilessly. They’re more intense with the incoming reinforcements, you bastards. We look like we’ve been scanned with a machine gun, we’re all swelled up, these guys are ruthlessly sticking out of your pants, over your shirt, medication, spray or something. As a result, the low mosquito army won the battle by far. While we were eating, they continued to eat us … The attacks continued all night, though I didn’t leave my blood on the ground, I neutralized quite a bit of enemy spikes.

Despite the spikes, pleasant conversation around the fire in the middle of the evening ..

The reason we stay here is that this is the best place for a boat trip tomorrow.

**

It rained at night, the weather in the morning is cold compared to other days. In the morning we go south by boat on the Lena River a few hours later in 2012, the UNESCO World Heritage list Lena Pillars, so we came to the columns of Lena. When the boats are small, I hope it won’t be a problem as the wind is a little cold. A wonderful view of the river.

Lena Columns, which started to be formed during the Cambrian Period from 500 million years ago, have a total of 80 km. Natural formations in length.

Mountains in the tens of thousands of years of great temperature between summer and winter different, rain and wind as a result of natural events such as erosion in some places, the remaining hard-resistant parts appeared in the form of columns. In many places, the column-like pieces are independent, probably one day they will collapse and new ones will follow. A magnificent stone forest has been formed and the unique image created by the irresistible power of nature …

Climbing to the top of the hill, the magnificent view, you can see better from above. I haven’t counted it, but we’ve climbed hundreds of stairs, we’ve enjoyed it, and now the turn is starting.

This place took our day, it was worth everything …

**

Morning before the mammoth museum. More than 5 million years ago, this geography is one of the most densely populated areas of mammoths. It is known that there are a large number of mammoth fossils underground, but it is not easy to remove them from the soil that has been frozen for thousands of years. However, a few of them have been removed in the museum under protection.

A huge mammoth fossil skeleton of real size stands in the middle, although both the ancestors of elephants are different in size and some other characteristics.

 Millions of years ago, regional animals such as bison, horses and wolves migrated from there through the Bering Strait to America. So this is the motherland of the bison, the horse and the wolf. Later, people migrated to the continent of America with their immigration on foot.

 Today, the weather is cold, the same day can drop by 10-15 degrees. We are not accustomed to such a rapid change, the sneezes began to rattle. We are dressed like cabbage, but there are many people walking around in shorts with short sleeves.

I wanted to see a real shaman’s head here and listen to their experiences from them, but we couldn’t. When urbanization increases, it is very difficult to find such cultures within the city. The nearest shaman village to Yakuts is a few hours by plane. Since there aren’t many scheduled flights here, there’s nothing to do. We also have to make do with the tourist shaman show.

We’re going to the shaman’s house. First you learn about everyday items in a shaman’s house, the ritual materials used during the ceremony, all about them. Shamans are also very important in fire and sun, they have shown a shamanic ritual about fire, it is really interesting, if you call, you will find a lot in common with our culture. Information about the jobs that men and women have to do separately, their lives.

 Finally, our fortune was looked at, everyone’s situation, the future was good or something, there is nothing to worry about, let our eyes intellectuals.

Long before Christ, people began to live collectively as some values ​​develop. A person who knows that he is going to die and who is afraid of death and who is afraid of the events he cannot understand in the environment begins to produce some protective values ​​against them. These behaviors begin with fetish objects and develop as fetishism. Later, different beliefs are formed depending on the geography lived, the most known, widespread and long-term permanent shamanism. Shamanism, like all Pagan beliefs, has no founder and leader. It is claimed that it dates back to ancient times and even stone age. It is very common especially in Asian geography.

Shamanism is Tungus as its word origin and it is one of the beliefs of humanity and Turks for many years. Shamans; they deal with the gods, people and souls, mediate, cure diseases, deliver sacrificial sacrifices to earth and heavenly gods, expel evil spirits, deal with good spirits, and inform the future. All of this is done by the shaman heads, which are usually determined by initiation, ie by being chosen or by hand. The most influential shamans are women who can easily go into trance and often live abstractly from society. The most important things needed to get into a trance is the drums where she goes to the trance with her dress and rhythm with different objects and some animal parts.

