Springtime in Turkey

نوروز در ترکیه

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Tourism •Fun •
Posted by Rezwan • Mar 31, 2008 • (0) Comments •
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In which some intrepid Iranian tourists cross the border in their attempt to "plant the banner of [tourism] a few furlongs further into chaos."

I'm back from Turkey. It was a great trip. Eye opening.

Environmentally:

The terrain and weather changes when you go from Iran into turkey, and then towards the Mediterranean. Ascending and descending - you really see how different things are on different sides of a mountain. More on this later as it relates to the environmental context of the region. I highly recommend driving across these lands to really SEE these environmental realities.

Regional Element
We almost drove into Iraq by accident (well, the well-armed guys at the border would have stopped us. We made a u-turn). We spent most of our time in South Eastern Turkey - the border of Syria and Iraq. A unique placce.

New Years Tensions
It turns out that Iranian new years ("Now Ruz") is celebrated by Kurdish people. But not by Turks. And this seemed to create a situation. From our dim understanding of Turkish and Kurdish and scattered conversations, we got the idea that the Turkish army was worried about possible destabilizing activity during the holidays, so they banned festivities and had every soldier and police officer imaginable out in riot gear ready for anything.

And here we were, a bunch of Iranians on holiday precisely to celebrate the new year.

Die hards, we faced many obstacles.

Just getting into turkey there were 8 military stops along the road, guys with full on combat gear and AK47s checking our passports. It took forever.

We got our first taste of tear gas in the city of Van by Van lake. We spent a lovely day hiking up to the castle by the lake (Amazing castles all around turkey, from every empire or kingdom ever. This place is so central!) And at the base of this castle were a bunch of soldiers, having a barbeque.

We thought this was just some sort of holiday bonding exercise for them. But the next day, as we were packing up the car (Iranian made - pAjhAn - product placement here), riots ensued. Down the street there are 50 or so riot police and some armored vehicles. Human tension and movement along the street. The sound of gunfire - or new years firecrackers. Can't tell.

The tear gas drifts over. Not too close to us. But enough for us to tear up and seek shelter inside the hotel. (Great location, this hotel, front and center to the action.)

The ambient tension doesn't resolve into anything too scary, so we venture out again to peek. And to finish packing the car, which, if we leave it there, could get trashed.

My sister is cheerfully telling her 3 kids about how they use tear gas to train soldiers to trust their chemical gas mask equipment. She thinks it's cool that we are experiencing this. And actually, it is.

Hellbent for Tourism
The car is packed, and we are die hards with only one question. So...where was that museum? We want to see it before we leave. Do you think it'll be open in this chaos? We have to check.

We back up in the street (going forward would take us right into the dominant cluster of military vehicles).

We make a wrong turn, ask a few people where the museum is, find someone in a car who says "follow me". He takes us somewhere. Says you can park here, and the museum's down that way. He jumps out of his car. His shirt advertises the bath house he works at. He's a masseuse. This is Turkey.

The place we park is next to a building, under construction. Across the street, soldiers with machine guns pace. A whole phalanx of riot police are standing at attention in a courtyard behind us like a stack of firewood, ready to burn. Should we leave the car here? With all the luggage strapped on top? We look at all the police around us - I guess it's safe. No one would steal it under all these guys!

So we wander off, look down a street, and there are Kurds throwing stones at the military police, whoops, back the other way. Ah! The museum.

Closed - due to renovation.

We all laugh! And then get out of there (one last gape at the stone throwers down that street).

Finally, we drive out of the city, passing a few burning tires, and taking some evasive action here and there.

My sister thoughtfully explains that burning tires helps with tear gas. It burns it off, reduces the effect. And it keeps burning. You don't have to stoke the fire once you start it burning.

I did not know that. I bet you did.

Very educational trip!

But really, aside from the military presence and tensions and wondering what those guys with mine sweepers were doing on the side of the road later on, Turkey had so many amazing sites! And great food! And being at the Mediterranean was like being back in California. The smell of vegetation.

I took lots of film of all the places we went to - Oh, Nemrut Dagi, google that. It was amazing. I had never heard of commogenes. Half-breed king. Shirin & I could relate. I forget the names of the other sites now.

No one speaks English there. All these people talked either Turkish or Kurdish...

What does this have to do with planning? A great point of reference as we work out the elements of a regional tourism plan linking all of these countries. Things to keep in mind.

I look forward to the day when tourists can see the sites and embrace the diversity inherent in this region without all these tensions.

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