MELITOUR EASTERN TURKEY TOUR

By   Carla Stocks  c.beddome@home.com

   KARS MUSEUM

ANI

TRIP TO ERZURUM  

The weather was cool, clear, and breezy.  As we were eating our traditional breakfast, we could see the guard dogs at the Kars Hotel relaxing outside.  

Kars Museum

Our first stop was a short ride to the Kars Museum.  Outside the museum we saw a display of black headstones in the shape of sheep.  You only see this here in Kars and in Van.  The small museum displayed archeological items on the first floor and rugs, kilims, metal work, calligraphy, needlework, carpetbags, and costumes on the second floor.

Driving to Ani Harabeleri

Before leaving the hotel, Meli had to collect our passports and get official permission to travel to this area.  An official prepared the night before a list with all our passport numbers.  This was presented to armed guards on the road as we were stopped at checkpoints.  Sometimes just presenting the list through the window was enough; other times, the guard would board the bus and we each presented our passport and visa for inspection.

Ani is 45 kilometers east of Kars in the Turkish village of Ocakli Koyu.  The scenery was a horse-drawn, or sometimes modern, tractor collecting hay with dung piles drying in the sun around the village homes waiting to be artistically stacked for fuel use in the winter months.  One cow can produce enough dung for a family for the entire winter.

When we arrived, we found a medieval ghost town set in sun-parched dry grassy fields overlooking a deep gorge which is the boundary between the Turkish and Armenian Republics. When the Russian armies withdrew in 1920, control of Kars was left in the hands of the Armenian forces, which at that time had allied themselves with the Russians during the war.  Civilians, whether they were Christian or Muslim suffered oppression under the control of the irregular troops of the opposing religion. During the Soviet period, Ani was within the no-man’s land imposed by Moscow on the Turkish border.  It was an important East/West trade route.  The Byzantines took over the city in 1045, then the Seljuks, the Kingdom of Georgia, and then the Mongols arrived in 1239 and cleared everyone out.  In 1319 a great earthquake toppled much of Ani. Trade routes shifted and Ani lost revenue and died.  It was once a city of nearly 100,000 people and rivaled Constantinople in power and glory. Ani is the closest point to the border between the Turkish Republic and the Armenian border.  NO photographs or pointing toward Armenia were allowed as agreed by the two countries.   As we entered, another couple walked in with a camera, but after Asli brought it to the attention of the guards, it was quickly confiscated.  Restoration has been ongoing for over 10 years.  As we walked down the main road, which was built in 1050 AD, we were walking on the Silk Road.  At one time there were homes and stores on either side of this busy road that sold the valuable goods brought from the East. As we continued, we noticed a group of young men and women excavating. An elderly woman was sitting across the road under an umbrella.  She was an archeologist from the University of Ankara and has been excavating here on and off for 11 years.  Her emphasis is on the trade that took place along this road.  With state funding and about 40 people working for her, she continues to research the trade regulations, price changes, etc. of those prosperous days. Unfortunately, in the 20^th Century, a Russian archeologist heavily excavated the area and took his findings to the Hermitage.  Most everything of value has already been removed; although, she has found some coins and cups that she considers a real find.  Many countries now explore the site; the French will be here to start work next week. Sadly, many of the remaining structures are showing large cracks.  In the distance, we could hear blasting which shook the ground and is consequently causing a lot of structural damage.  It turns out the Armenians are using explosives to get stones for a mosque they are planning to build.    

The Seljuks built the first mosque in 1072.  It has columns of red stone that come from the western part of Lake Van.  A beautiful river runs outside the mosque with a bridge that is part of the Silk Road.  Camels were probably quite surprised to cross such a high bridge after many miles of desert.  The Silk Road started in Xian, China, and after 18 months or more of travel, they would arrive in Ani. The church of St. Gregor of Tigran was built in 1215.  The frescos were removed by an earlier archeologist, but were ruined because he stacked them without protection.

The Church of the Redeemer was sliced in half by lightening in 1957.  As you walk around to the back, it is like a movie set in that you only have the front standing and everything is open in the back.

The Last Village House

We next visited a village home that is the last house before reaching the Armenian border.  Meli had knocked on the door of this home when the daughter was a small girl and now she is 20 years old. As we approached the house, a tethered barking dog was on guard and was not anxious for us to pass.  We were trying to make our way out to the field to greet grandma.  She was sitting under the wagon for shade.  Meli crawled under the wagon to give her hugs and kisses and then she walked in with us to the house for tea.

We removed our shoes and sat down on the beds and floor while the tea was prepared.  The family was quite upset and shared their story with Meli and Asli.  Two months ago there had been a conflict with their neighbor when their animals wandered into their field and damaged the crops.   Blood feuds (judgment and execution by the people) is still common in Eastern Turkey.  The neighbor used his shotgun and with 8 bullets killed her brother’s son.  The man who shot him is in jail, but they say he felt justified to do this.  Meli feels that justice will be carried out, but in the meantime, the family decided to keep the land between the two farms empty, which reduces their crops and affects the amount of food they will have for the long winter. Her granddaughter is now 20 and was to marry a Turkish boy that is working in Germany.  She showed us her dowry, which was neatly packed in suitcases.  Unfortunately, she could not get a visa to leave the country and the boy had left yesterday to return to Germany and will probably not be able to return for at least a year. Grandmother had ten children and is head of the household.  She always spoke in the first person.  She told Meli that the kids were “In my service and in my order”  She always said that “I gave”, ‘I married”, etc.   She has one son living with her and when she dies the son and his wife (called the bride) will probably assume her roll.  The family ties break down as the families move to the cities.  Right now they have three generations living in the home; the married ones are in Izmir.

The grandmother told us she had a son who returned from the city and is now working for the archeologist at Ani.  His previous occupation, according to the grandmother, was a ‘night excavator’ but he was reported and had to give the gold back to the government.

The home had two wings—one with the bedroom where we had our tea and the other wing was the living room.  Now that they have electricity, they are able to have television and a refrigerator.

The grandmother liked the scarf that Meli was wearing, so it was given as a gift.  As we said our good-byes, fresh baked bread was given to us to take back on the bus.

We returned to the Sim-Er Hotel for a lunch of stuffed eggplant, cold yogurt soup, rice and Tulum puffs soaked in honey.

Drive to Erzurum

We drove southwest to Ezerum, our home for the next two nights.  We traveled through flat land filled with hayfields, mountains with pine trees, and willow trees along a river. Some men were at the side of the road using a sickle to cut the grass.  The village homes were made of rocks and small farms emerged wherever there was room to plant along the river--sunflowers, hay, and vegetables.

We were stopped by the police to check the bus lights and to run a computer tape of the tachometer that tells how many miles the bus has been driven and the speed.  Mitton had forgotten to remove his card from the computer, so it showed that he had driven more than the allowed eight hours (which he hadn’t)  He had to pay a  small fine.

A short WC stop at Oltu  brought us to the city where they mine a black stone that is said to be found only here in the mountains.  A very scenic ride brought us in to Erzurum  about 8:30 p.m.  We enjoyed a late dinner at the hotel.  

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