Mehmet Bey is 80 years old. He talks about his childhood in a small Anatolian village. “Life used to be very different in the 1960s. There used to be no electricity in our village. We used to light oil lamps in the evening. There didn’t use to be any televisions, so families used to sit together and tell stories after dinner.

I used to walk to school every day — it was five kilometres away. There used to be only one teacher for all the students. We didn’t use to have computers or the internet, of course. We used to write on small blackboards.

For entertainment, children used to play outside all day. We used to make our own toys from wood and fabric. Mass media didn’t use to exist in villages, so news used to spread very slowly. The good old times were simpler but full of warmth and togetherness.”

Life has changed dramatically over the past fifty years. In the past, people used to cook everything in a traditional oven. Nowadays, most families use modern electric ovens and microwaves. Food used to be homemade — like mother used to make — but today many people prefer fast food.

Education is also very different. Students used to write on blackboards and read from heavy textbooks. Today, students use tablets and laptops. Information used to be inaccessible for many people, but now it is accessible to everyone thanks to the internet.

Entertainment has changed too. People used to accompany each other to the village square for festivals and celebrations. They used to play traditional games vigorously. Today, many young people prefer staying at home and watching videos on their phones. Some traditions are starting to disappear, but many communities are working hard to keep them alive.