A Turkish pensioner who spent his retirement savings on saplings for the forest died in a forest fire

Omer Bulut, 78, died in the Köse (Gümüşhane) district. Omer became famous after he bought and planted 12,000 conifer saplings in a forest affected by a fire. Bulut Omer returned to his native village of Kayadibi after working as a laborer in Germany for 30 years and retired. He spent his entire retirement savings of 500,000 liras to plant new trees on 300 hectares of land in the Gezeler district. 

As unfortunate as it is, Omer himself died for the same reason as his beloved forest - as a result of a fire. As soon as Omer saw that a fire had started in the forest, he immediately set out to put it out. After the fire was dealt with, the villagers discovered that Omer was unable to get out of it and tragically died. "Omer dreamed of turning this area into a beautiful forest for future generations to enjoy. Our entire village is in mourning for the loss of this bright man. Together with his brothers, we pledge to continue his work!" said Adem Alkan, the village headman.