Villagers in Mersin Who Establish Lavender Gardens and Give Scholarships

A group of villagers who created a lavender garden in the Silifke district of Mersin with the support of the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality are selling their products through the cooperative they established, giving scholarships to students and contributing to schools in the region.

The story of establishing a lavender garden and becoming a cooperative in the Çaltıbozkır Neighborhood, which has a population of approximately 2 thousand, began in 2018 when retired teacher Mehmet Asım Özçalık returned to his village with the slogan “There is no retirement in teaching” and founded the Çaltıbozkır Association.

With the decision taken in the meetings attended by other members, some of whom were journalists and some were housewives, Özçalık and her friends, who attended the lavender cultivation course, applied to the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality and asked for lavender seedlings.

The municipality donated 5 thousand lavender seedlings to the people of Çaltıbozkır. A significant production success was achieved with the 5 thousand lavender seedlings planted. Stating that everyone living in the Çaltıbozkır village is providing more support and contribution to them day by day, Çaltıbozkır Production and Marketing Cooperative President Hatice Gülcan Yüksel stated that they produce 11 different types of oil.

Yüksel pointed out that sales and marketing opportunities have increased even more after the distillation unit support of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, and said:

“We produce 11 different types of oil in our facility. We make soap, scrub, cologne, candle, Turkish delight and room spray from the lavender oil we obtain here. We give scholarships to students studying at university with a portion of our income. We are renovating our old schools. We turned one into a museum and another into a library. We have 6 more schools. We want all the villagers to be involved in production. Women in particular help us in the production and labeling stages. We had initially thought of this as an alternative agriculture. It is a very clean agriculture. It requires little water and little maintenance. It looks beautiful and is very good for tourism. We host many local and foreign tourists who want to see the lavender gardens. Russians in particular are promoting our region.”

Ayşegül Şengi, a visitor who came to visit the lavender garden, said, “We always wondered about the lavender garden. We did not have the chance to go to Isparta. We were happy to have such a beautiful place in Silifke. We tasted the beautiful scent of this place. We learned what lavender is good for and bought some of its products. It is a wonderful thing to have such a place in a small place like Silifke.”

Mücahit Özel, who visited the lavender garden with his wife and child, said, “We felt like we had come to Isparta. Having such a place in Silifke creates a nice atmosphere. As soon as we entered the garden, a very nice smell arose. We came here with my wife and child to visit. We are waiting for everyone.” – MERSİN