A small nomad’s tent (made of goat hair) and its interior. Called ‘karaçadır’ (black tent) or ‘kıl çadır (goat hair tent). The black tents are typical of Yörük (semi-)nomads. The natural water-repellent quality of the goat hair makes it waterproof, while the loose fabric guaranties a full and refreshing ventilation in summer. Another speciality of the Yörük is on display here: their flatweave carpets and bags/cushions/cradle (kilim, cicim, zili – depending on the weaving technique used). The Yörük of Adana live mainly in the northern mountainous half of the province (in the districts: Kozan, Pozantı, Aladağ, Fekke, Saimbeyli, Tufanbeyli).

Regarding the Yörük:
The ‘Yörük’ are a Turkish group of people, some of whom are nomadic, primarily inhabiting the mountains of Anatolia and partly Balkan peninsula. Their name derives from the Turkish verb yürü- (yürümek in infinitive = to walk), with the word yörük (or yürük) designating "those who walk, walkers". Yörüks lived within the Yörük Sanjak (Turkish: Yörük Sancağı) which was not a territorial unit like other sanjaks but a separate organisational unit of the Ottoman Empire. The Yörük of Anatolia are often called by historians and ethnologists by the additional appellative 'Yörük Turcoman' or 'Türkmen'.

In Turkey's general parlance today, the terms ‘Türkmen’ and ‘Yörük’ indicate the gradual degrees of preserved attachment with the former semi-nomadic lifestyle of the populations concerned. Even: ‘Türkmen’ people do not appreciate to be called ‘Yörük’, and vice versa. The ‘Türkmen’ now lead a fully sedentary life, while keeping parts of their heritage through folklore and traditions, in arts like carpet-weaving, with the continued habit of keeping a yayla house for the summers, sometimes in relation to the (Shia) Alevi community, etc. Yörük maintain in general a yet stronger association with (semi-)nomadism, are poorer (mostly) and all of them are Sunni. The remaining transhumant or "true" Yörük of today's Anatolian region traditionally used the camel as means of transportation, but these are almost all replaced by trucks. The Yörüks are divided in a large number of named endogamous patrilineal tribes (‘aşiret’), which are different from the Türkmen’s tribes.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: Wikipedia & Personal visits to Yörük summer camps (1989 + 1995)