Although shamanism basically has many common values, it differs according to its geography. According to the shamanic belief, the world is divided into three parts: sky, earth and underground. Tengri, the heavenly god, says the sky is the bright realm, the upper realm represents good spirits attached to it. God Ulgen represents the earth, the “middle world”, and the people and living things on earth. The underground world, the lower world, represents the god Erlik and the evil spirits attached to him. Those who do good and heal are called “white shaman, those who control the underworld, direct the evil spirits, and those under God Erlik are called“ black shamans yönetiminde. The basis of shamanism is the idea of ​​harmony of human and nature togetherness. The universe, the world, human beings, animals, plants and nature are considered as a whole and there is a need to respect it. Another basic belief of shamans is the belief that the human generation should continue forever. For this reason, the shamans consider themselves to be the continuation of their ancestral life and accept that their children will be the continuation of their own lives. Therefore, they strive to raise their children in the best way. Evil spirits are the greatest enemies of humans, seeking sacrifice by sending disease to humans and herds. To protect them from evil, it is necessary to do what they want. Only the shamans know their power from the heavens and the spirits of their ancestors.

All of the celestial religions have been influenced by these beliefs. The Turks lost their war with the Arabs at the beginning of the M.S. Even today, the Shaman tradition still continues. Particularly in the Asian geography, it is estimated that there are approximately 650,000 followers today, although their numbers are gradually decreasing.

After the shaman house, we go to the Permafrost tunnels. What is permafrost first ..

Permafrost, a layer of continuously frozen soil that begins a few meters below the ground surface and varies in depth according to the area in which it is formed. In Yakutsk and its vicinity, this layer starts in some places 4m below the ground and goes down to about 15m. Since this layer has been frozen for tens of thousands of years, it protects everything that is frozen under the soil with it.

It is possible to use the tunnels opened in these layers as natural cold storage, but the settlements built on or near the permafrost tunnels, constructions, substructures and superstructures can dissolve and collapse over time due to the heat they create. In other words, the soil, which is tight and durable when frozen, can become loose and vulnerable when the heat changes begin to occur. For this reason, over time or near structures, such as collapse breakage can occur over time. In this geography, especially in the permafrost zones, it is constructed on piles piled up to a depth of 15 m and at an average load of one meter from the ground. This is to prevent the heat generated in the structure from entering the soil.

We’re entering one of these permafrost tunnels. First, check the shoes, if you have sliding or unsuitable shoes from there to fit our shoes, we wear a thick coat over us and enter. The inside of the tunnel was covered with all the surrounding ice layer, they even made serious sculptures and slides from the ice formed and decorated them with colorful led lights. I mean, it’s like a holiday place. Normally there should be no icing inside, the soil should be frozen in its own state and color at a temperature of around -50 ° C. Over the years, the water vapor of the visitors entering the tunnel freezes in the cold and forms such a layer of ice. Still a nice and varied experience. After a while, we start feeling cold, okay.

Only 1% of Yakutistan is suitable for agriculture. Usually fish in rivers and fur animals in forests. In addition, cold-resistant reindeers and horses are fed. Despite these harsh climatic conditions, Yakutia is rich in underground mines. Diamond, gold, natural gas, coal, silver and copper are mined. In addition to oil deposits, 20% of the world’s diamond production and 40% of the Russian gold mines are located here. Diamond and gold have an important place in Saha dormitory.

Yakutistan’s cuisine is primarily fish, reindeer and horse meat. The most preferred food is the fish called ro stroganina,, after it is caught in the river, it is frozen and served in the form of thin leaves. Like ice fish .. Ruby-horses can be fed even at -50 degrees, meat and milk is used. The horse meat served as thinly sliced ​​smoked meat is very good, it is also said to remove radioactive particles from the human organism. We ate, we’re clear of all the particles. In fact, horse meat is used a lot in different ways. The reindeer is also delicious.

Due to such harsh climatic conditions and the small population of the settlements, the asphalt road, the railroad cannot be made much for transportation, transportation is largely airplane or helicopter, so there are more than 200 airports of different sizes. Supplies also come mainly from centers in Moscow and Russia.

Yakutistan is one of the largest and coldest countries in the world in north-eastern Siberia, with a population of over 1 million, most of whom are Turk-size Saha Turks. A different world, different habits, lifestyle formed depending on the circumstances. It is the land of warm-blooded people with different traditions and beliefs, not many tourists coming, experiencing the shamanic spirit.

Nevertheless, my dear homeland, we do not understand the value of the climate, nature, everything else, you ..

 

yours affectionately

Hayrettin Kagnici

June 2019