Sights of Turkey

[Kikhwa]

Last summer I had the chance to visit and explore Turkey. *I lived in Istanbul and backpacked most of the country’s perimeter. *

Aside from the land’s aesthetic appeal, Turkey’s allure (to me, that is) was its history and it’s people- especially it’s people. *Turkey has a diverse population that consists mostly of Turks, Kurds, Armenians, and Assyrians. *There are towns that are comprised of our very own people. *I got a chance to visit them and snap a few photos.

Check ‘em out.

***Shlama_98, do you remember any of these places?

[Kikhwa]

More pics...

[proudchaldean]

very cool pics...is this where ur fam is from?

[ojeen1981]

those are awsome pics dude. Diyarbakir is a very historical place and it use to be filled with Syriac/chaldeans/assyrians.

[Kikhwa]

Proudchaldo:

My family is from Iraq. *However, we can't forget that our ancestor's empire spanned over most of the Middle East.

Ojeen:

The person who takes care of the Chaldean church in Diyarbakir said that there are only about 10 Chaldean families still living in the area. *Not too many if you ask me.

[Kikhwa]

More pics

[caz]

woow nice pics stella love lookin at old ancient places i would like to go to jordan and places like that to see things like thats its awesome *:alright:

[Kikhwa]

more!

These are pictures from Mardin. *This is the Mor Gabriel Monastery. *It's a Syrian Orthodox monastery in South Eastern Turkey. *There are several thousand Assyrians living in Mardin and Midyat. *The population used to be bigger but most of them have immigrated to European countries.

[Kikhwa]

More from Mardin.

[Kikhwa]

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[Kikhwa]

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This is a handmade tapestry on the wall of the church. *It's made by an Assyrian woman that lives in Mardin. *I got a chance to visit her in her home. * She had hundreds of tapestries all over her home.

[Shlama_98]

Amazing pics Kikhwa, thanks a lot for posting them.

Speaking of Diyarbakir, my grandma's family is originally from Diyarbakir but they came down to Iraq a few generations before my grandma was born (Her family came down to Alqosh, but 3 other families from the same clan split into other regions near by, their family name is Ebsharra), Diyarbakir is a great place to check out :)

Great post Kikh :)

[Kikhwa]

Shlama_98:

I'm glad you liked them.

Regarding Diyarbakir- *I loved and hated it. *I loved the fact that it was very rich in history and there was just so much to see. *However, Diyarbakir was the only place in all of Turkey where I felt unsafe. *I was followed twice in the same day by two different people.

[dlchaldo79]

your lucky u got to experience it.wish we all get the chance.

sam set up a meet an greet adventure

[Kikhwa]

more.

[Kikhwa]

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[KoolEug1981]

Really awesome pix. *I love looking at them because they induce me to mediate on issues pertinent to history and theology. *The pix are breathtaking primarily for that reason. *To me they reflect how the collective identity of our people is so inextricably linked to the Christian religion. *But the tragedy is that our # is diminishing, which in turn leaves even fewer people to preserve these rich traditions. *I attribute our decline in SE Turkey to the massacres of the early 20th century by Turkish Nationalists and Kurdish irregulars. *In addition, the nationalist trappings of the Turkish government and the concomitant maltreatment of Assyrians played an important role in debilitating our community in SE Turkey. *Again, thanks for posting these great pictures

[ojeen1981]

Proudchaldo:



Ojeen:

The person who takes care of the Chaldean church in Diyarbakir said that there are only about 10 Chaldean families still living in the area. *Not too many if you ask me.

wow, thats nothing at all. *All that becuase of the politics of the Ottomans and The Kurds who committed massive massacares in this historical area. *by the way, i love those pics and if u dont mind i am gonna save them on my comp. much thanks for sharing

[KoolEug1981]

I have a question. * When u spoke suraeth with these families, did u take into consideration their syrianee dialect? I mean, was is it intelligible? *I was just curious

[nina]

Wow beautiful pictures, my mothers side was from Turkey and she told me that her great grandfather had to escape to Iraq because in Turkey they had a period were they killed only christens in the early 1920's. It was nice looking at these pictures. Thank you so much for sharing them. I bet most of our ancestors were from Turkey because some of those buildings look so old.

[KoolEug1981]

Nina, of course a lot of our families were originally from there. *I don't know if u knew this but once upon time, before the advent of Islam and Turkish nationalism, almost all of the inhabitants of N Iraq and SE were Christian. But lets not forget that the Kurdish tribes of the region also wrought immense destruction on our communities. *Numerous Christian families (Armenian and Assyrian Syriacs) were forced to flee abroad by Kurds, leaving behind desolate areas once settled by thriving Christian communities.

[Teffo]

wow i love the older churches so beautiful...thanks for sharing kikhwa...

