A film about the members of a Kyrgyz clan, who left their homeland during the 1920s. After the establishment of Soviet power in Kyrgyzstan, they first went to China, than to the Pamir Mountains, and Afghanistan. When Soviet troops were deployed in Afghanistan in 1979, they left for Pakistan. They were finally given a new home, land, and work in the Van region in Eastern Turkey, where about three thousand Kyrgyz have now lived for 20 years. They always wanted to go back to Kyrgyzstan. But the new generation knows about their homeland only through the stories of the older generation, of which a few have visited Kyrgyzstan after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The memory of the elders and the reality of today do not coincide. The country and its inhabitants have changed beyond recognition, but the wish to go back is still alive, at least in words. The Turkish authorities are loyal to the Kyrgyz, but there are problems. The young are forgetting their native language and culture, their culinary customs, their national dresses. Moreover, they live in Kurdish territory. For a possible return, no funds are available. There is hope, but no commitments made.

“Kyrgyz in Turkey” is available to purchase from our Chemodan Films Store.