Musicians go local in Turkish village lockdown
- Published
The musicians have fitted into the rhythm of village life
A group of four adventurous young musicians found themselves in a remote village in Turkey's Black Sea region a few months ago, when their road trip across Asia was halted by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Two Argentinian brothers, along with their Spanish and Swiss girlfriends, make up the music group Tango Maluco.
Their time in the mountain village during the pandemic has won them some media celebrity, external, even making it into the major Milliyet daily.
Mirjam Ellenbrok, from Switzerland, told BBC Monitoring that they got stuck after the borders suddenly closed along their route.
"We were thinking of crossing into Georgia or Iran," she explained, but ended up in Artvin, when she "contacted a friend who knew someone who had an old house" in the village of Erenler.
Picking tea
The group has made the most of their time, learning from the locals how to cook village specialities and prepare yoghurt from cow's milk, while gardening in the lush surroundings.
The group enjoys its unexpected surrounding
"We picked tea together and grew our own food in the fields," Fermin Tellechea, from Argentina, told Milliyet.
Mirjam repeatedly stresses how she would like to "thank the Turkish people" because everyone has been "really nice".
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In turn, the local people seem happy to host their unexpected guests.
"They have formed a bond with people in the village... We are trying to show them Turkish hospitality," Suleyman Ergin, who provided the group with the house, told Milliyet.
However, some internet comments voice conspiracy theories, external that the young travellers may be up to no good.
"They are not tourists. They are environmentalist spies. Naturally, they have to lie," said one comment on the pro-government Haber7 news site.
"These European spies are researching the Black Sea region," said another.
But Tango Maluco remain unperturbed, preferring to concentrate on music-making and enjoying life in Erenler.
Mirjam said they are planning to organise a concert in nearby Hopa district very soon.
"My home is my friends… We are not in a hurry to go back to Europe… just focusing on the music and making people happy," she said.
Reporting by Beril Akman
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