Mala Çîrokbêjan, opened by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, serves as a cultural meeting point where older residents pass on their experiences to younger generations, living oral heritage is sustained, and social solidarity is strengthened.
The “Mala Çîrokbêjan (House of Storytellers)”, launched in December by the Department of Disability and Elderly Services at the Koşuyolu Park complex in Bağlar district, continues its activities. The initiative aims to strengthen intergenerational transfer and support older residents’ participation in social life.
Operating under the Elderly Services Branch Directorate, the venue seeks to revive the strong legacy of the past and bring the knowledge and experience of older generations together with young people. Designed as a key gathering point for safeguarding and sustaining living oral heritage, the space is open to visitors six days a week, from 08.00 to 17.00.
A cultural memory hub
More than a space for storytelling alone, Mala Çîrokbêjan also functions as a cultural memory hub. Storytellers and craftspeople share with visitors stories distilled from their own lives. Through gatherings that particularly bring together young people, the aim is to ensure that linguistic richness and cultural roots are not forgotten.
“We draw on their experience and knowledge”
Providing information on the work carried out at Mala Çîrokbêjan, Diyar Oğuzsoy, Head of the Elderly and Disabled Services Branch, noted that modernisation has revealed the damage caused in society when the younger generation becomes detached from their mother tongue. Emphasising the importance of transmitting cultural heritage, Oğuzsoy underlined that they especially want to benefit from the experience and wisdom of older residents.
“We aim for them to pass on oral history to younger generations,” he said. “While ensuring cultural transmission, we also try to strengthen their connection with language.”
“It is also used like a social club”
Noting that there are residents who come here regularly, but that they also aim to include women, Oğuzsoy said: “In this direction, we are trying to bring the younger generation together, as we did today. Beyond this intergenerational transfer, this place is actively used as a kind of social club as well. We enable older residents to spend time here during the day and, at the very least, to move away from social isolation. We offer various refreshments here and make sure they can chat together and spend time with mind-stimulating activities such as chess.”
“We have so much to share with one another”
Stating that distancing from one’s roots is something many people experience and that communities have been exposed to policies of cultural assimilation, Oğuzsoy said that with Mala Çîrokbêjan, some familiar sounds and practices are beginning to come back to life. Emphasising that the venue is open to everyone, he addressed older residents by saying: “We want to benefit from your experience—there is so much we can share with one another.”
