Flower lives only 20 days of year as villagers struggle to protect it

The villagers who protect the inverted tulip, which is an endemic species in Siirt and popularly known as the 'crying bride', are struggling to keep the plant alive in its habitat. The penalty for plucking the plant is the price of the car. Especially grown in the mountains of the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Regions, the inverted tulip lives only 20 days a year. In addition, those who pluck the inverted tulips, which are among the endemic plant species, are fined 244 thousand 315 Turkish Liras for the crime of destroying biological diversity. Village headman Abdulaziz Araz, who said that this type of flower is not found everywhere, said, 'This is a gentle flower. It is a very beautiful flower and is not found everywhere. It exists around here, only lives 20 days. We, the villagers, protect this flower. We are keeping watch so that no one can break it. It is rare in this region.' 'This is the Erkent village of Pervari. I am the mayor of the village. We take care of our flowers. These flowers need better protection. A better wire mesh needs to be knitted around the flowers. Then, a sign should be attached to the wire fences because it is forbidden, so that no one can break it and touch it. We want this.' A villager named Şehmus Behçet, who stated that the inverted tulip flower was taken under protection by the state, stated that they would protect the inverted tulip as the villagers. Behçet said, 'The penalty for plucking a flower is 244 thousand 315 TL officially. Both the villagers and the guests who come and go should not touch this flower and protect it.' 'We brought the seeds of this flower from the Herekul Mountains for our children and planted them in our mass graveyard. This flower is very important to us. We will look at these flowers from now on. As villagers, we stand guard. We are constantly looking at our flowers. I'm calling everyone. Wherever you are, take care of our flowers,' he added. Another villager named Ramazan Bağış, who said that they kept watch over their heads so that no one could pluck the reverse tulip, which was taken under protection by the state, said, 'There is a penalty for plucking it. Nature is under protection. We, the villagers, are also paying attention so that nothing happens. We keep watch over them.' 'They come from other places and pluck it, we don't let it break, we have it protected. There is a fine of 244 thousand 315 TL for snatching. Our request from the citizens is that no one should break it off. Let's protect nature. Let's not harm our nature. They already live 20 days. These flowers are a beauty of nature.'