“The old rains are gone, so are we”: Kurdish Nomads of Mount Ağrı (Ararat)

Mount Ararat, located on Turkey's eastern border, has been the home of Kurdish nomads for centuries. They pass the winter months in their villages built around the mountain and in the city centre; the spring and summer seasons are spent with their herds in the highlands of the mountain. However, this ancient way of life has undergone significant changes in recent years, and the number of nomads living in the region is gradually decreasing. With its ethnographic structure, this study aims to understand the story of these ancient people through their eyes and to increase their visibility. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews conducted between 2019 and 2023, this study also endeavours to discover the social, cultural, economic, political, and climatic factors that have led to these changes and to explain how they have altered the lives of the Kurdish nomads of Mount Ararat.