Tekmen, Osmancık

Tekmen
Tekmen village center
Tekmen
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 41°2′0″N 34°54′0″E / 41.03333°N 34.90000°E / 41.03333; 34.90000Coordinates: 41°2′0″N 34°54′0″E / 41.03333°N 34.90000°E / 41.03333; 34.90000
Country  Turkey
Province Çorum Province
District Osmancık
Elevation 801 m (2,628 ft)
Population
 • Urban 340
 • Metro 3,100
Time zone +2
Area code(s) +90 (364)
Climate Cfb
Website http://www.tekmenkoyu.gov.tr

Tekmen is a village in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, in Osmancık district of Çorum Province. It is a small village, with a population of 340 people. Though it is in the Black Sea Region, it carries typical properties of villages of the Central Anatolia Region. The village economy is based on agriculture and animal husbandry. At the beginning of the 1970s, the Tekmen people began to emigrate from the village to the surrounding cities. Since then, the population of Tekmenians has decreased by around 3,000.

The village consists of five rural districts: Central Tekmen, Karataş, Yukarısaltuk, Aşağısaltuk, and Bağlar. Each district consists of specific families. For example, only the Soruklu family live in Karataş, and in Bağlar only the Hacılars and Hacıyusufs.

The Soruklu Family

Soruklu or Soruk is a district of Samsun province in Turkey bounded by the Vezirköprü district. The Soruk or Soruklu village consists of 7 districts. There are 8 mosques, 3 primary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 multi-program high school in the neighborhood.

"Soruk" also known as "Doruk" which means the highest point of a mountain.

The exact definition of "Lu" in Turkish means a stone roller that is shaped like a cylindir and used to crush the earth to form a pathway, road. It is believed that the stone roller weighted up to 200 kilograms/kg.

The word Lu in Turkey, Samsun is believed to originate by the sound of the stone roller while it crushes against grass. This term is called onomatopoeia.

In the year 1200s, A male nomadic squire named Soruk settled in the mountains and started forming a village. The nomadic squire started building roads by using a stone roller (Lu) he carved himself to allow other people to access easily to the village. When "Soruk" and "Lu" are put together the outcome is when a lane is built in the mountains. And this is where the name "Soruklu" originates.

Family History

The Nomad named Soruk was from a Cynic clan. Cynics are people whos purpose of life is to live in virtue, in agreement with nature. It is thought that Cynics were the people who can gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which is natural for themselves, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, sex, and fame. Instead, they were to lead a simple life free from all possessions.

Education

Hüseyin Gülburun was appointed as a teacher to the village in 1945. He taught reading and writing to prepare students for primary school. Many of his former students have become civil servants. The second teacher to come to the village was Mehmet Kazanan. The Tekmen primary school is currently closed, and the students go to school in Osmancık.

Economy

Harvesting wheat
Sheep in Tekmen

The economy of Tekmen is based on cattle breeding and agriculture. Sheep and goats are also raised. Barley, wheat, oats, and rye are the cereal crops produced, along with lentils, chickpeas, and white beans. There is also a tile factory in the village.

Politics

Election results in Tekmen since 1950:

Tekmen Association

Tekmen people began to emigrate from the village at the beginning of the 1970s to cities both for education and to earn a living. The population has decreased by some 3,000 people, who periodically return to visit their grandfathers and grandmothers.

In late 2007, the village founded an association named "Tekmen Association of Regional Development, Solidarity, Cooperation, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport". The goals of the association are to develop the region and the community socially, economically, to protect the culture, to make the area a better place to live, to enhance solidarity and cooperation between natives and others, to assure people's right to live freely, to perform necessary social, cultural, economic, and sportive studies for youth, and to prepare projects based on these goals.

Upland Festival

Every year at the end of July, the Upland Festival is celebrated in Tekmen Village. Tekmenians come together at an upland of the village and enjoy entertainment for seven days. People come from all over Turkey.

The festival hosts traditional wrestling, folk dances, Halay, local games, mini competitions, a football match, local or traditional foods, local singers, the musical instrument Saz, and other activities.

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