Yukarıkurudere is a village in the

Emirdağ District Emirdağ District is a Districts of Turkey, district of Afyonkarahisar Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Emirdağ.

Afyonkarahisar Province Afyonkarahisar Province (), often shortened to Afyon Province, is a Provinces of Turkey, province in western Turkey. Its area is 14,016 km2, and its population is 747,555 (2022). The provincial capital is Afyonkarahisar. Adjacent provinces a ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 487 (2021). Yukarıkurudere is located south of Mount Emirdağ, about 1276 meters above sea level. It is located at the Foothills of Dedeli mountain. The village includes 3 neighbourhoods: Palıtlı, Mazı and Mahrumlu. The name Yukarıkurudere means Upper Dry Creek. A dry creek runs through the village.

History

In the past the village was united with Aşağıkurudere (Lower Dry Creek) but they split because of the distance between them. The name of the village before the split was Kurudere. Both Yukarıkurudere and Aşağıkurudere were established after 3 Yörük (Turkish nomadic) brothers migrated from Yozgat in 1796.

Emigration

The majority of the people emigrated to Europe from 1965 to 1990. Most moved to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, while others landed in The Netherlands, Germany and France. The first to migrate to Europe was Hasan Palıt, followed by Gazi Palıt, also known as Gazi Hoca.

2010 Derbent-Kurudere water crisis

When a water source was found between Yukarıkurudere and

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

in 2010, both villages claimed the water source, launching a conflict. The court awarded the water source to Derbent. After this decision the Yukarikurudere village held a referendum in 2012 to join the Kemerkaya village so they could have access to water. The citizens voted "No" by four votes.

Demographics

The village is an Oghuz village. The majority of the people are from the Morcalı tribe, which is a subtribe of the Avşar Tribe. They belong to the

Bozulus Bozulus, also spelled Boz-ulus or Boz Ulus ( in Turkish), is the name given by the Ottomans to a tribal nomadic confederation of predominantly Turcoman tribes that were located in the vicinity of Diyarbakır. These tribes were brought into the Ott ...

tribal confederation. The village hosts around 8 family clans (Palıt, Söyüt, Kavak, Karakoç, Karakaya, Aktaş, Cıvık and Akın).

Cave treasures

A "palace" in local caves has many treasures from

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and Ottoman barons who lived there. The caves are guarded by the gendarmerie and many cameras.

Economy

The economy of Yukarıkurudere is mostly agriculture and animal husbandry. Grain crops include barley, wheat, rye, chickpeas, lentil, vetch and sunflower.

References

Villages in Emirdağ District {{Afyonkarahisar-geo-stub