We were coming from Niğde / Cappadocia in the direction of Aksaray, when we probably had chosen the wrong junction in the village of Bor, which had now led us along the mountains of Hasan Dağı to the village of Altunhisar.

Following the display of the navigation system, at least the direction was perfect. And as is so often the case in Central Anatolia, the question to a passer-by of the further course of the journey brought us an invitation for tea. We were quickly absorbed in the conversation about the daily worries and needs when our interlocutor pointed out the small village of Keçikalesi, which is still not connected to the public power grid despite numerous inquiries and requests. Of course there are still problems with the power supply in many areas of Turkey, but we couldn't quite imagine that an entire village would still be unsupervised.

A cay in the mountain village - hospitality comes first

Our host was then kind enough to accompany us to Keçikalesi, especially since he was afraid that we would choose the wrong path again and then suddenly lose our orientation in the mountains with the up-coming darkness. Maybe he just wanted to take the opportunity to come to Keçikalesi easily and practically. We didn't care. An estimated 12 kilometres after Altunhisar he made us stop and pointed out the “road” that bends to the left. Here we would have to turn right after our departure in Keçikalesi and would then reach the main road D 750 to Aksaray for about 7 kilometres, he said.

Now we went diagonally to the right and after about 3 kilometres we had reached the destination of our spontaneous excursion, the village of Keçikalesi was in front of us. As is common in many villages in Central Anatolia, there were no paved roads and no sidewalks. But cell phone reception. At first we could hardly believe that there should be no electricity either, but we couldn't find any high-voltage pylons either. And an underground cable in Central Anatolia, no, that couldn't be.

Immediately some of the villagers came together, curious about what these strangers might be doing here in the village, just our tea host is known in the village and so part of the group quickly disperses again. With a few remaining, the subject of electricity is quickly reached. For about 60 years the inhabitants of the village have tried again and again to point out the grievances to the relevant administrative authorities and the people are repeatedly put off. Sometimes it means that some of the 60 people in the village do not have any legally valid land registers, then again it is succinctly said that the village is too far off the power line.

Mountain villages away from civilization

Does the village with its 60 inhabitants have to continue to use candles instead of electricity? Actually an untenable situation. No radio, no television, at most battery-powered or with a diesel generator. So far, all efforts of the residents have been in vain. A local resident says that his father died some time ago without ever being able to experience the blessing of electricity. After all, you are already in the 20th century and he himself, at 43 years old, has so far only heard of electricity. Can that be called quality of life?

The provincial governor is now also taking care of the precarious situation. He himself turned to the Medas, the organization responsible for power distribution here in the region. But whether this will change the situation remains questionable. It is more likely the distance to the main power line that makes it arithmetically unreasonable to extend a power line for 60 residents to Keçikalesi.

This, too, is a reality in Turkey, which is rapidly expanding economically, with economic growth that seems almost unbelievable. Unfortunately, people often fall by the wayside. Meanwhile, the energy company EON is also active in Turkey, maybe everything will be better with it.

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