This past weekend, I took a trip to eastern Turkey.
The main attraction of the Turkish province of Kars, about an hour away, is a massive city of ruins, Ani. Ani was an Armenian stronghold when the Silk Road brought international trade through the region. When the route changed, the city declined. Ani sits on the Armenian-Turkish border; I could wave to Armenian miners just across the river canyon.
Ani’s cathedral was beautiful, the relics of ancient wealth were inspiring and the constant reminder of Turkish foreign policy was disheartening. Opening the border could warm relations between the two nations considerably, but, as of now, the border is closed, and tourism is neglected.
After spending time in Ani, we drove south toward Do?ubeyaz?t and Mt. Ararat. Other than being near the supposed resting place of Noah’s Ark, Do?ubeyaz?t is the home of a sprawling palace. Unfortunately, it was undergoing renovations, so we only saw the first courtyard. In fact, I will probably only remember the palace because of the boy standing in its parking lot selling necklaces. The boy was obviously a salesman, but in Turkey, that rarely equates to our greasy car dealer image. He spoke English well and surprised me with his openness ... although by this point I should not be surprised by even the most personal of questions — Turks don’t have quite the same boundaries as most people in the U.S.
We talked about Kurds, the region’s poverty, his family, English lessons and the struggle to make ends meet. Several girls from our group bought necklaces, and I know it was only days like this that kept him out of school and high on the windswept, frigid plateau. But, with winter coming with an end to the tourist season, I wonder what new efforts would be demanded of him in place of homework.
But that’s the general conundrum in the east.
After the palace, we drove straight through to Van hoping to get there before dark — which fell at an uncomfortable 4:30 p.m. The modern city of Van is nothing special. It is the people, the history and the lake that make it unique. Nestled within beautiful mountain peaks and just a short jaunt from Iran, Van is a city mixed up and swirled around by an array of forces.
Riots occurred two days after our arrival in response to a visit by the Turkish prime minister. I accidentally started a heated debate among local university students by asking about the conditions Kurdish students faced there. Amnesty International and the U.N. have central offices in the region. The Kurdistan Workers Party, an organization of Kurd?sh guerrilla fighters, has been — and still is — active enough to incite sizeable migration out of the mountains and villages into the city.
And on top of it all stands the ancient Van Castle with the lake at its feet.
The castle marks just another characteristic of Van, which is located at the northernmost edge of the Fertile Crescent and has been constantly inhabited. Castles, fortifications, temples, churches and other ruins are evidence of the continuous — and tempestuous — history of the region.
In recent times, Armenians and Kurds have left their marks on the region, though they remain difficult to discuss today. Armenians are few and far between in Van — if there are any at all.
While Armenians may no longer live in the region, their churches remain; a stunning example can be found on Akdamar Island in the middle of Lake Van where a church was recently restored by the Turkish government and designated a secular museum. The government has attempted to downplay the Armenian influences and heavily points out the Seljuk/Ottoman/Turkish and Islamic influences on the church’s construction and decoration. In Turkey, if it’s not Turkish, the government makes it Turkish.
This explains the riots. The Kurdish population has constantly faced the government’s attempts to “Turkicize” them and has had to deal with many measures limiting the amount of Kurdish culture they can exhibit. For a long period, the language itself was banned. Today, the “Kurdish question” remains unanswered, alongside the economic, military and legal issues in the region. In addition, many Turks in the West simply think things in the East are backward.
It’s definitely different there. But people in the East are still people. They are just as hospitable. They are just as eager to practice English. They are just as willing to offer help. And they deal with more oppression and problems than most Americans can imagine.
I can honestly say I would return to the East — especially to those Turks who sneer a little when they talk about the region.
Jessica’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at j.walker@cavalierdaily.com.
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