TUCKED away in a corner of Turkey lies a strange village where almost half of the residents are reportedly deaf and use sign language to speak.
With a population of just 120 people, the isolated neighbourhood of G̦kova Рknown for generations of reported incest Рhas left medical minds baffled.
Most of the 120 residents in the rural town communicate through sign language.
But no one knows the cause behind the bizarre situation that has plagued almost every family.
Some people have previously blamed alleged inbreeding between cousins as a plausible cause for the widespread disabilities.
But others say locals have been slowly poisoned by generations of water pollution.
Rahmi Çizin, who lives in the Gökova neighborhood, said: “There are a total of 48 disabled individuals in our neighborhood. They all need care.
“We do not know if this situation is due to cousin marriage or the water, but the rate of disability in the village is very high. They all need care.”
Heavy metals like iron and arsenic and chemical contamination from industrial waste have been linked to deafness.
Local mayor Eyup Tozn said: “I think this is not caused by inter-marriage, but because of unhealthy water sources.
“We've learned to rely on sign language as a community but any outsiders have trouble communicating.”
And villager Sati Tozun added: “I have four children with disabilities and one of them has three children, all deaf and mute.
“My sister-in-law has children with disabilities. This village is completely disabled.”
Meanwhile, Ali Tuzun, who has no hearing loss, said: “Most of this community is disabled. It's hard for them to get along.
“They get help from the government, but they're not showing the problem enough interest. “
It comes after a family with a bizarre, rare genetic condition that turned their skin blue .
The Fugate of Troublesome Creek, , lived in an isolated rural community, which led to regular interbreeding between relatives.
In one stomach-churning case, one of the Fugate men married his own aunt.
Their story begins back in 1820 when Martin Fugate and his wife, Elizabeth Smart, first settled in the remote area of Appalachia, which today is in Perry County, Kentucky.
Martin was the first known family member to have an incredibly unusual genetic defect resulting in a condition called methemoglobinemia.
This extremely rare disorder, which only affects 0.035 per cent of the population globally, is a result of the blood not carrying as much oxygen around the body as it normally does.
The blood turns brown due to the lack of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
This, in turn, leads to the skin of white patients turning blue, while the lips take on a purple hue.
Both Martin and Elizabeth carried the recessive gene which causes methemoglobinemia, and four of their seven children were born with blue skin, including their son Zacharia.
Because the gene was recessive, this wouldn't have affected generations if they hadn't married within their own family.
Meanwhile, AustralianJamie Zhu visited Boorawa in New South to hunt for the.
Four generations of twisted inbreeding went unnoticed for decades until authorities the clan's isolated camp in 2012.
Unimaginable horrors were uncovered, and the sickening stories of the 38-strong brood's life of incest, neglect, and paedophilia shocked the world.
Images showed paper-thin mattresses inside tents and old sheds and where the Colt family lived
The children – found filthy, malnourished, and barely able to speak – did not know how to brush their or use toilet paper.
Perverted patriarch ran an “incest” farm where , fathered their children and encouraged his sons to do the same.
He and his sister June, also a product of incest, shared seven kids – Martha, Frank, Paula, Cherry, Rhonda, Betty, and Charlie.
The women gave birth to their own children – likely – adding more members to the barbarous brood.
Tim allegedly parented his daughter Betty's 13 children, four of Rhonda's offspring, and even his granddaughter Raylene's child, Kimberly.
