SHOTLIST KAYSERI, TÜRKİYE (AUG. 9, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF SILHOUETTE OF ILHAN GOKTURK RIDING HORSE CART AT SUNRISE 2. DRONE SHOTS OF MAN RIDING HORSE CART ON DRY, CRACKED LAKEBED (2 SHOTS) 3. VARIOUS OF MAN PREPARING FOR SALT HARVEST 4. SILHOUETTE OF MAN PULLING CONTAINER DURING SUNRISE (2 SHOTS) 5. DRONE SHOT OF MAN PULLING CONTAINER 6. CLOSE-UP OF “HELIK” WOODEN BOARDS ON HIS FEET 7. VARIOUS OF MAN WALKING ON SALT LAKE WEARING TRADITIONAL FOOTWEAR 8. VARIOUS SHOTS OF MAN HARVESTING SALT ON LAKE USING TRADITIONAL METHODS 9. DRONE SHOT OF PALAS TUZLA LAKE 10. VARIOUS DRONE SHOT OF MAN PULLING CONTAINER 11. VARIOUS OF GOKKURT DRAGGING PLASTIC BARREL OF SALT ON LAKE SHORE 12. GOKKURT POURING SALT FROM PLASTIC BARREL ONTO PILE (2 SHOTS) 13. GOKKURT SHOVELING SALT FROM BARREL INTO HORSE CART 14. CLOSE-UP OF HORSE CART LOADED WITH SALT 15. GOKKURT RIDING HORSE CART AT SUNRISE 16. GOKKURT DRAGGING BLUE PLASTIC BARREL AT SUNRISE 17. (SOUNBITE) (Turkish) ILHAN GOKTURK, SAYING: "I am 63 years old and have been doing this job for many years. I learned it at the age of 11 alongside my elders. In the past, they used to go to work with horse carts." 18. GOKKURT DRAGGING BLUE PLASTIC BARREL AT SUNRISE (2 Shots) 19. (SOUNBITE) (Turkish) ILHAN GOKTURK, SAYING: "In the village, nothing works without a horse. I take care of it regularly." 20. VARIOUS OF GOKKURT TAKING CARE OF HIS HORSE 21. (SOUNBITE) (Turkish) ILHAN GOKTURK, SAYING: "Our salt work has been passed from our grandfather to our father, from our father to us, from us to our children, and from them to our grandchildren — it’s always been our tradition. It’s the source of income for Palas. We extract and sell the salt. This is truly a difficult job. Not everyone can walk with these Helik boards; we can do it because we’ve been used to them since childhood." 22. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF ILHAN GOKKURT HARVESTING SALT ON LAKE 23. (SOUNBITE) (Turkish) ILHAN GOKTURK, SAYING: "We used to do this work with more traditional methods in the past. We use the salt we extract here for many things, such as dough, leaves, and corn silage." 24. VARIOUS OF GOKKURT HARVESTING SALT ON LAKE KAYSERI, TÜRKİYE - AUG. 9: In the village of Palas in Sarıoglan district of Türkiye’s central Kayseri province, 63-year-old Ilhan Gokkurt earns his living by extracting salt from Palas Tuzla Lake, using traditional methods passed down from his grandfather and father. Located in the Palas Plain, the lake has long provided a livelihood for locals. Around 2,000 tons of salt are harvested annually by about 50 villagers, supplying households across the region. Since the lake was declared a “strictly protected sensitive area” in 2020, only traditional harvesting methods have been allowed. When the salt season begins, Gokkurt sets out at dawn with his horse, “Huri,” traveling two kilometers to the lake. Before the lakebed softens, he collects salt while wearing wide wooden boards called helik (a flat wooden footwear attachment worn over shoes to walk more easily on the salt lake surface without sinking into the mud). He scoops the salt into plastic barrels, hauls them to shore, transfers the salt into sacks, and loads them onto his cart for sale to locals. “I do the work I learned from my father and grandfather, especially when I was not working in construction,” Gokkurt told Anadolu. “I retired three years ago, and since then, I have been extracting more salt.” He produces about 10 sacks of salt a day. “Last year there was no salt. This year the salt is good. Many people in the village are extracting,” he said. Fewer villagers make a living from salt today. “My grandfather extracted salt here, so did my father. I do the same, and sometimes I bring my grandson so he can learn. This is both a livelihood and a tradition for our village,” he added. Salt from the lake is used locally in bread, cheese, brining, and tomato paste. Gokkurt said the work is physically demanding. “Not everyone can do this job. No one can walk with these helik unless they’ve used them since childhood. Sometimes we sink into the mud up to our arms, and our faces get covered in it. It’s very difficult. This work mostly belongs to Palas village,” he said. He noted that he has given helik to people from other villages to try salt extraction, but most gave up after getting stuck in the mud and never returned. Reporting by Tunahan Akgun / Writing by Mehmet Taha Mazi