To put people in the picture of how Turkish people behave.
Let’s start at the beginning in May 2009 when we got the field.
Our builder: Mustafa from Decor Emlak and his sales manager Sinasi helped us locate a plot of grassing land for our 2 horses in May 2009. Sinasi worked hard on this for us and found a plot on the Cadianda road at the side of the cemetery below the Uzumlu Bungalows.
At the time we understood that the plot was owned by a well respected, honourable elder of our village. This person agreed we could have full use of the total plot. We advised that we were looking for use of the land for an initial period of 5 years. This was acceptable to all concerned.
We agreed to pay 200tl each year for the land, keep it clean and we were allowed to put up a field shelter and fencing. All paid for by us.
We sat at a meeting with this man and his wife, paid the money and shook hands.
Then in the November of 2009, this man came to our bungalow and spoke to us and our neighbour Selahttin. He was demanding that we pay a further 200tl for the next year. We tried to understand why as we had already paid up to April 2010. We were told that Turkish rentals are from the start of the year to the end of the year. So not to upset this elder, we paid from 01st Jan to 31st Dec 2010.
This elder had 3 payments of 200Tl. The next payment being due in December 2011 for the next year 2012. During the late summer of 2011 we were approached by the brother the 1st person. He told us that the land had changed hands and that the next payment should be given to him. The brother came to us with someone who could translate so we all understood what was being said.
We accepted this offer. As far as we were concerned the deal was still the same. We shook hands on this. We went to his home in December 2011 and paid for the coming year 200tl. He advised that the next year rent 2013 would be 250tl.
From Jan 20012 up to April we did not have any problems at all.
We noticed that several plots of land next to the field that we rent had been put onto Salbindin for sale.
We were also advised by Sean & Kerstin who own Mulberry Homes that other plots were also for sale as well as the land we rent.
The horses did not go on the field until April this year as the land was too wet and muddy. As one horses has lung problems (COPD) we decided to leave them out all night.
We had no problems for 6 weeks after turning them out into the field. Then in mid May we started having difficulties. The first problems we encountered were that the person we last paid wanted us off the field because it would not sell. The reason he gave for this was because the horses were there. We negotiated a period of time to move them so that we could find somewhere else for the horses. We also asked for half of the years rental paid back to us. This he was reluctant to do. In the meantime we moved a fence line so that the horses had access to fresh grass. This was to include an area of the plot that was covered by the rental agreement. Then all of a sudden the horses were getting out of the fenced area. Something that had not happened before with the 3 horses that were in the field.
Each time the horses “escaped” we would receive a call from a home owner near the field or from people who knew us and had our contact numbers.
By mid June this was happening every day. Things went from bad to worse to catastrophic.
The person who we had initially paid came to the field whilst we were tending to the horses. He spoke to us in Turkish, we spoke to him in English, neither of us understanding what was being said. After his visits the horses were getting out more frequently. This came to head one Sunday. We went to the Jandarma to try to get something sorted. As we were going in this person was coming out. We all went in together to get the problem sorted. His problem was that we were using his land and he had not been paid. He wanted us to move the fence so that we were not using his land. We agreed to move the fence. This was done the next day. To be able to sort this out we had to call a friend to translate for us. During the meeting at the Jandarma this person admitted to pulling the fencing down and letting the horses out.
It was during the period that this person was pulling the fencing down that our Dark Bay was poisoned.
Initially we thought he had caught a chill as a few days before it had rained that morning. After a few days he was getting worse his temperature was up and he could not eat anything. He even did not want to drink. We contacted our vet who gave strong antibiotics for 5 days. This did not even touch him. He lost weight and looked very very ill.
On the 07th June we called the vet out as he could not stand up properly.
Blood was taken. This was very dark and very thick. Within a few hours we had the devastating news that he had been poisoned. 8 different drugs were given to stabilize his body and help him. The poison has closed down his kidneys and liver functions.
We moved him home to care for him 24/7. The drugs worked wonders and so did we. He wants to live and fought all the way.
He is still not well but is getting better. We still can’t get him to eat much but with TLC we will. He was missing his companion the very big chestnut, so we decided to put him back up at the field.
We worried at the time about the other two and even more when we put the other one back up there.
Sleepless nights ... worry etc.. all takes it out of us. April to 22nd June hell would have been a far better place to be than here in Uzumlu.
On Friday 22nd again fencing removed and horses let out again.
We spoke to Sue Tekin who’s husband is a well respected Turkish man in our village. Her husband did his best to help.
We also spoke to Julie and Aytan who run Villa Homes. Aytan spoke to the owner of the land. We were told that he wanted us off at any cost .. horses lives etc etc.
This person, the village elder, came again whilst we were tending the horses at the field. He was gesticulating that we had not moved the fence far enough. This was 2 weeks after moving the fence. We asked him for a plan of the plot so that we could get the fence in the right place. This he seemed not to understand. OR did not want to understand.
The talk around the village was that the owner was very angry with us for not paying him for use of the land. The truth is that the land we were using has several owners. The elder had given us permission to use all of the land. He had 3 payments for its use. None of which was given to any of the other owners.
We have learned that after the elder told his story in the local Cay House and complained about us and our horses. Someone took it upon themselves to poison one of the horses.
We have been piggy in the middle of all this. Please anyone who reads this if you intend to have any dealings with the Turkish people make sure you get all the information before you make any agreements.
Thanks to Neil and Pauline who at the last moment gave us permission to use their land. At the time we were extremely desperate as we feared things would escalate if we did not move the horses straight away.
We know lots of people have stopped to ask us what is wrong over the past few months as we have looked so ill. We would like to thank everyone for their help and support.
Christine, Eric
