01.04.2026 12:00
In Rize, 82-year-old Makbule Bozkurt had to use a cable car that is 180 meters long and 20 meters high to reach her home, drawing attention to the difficulties she faces and requesting authorities to construct a road.
Makbule Bozkurt (82), who lives in the village of Kaptanpaşa in Rize, reaches her house, which is 110 meters away from the vehicle road, using a cable car with steel wires set up for transporting loads. Despite her advancing age and the danger, Bozkurt boards the cable car, which is 180 meters long and 20 meters high, and goes up and down to her house, passing through steep terrain with slopes of up to 60 degrees.
Living in a two-story house built on steep terrain in the village of Kaptanpaşa, which is part of the Çayeli district, Makbule Bozkurt has been using the cable car set up for transporting loads for 20 years to reach her house, which is 110 meters away from the vehicle road. Due to her advancing age, Bozkurt cannot use the path leading to her house and is lowered down the slope and lifted back up in a cabin tied with a rope by her children on the cable car line, which is 180 meters long and approximately 20 meters high. Despite the danger, Bozkurt goes up and down to her house, passing through steep terrain with slopes of up to 60 degrees, and is asking for help from the authorities to build a vehicle road to their house.
"I WANT A ROAD" Makbule Bozkurt, who explains that she has difficulty walking due to old age and has no choice but to use the cable car, said, "We have no road. I have fallen several times. My arm is swollen and it hurts. I want a road. I am scared, but what can I do? There is no remedy for fear against death. I have to ride it. We use this cable car for everything. We transport our food, firewood, and our sick with it. When this breaks down or when the electricity is cut, we are stuck here. I am old, I cannot walk, but I have to ride this."
"WE ARE SCARED" Mustafa Bozkurt, who stated that they experience great fear while putting his mother on the primitive cable car, said, "When my mother gets sick, we take her down with the cable car. We are scared, but we have no choice. If I try to carry my mother on my back and take her down this path, it is very risky; we could slip. I cannot take her down alone. She cannot go down on a stretcher either. If the cable car is operated slowly from here, it takes 15 minutes to go down. During those 15 minutes, we are waiting, wondering, 'Did my mother make it down or did she fall?' Since there is no vehicle road here, I have to put my mother on this dangerous cable car. Until we get down, I feel very bad."