The Sarıkeçililer among the last of nomadic tribes that have lived in Anatolia for almost 1,000 years, are being forced to settle down, a change that has left them facing a struggle to survive. Their millennium-long migratory practices have come to an end.
They are descendants of an ancient tradition, culture and experience. However, rather than protecting and supporting the Sarıkeçililer to prevent the loss of such long established and unique traditions and morals, the state has done the opposite, blocking their migration and increasing pressure on the group to force it into a sedentary lifestyle.
Today the number of families who continue to live in the traditional way is in strong decline. From thousands they had been reduced to about 150 groups. Advances in agriculture and technology have deprived of their nomadic areas. Many pastures have been converted into orchards, a time could take up to five nights in the same field, now, after two nights are forced to leave, the alternative is clash with residents. The shortage of land on which to graze their herds in addition to the health rules laid down for cattle ranches. Standards often at odds with the traditional methods of Sarıkeçililer, forced to pay fines in case of transgression.
The nomadic families do not migrate all together, but individually. Some make the two-month trip on their camels, while others, adapting to the changing times, drive tractors along the forest paths. As a consequence, the camels, animals symbol of journeys across the Anatolian peninsula, have given away and in the entire community they are at most 50.
A press for the abandonment of old traditions 'Yoruk' are young people, because there is the desire for more education.  The agreements with the government provide grants for Ankara to their plots of land "ownership " where they can establish. For those who decide to continue the nomadic life, however, are ready routes through which to transhumance.
On 2008 and 2009, I visited and lived with Sarıkeçililer group in Toros Mountains, Anatolia, experiencing their way of life. I performed a reportage about Anatolian nomads from dawn to dusk to document  traditions and a cultural heritage in danger of extinction.
The photos enclosed report part of their social life during the nomadic travel from central to south of Anatolia.