Asia Minor Studies

Öz

Human beings have always been able to left
standing on their struggle against nature by producing knowledge. That
knowledge accumilaton which appeared based on the experience, have been carried
to next generations with traditional knowledge transfer systems at periods when
there were no recording systems such as text. The folk medicine practices are
the kind of that traditional knowledge systems. The folk medicine practices and
belifes are culture elements of the folk whose historical depth is the oldest.
Since the earliest times, the human have produced folk medicine practices in
order to stay healthy against the diseases and live longer. Those traditional
knowledges have reached to nowadays. The folk medicine practices are based on
the drugs which are obtained from various mixtures obtained from plants and the
use of the supernatural powers. As with all traditional information systems produced
from needs, the folk medicine practices remain in existence because it is
partially responsive to the needs of today's people. These beliefs and
practices have become more visible and known today by the spread of new
communication technologies. Today, these traditional treatment methods are also
on the agenda of modern medical centers. In this article, folk medicine
practices compiled from Gaziantep Barak Turkmens have been examined. In the
historical process, the Baraks, which are a nomadic Turkmen community, have
been inhabited by the Ottoman state in the region that remains on the Syrian
border today. Barak Turkmens have kept their verbal memories well because of
the difficult historical process they lived and the rural region where they are
located. An important part of the practices of folk medicine, which exists in
the Turkish Cultural geography, has been also established among the Barak
Turkmens.