He has been taking care of the mosque in his abandoned village as a volunteer for 23 years.

A part of the rural Taşhan District of Kocasinan district, approximately 40 kilometers away from the city center, was flooded with the construction of the Yamula Dam on the Kızılırmak River in 2003.

Some of the villagers, some of whom migrated to the city center after the village was flooded, moved to the new settlement established approximately one kilometer away from the old village.

73-year-old Abdullah Özdemir, who had a below-knee prosthesis fitted to his leg as a result of an accident he had in the factory where he worked in 1990, continued his life in the neighborhood and undertook the maintenance of the Taşhan Grand Mosque, built in 1962.

Özdemir, who has been maintaining and cleaning the mosque for 23 years despite his disability and advanced age, sweeps, dusts and landscaping the place of worship.

Özdemir reads the Quran and prays in the mosque from time to time.

Explaining the history of his neighborhood, Özdemir said that with the construction of the Yamula Dam, his neighbors left the neighborhood, half of them migrated to the city and the other half migrated to the new settlement.

Stating that he spent his childhood and youth in Taşhan, Özdemir said that he has memories here.

Stating that only 3-4 people stayed in the abandoned village in winter, Özdemir stated that the clean air of the region was good for him because he had chronic bronchitis, and that is why he continued to live in the neighborhood.

Source: TRT Haber Yaşam RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)