[Kikhwa]

caz:

Next time I go, I'm taking you with me. *It's so beautiful.

dlchaldo:

A Meet & Greet Adventure is an awesome idea.

Ojeen:

Thanks for the kind words. *

KoolEug:

I had someone interpret in Turkish for the most of the time. *I tried speaking to them in their own dialect in which I'm in no means fluent in at all. *I understood most of what they were saying because I'm a huge fan of Ninos Aho and had him programed into my brain long before I went to Turkey. * :mrgreen: * However, when I wanted to communicate with the Assyriasn there, I did through a Turkish translator.

Nina:

I believe KoolEug is right.

[Kikhwa]

This one is from Diyarbakir.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for answering my question. I'm under the assumption that no spoke Arabic. *I was surprised that u were unable to communicate in Suraeth with them. *I've always known that the Syriacs spoke a distinct dialect, but I had no clue that it was unintelligible to Syriac speakers from N. Iraq.

[KoolEug1981]

Thanks for answering my question. I'm under the assumption that no one spoke Arabic. *I, however, was surprised that u were unable to communicate in Suraeth with them. *I've always known that the Syriacs spoke a distinct dialect, but I had no clue that it was unintelligible to Syriac speakers from N. Iraq. *I know some Syriac because I am one. *But I can't speak it fluently. *The only language I speak fluently is Maslawi

[Kikhwa]

Hey KoolEug:

The Western dialect is pretty different in the way it sounds. *One has to speak very very very slowly for me to understand them. *Go to www.bethsuryoyo.com and go to the music section. *There is a lot of music sung in the Western dialect on their site. *Check it out.

[KoolEug1981]

Thanks for sending me the link. *But I've noticed that the Syrianees have the tendancy to accentuate the vowel o. *For example, when my father taught me how to recite the father, son, and holy ghost, I noticed that, unlike Chaldeans and Assyirans, he accentuated the o. So, instead of saying *Ruhaa kadisha, he said ruhoooo waaa kadishooo. *I noticed that pattern of speaking when I listened to Syiac hymns sung by the Mar Aphraim choir. *Again, thanks for the link

[KoolEug1981]

By the way, I'm assuming that most of the inhabitants were Kurds. *I wonder if there is still friction between the Assyrians and the Kurds. In general Kurds want to eliminate any rival ethnic groups from the region in order to avoid territorial conflicts. *Were there any Armenians by the way?

[Kikhwa]

KoolEug:

Our "alap" or "alaf" is their "olaf." *There are other variations in the language but I'm not versed in it well enough to pinpoint them.

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A lot of the Armenians of Turkey have assimilated into Turkish culture. *The inhabitants of South eastern Turkey are mostly Kurds. *I tried asking the Assyrians there questions regarding the politics of the area, but they made it a point not to paint a bad picture of the ethnic relations there. *IT's a touchy and dangerous subject to the actual inhabitants of the region.

[KoolEug1981]

When u say assimilate, do u mean that they adopted Islam and ascribed their children Turkish names. *How assimilated r they? *Because I know that many of the Armenians who survived the genocide were forced to convet to Islam and assimilate by adpoting Turkish names. *Is that what u meant by that. *Just curious. *What about our community, r they very assimilated as well.

[John_5_24]

AWESOME pics!!
I have often wanted to go to Israel. *One day, I may have the chance (DV)!

[Kikhwa]

When u say assimilate, do u mean that they adopted Islam and ascribed their children Turkish names. *How assimilated r they? *Because I know that many of the Armenians who survived the genocide were forced to convet to Islam and assimilate by adpoting Turkish names. *Is that what u meant by that. *Just curious. *What about our community, r they very assimilated as well.

When I say assimilate, I mean culturally, not religiously. *I didn't see too many Armenians in the East and Southeast. *Actually, I dont' remember seeing any at all in that part of the country. *Those that were in the Western part, especially in Istanbul, like most Turks in that area, seemed very secular. *They identified themselves as Turkish but with Armenian ancestry.

Although they are not zealously patriotic Assyrians, our people have not assimilated. *It's harder for our people to assimilate than it is for Armenians because we are without a concrete, tangible homeland with our own name stamped on it. *

[Kikhwa]

AWESOME pics!!
I have often wanted to go to Israel. *One day, I may have the chance (DV)!
Thanks John.
Take pictures when you do go!

[TeNu]

best thread i have seen yet by far, thanks a lot for the pictures...

[KoolEug1981]

Thanks much for answering my questions. I agree with ur *statement regarding how we have to strive harder to maintain our identity since we don't have our own homeland. *This is the reason why I love those pictures so much. *They exemplify how despite centuries of being collectively victimized and persecuted, the Assyrians still managed to secure their collective identity primarily by using the Christian religion. *Again, great pictures man