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In Kurbanli, a rural neighborhood of Cat district in Erzurum province, in eastern Turkiye, Sakine Degdas, 68, and Mustafa Degdas, 70, mark 50 years of marriage built around the same daily work.
The couple raises nearly 200 sheep, tending their flock across the region's mountain terrain as they have for half a century.
When Sakine and Mustafa Degdas married five decades ago, both had grown up in Kurbanli with little to build on.
We didn't have a bed to sleep in," Sakine Degdas said, recalling their early years. With limited economic means, the couple began working side by side from the start of their marriage, laying the foundation for the life they would build together.
In the years that followed, the Degdas couple expanded their livestock while raising six children.
Mustafa Degdas sometimes worked away from home to support the family, while Sakine managed household duties and animal care.
Their combined effort grew the herd from modest beginnings to nearly 200 sheep, without relying on outside assistance.
Today, the couple still rises with the first light. Sakine and Mustafa Degdas head into the mountains surrounding Kurbanli together, following the same routine they have kept for half a century.
Their tasks are divided between them but carried out as a shared responsibility rather than separate chores.
Herding nearly 200 sheep across mountain terrain means long hours on foot.
Mustafa Degdas walks ahead of the flock along the mountain paths, while Sakine often follows behind or tends to animals kept in the barn.
"We go to the mountains together; we work at home together too," Mustafa Degdas said of their daily routine.
Beyond herding, the couple's work includes milking the sheep and preparing dairy products.
Sakine Degdas handles the milking and turns the milk into butter and cheese, which she sells during the winter months.
"My wife does the milking, the butter, and the cheese," Mustafa Degdas said, describing a division of labor that has held for decades.
For Mustafa Degdas, five decades of shared work reflect what he believes marriage requires.
"If hard work isn't overcome together, that's not a marriage," he said, adding that he and his wife have faced hardship and stability side by side since their wedding.
He said their way of life would continue unchanged for as long as they live.
The Degdas couple's six children include one who is entering university this year.
Sakine Degdas said she has never held resentment toward her husband over 50 years of marriage and described life in the mountains as a source of contentment.
"Being outdoors is nicer," she said, reflecting on a partnership built through decades of shared labor.
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