BATMAN- Ziyareta Omê ,which deemed to be a sacred forest lies bewteen Gîrê Romiya and the triange of Doluca (Mêrîna), Şerbetli (Serbetkoy) and Çarıklı (Reşikê) villages in Batman.
One rumour has it that this is the forest someonce called Omê fought besides Muhammad and lost his life in there, another rumour is that an Armenian countryman settled into this place and planted trees that later became a forest and he was beatificated after his death. Omé’s grave said to be in the forest but no one knows where it is.
NATURAL WONDER
Armanians contained within the Reşkotan tribe said to be protected here during the genocide but had to leave the place with the famine in 1940’s.There are hundreds of years old oak trees and buttonwoods in the forest that is enshrined by the Reşkotan tribe and the resident villagers who have planted additional fruit trees in the forest. Even the dead trees that fall down in the forest cannot be touched.
While the travertines that is formed by the spring waters coming from the forest constitudes natural wonders , this year drought diminished the waters. Even though it is narreted that to cut the trees will put a jinx on the village, trees were cut in the previous years for road constructing, which the villagers protested. The forest is a beaten track for migratory birds and the forest is filled with bird calls. While the community thinks the forest is being protected because of Omé, they keep planting trees to maintain it.
‘I HAVE BEEN COMING HERE SINCE I WAS A BOY’
Abdurrezzak Oruç, who have been using the fallen and dead trees to warm his home, says after he improved his finances he never forgot to plant trees in the forest. Oruç: “I am old now. It is hard for me to come to the forest. I can only make it by car. This forest have been here for ages. I’ve been coming here since I was a boy. I pray when I come here. This forest protected me from rain, cold when I was shepherding. So I fulfilled my duty and protected this forest. The villagers here will always protect this forest.”