Mehmet Siddik Torun, originally from Dersim (Tunceli), Turkiye, has built his own little Kurdish paradise in Northern California. Fleeing persecution in Turkiye in 1994, he and his family moved to Europe before eventually relocating to the United States. 

Torun began working as a shoe shiner at the age of 11 in Turkiye, later taking a job as a dishwasher at the Bellevue Casino in Istanbul. Over time, he climbed the ranks and eventually purchased it, after which famous Kurdish and Turkish artists, such as Tarkan and Zeki Muren, worked for him.

“Tarkan worked for 21 days at our casino and didn’t make any money; in fact, we lost money from his visit. Despite this, he never asked for payment. He was genuinely nice. He even asked his mother in Germany for support, as he wasn’t earning much from his singing at the time. Nobody knew him then, but he later became very popular and remains so today,” Torun told Kurdistan Chronicle.

Kurdish singers Mustafa Sagyasar from Urfa, Yasar Ozel from Diyarbakir, and Mehmet Ali Erbil, also worked for Torun at the casino, which attracted powerful politicians and businessmen. Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush visited with then-Turkish President Turgut Ozal in 1991. Torun also described how top Kurdish leaders from Iraqi Kurdistan would ask his employees to sing for them in a private setting.

A pick and a shovel

While in Turkiye, Torun was active in politics, and was one of the founders of the Social Democracy Party. He ran for mayor of the Kartal Municipality in Istanbul and then for a seat in the Turkish Parliament. 

However, he felt threatened by the violence against Kurds in Turkiye in the 1990s, when he received death threats and received visits by the Turkish police. “They killed a Kurdish businessman in 1991,” Torun recounted. 

“In 1994, I left Turkiye with my family and sold all my belongings. I spent nine months in London attending school before moving to the U.S. state of Georgia, where I lived for seven years and worked at Home Depot,” he explained.

In 2002, Torun bought a 4,300-acre farm for $200,000 in Napa Valley, with the aim of setting up a vineyard, an olive orchard, and a ranch. Napa Valley, as any wine lover knows, is famous for its vineyards and the quality of its wine. It is also a popular spot for people visiting nature in the area.

“After purchasing this land, I asked my Kurdish friends what I should do. They all laughed, saying it would be impossible. Even my father, wife, and American neighbors doubted me. Just to build the road, houses, and winery, a construction company asked for over $18 million. My neighbors suggested I might have big people like Barzani backing me, but I had never met him and had no connections with him. Despite this, I said to myself: ‘I will do it,’” he said. 

After buying the property, he relocated to it and constructed a small shed from reclaimed wood to use as a sleeping space, living and working there by himself for the next seven years. “I struggled, cleaned the property, and then built everything by myself with just a pick and a shovel over the last 22 years,” Torun added.

Kurdistan on the mind

To build the winery, he shipped rocks from Diyarbakir, Dersim, and Mardin in Turkiye to California, only paying for shipping costs. These rocks in the United States would have cost millions of dollars.

Part of the drive to build the winery was his ever-present dream of working for a greater Kurdistan – a free, independent Kurdistan. Therefore, when you enter the property, you are welcomed with a Kurdish flag and a sign that reads: “Welcome to Little Kurdistan.”

“When I found the property, I thought it could be a small version of Kurdistan. Now, it features 70 to 80 miles of trails dedicated to Kurdish people, with signs along the way bearing the names of figures like Qazi Muhammad, Mustafa Barzani, and Seyid Riza. There are others – Ahmet Kaya, Yilmaz Guney, Mehmet Uzun – over 200 Kurdish names in total. The landscape includes places like Mount Nemrut, Hewler Field, Zozan Field, Amed Zozan, and Dersim,” Torun said.

“We have a petting zoo, a wish tree, and we are building a replica of Mount Nemrut. There are more than 100 activities happening here. We have an olive grove, an amphitheater, and a Kurdish Agricultural Museum that highlights the history of Mesopotamia and its cuisine. 

“We offer guest houses where people can relax, drink wine, and enjoy their stay. At the ranch, we also serve authentic Kurdish breakfasts, all certified organic, with over 30 farm-to-table products, including tahini, olives, and honey. Every item we serve comes directly from the farm,” he proudly said.

International fanfare

Torun’s vineyard and ranch now host visitors from all over the world, who also get introduced to Kurdish culture and food. “When people come, they see the ‘Welcome to Little Kurdistan’ sign on the front gate,” he said. 

Some also stay at his ranch and help as volunteers with harvesting the olives. His ranch produces more olive oil than wine, with over 12,000 olive trees.

Moreover, every year, more than 20,000 people camp near the biggest lake in the Napa Valley, which is next to his ranch. “When the people come to the lake, they see us.”

There are also famous people living near him, including Madonna, Robbie Williams, Elon Musk, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oprah Winfrey, Silvio Berlusconi, and members of the Rothschild family.

Torun that believes that he is one of the most famous Kurds globally, not because of his wealth, but because of his ranch.

“Actors Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood have visited our ranch, attending weddings here in 2017, 2021, and 2022. Meeting them was an incredible experience. Connery told me I am going to become very famous in the next 20 years,” Torun said. “Connery also told me that I did the world’s most impressive work by hand in the Napa Valley.”

Remembering his roots

Torun is currently finishing up a replica of Lalish – a temple of religious importance to the Yezidis in the Duhok Governorate in Kurdistan. He says that he is building the temple because it reminds him of his Alevi roots. 

Alevism is a heterodox Muslim Shi’a religion with pre-Islamic roots.

“I never practiced and I don’t know much about my religion. In my family, like with my grandfather, mother, and father, people have always followed certain traditions. For example, they always carried peacock feathers in their wallets and prayed to the sun in the mornings and to the moon in the evenings,” Torun said.

“I follow the same ways as my grandfather. I always wake up before sunrise to exercise and walk, and when the sun rises, I stand before it and say, ‘Thank you so much for giving us another life today.’ This is something that connects me deeply, not just to traditions but to the people as well,” he shared.

In the future, Torun plans to visit the Kurdistan Region, and especially Lalish. “I’m currently working on Lalish. I’m also building guest houses using natural rocks like the traditional houses in Kurdistan, which are around 200 years old and made entirely of stone,” he told Kurdistan Chronicle.