This is the Australian Foreign Affairs Office's latest travel warning map on Turkey. My travel plans are superimposed on top.
The RED route is the journey I took from Northern Cyprus to Northern Turkey and back down again. It's a pretty huge country - half of this route (Cyprus to Trabzon) took me 35 hours of continuous travel, first by ferry then followed by many buses.
The BLUE route is where I'm going next, and this is a calculated risk, taking into consideration that military action against rebels in the area is focused beyond Turkish borders in Syria and Iraq (for now), or in worst case, within a 50km zone from within the Turkish border.
The GREEN route is my final leg and is the "tourist road" covering Capadoccia, Konya, Antalya, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Troy and Istanbul.
The RED route is the journey I took from Northern Cyprus to Northern Turkey and back down again. It's a pretty huge country - half of this route (Cyprus to Trabzon) took me 35 hours of continuous travel, first by ferry then followed by many buses.
The BLUE route is where I'm going next, and this is a calculated risk, taking into consideration that military action against rebels in the area is focused beyond Turkish borders in Syria and Iraq (for now), or in worst case, within a 50km zone from within the Turkish border.
The GREEN route is my final leg and is the "tourist road" covering Capadoccia, Konya, Antalya, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Troy and Istanbul.
T plus 124 - Kahta, at the base of Mount Nemrut, Turkey (between the RED and BLUE dots)
Sincere apologies for the longer-than-usual hiatus. I've been living in buses for the past week. And it's not like there's that much to see in Northern Turkey, along the coast of the Black Sea, but I just wanted to get a feel of the non-touristy bits before heading into the more well-trodden paths. The weather hasn't been co-operative either. It's been drizzling for ages, with a monochrome cloud cover that does nothing for photographs. Still, I visited an interesting monastery in Trabzon and I'll be heading to the famed Mount Nemrut to catch the sunrise at 3.30am tomorrow. Hope to be able to post some nice pics soon.
So what's all this fuss about the demonstrations/protests/riots in Turkey that you may have seen on the news? And why has Turkey gone on the offensive in striking rebel strongholds beyond its own borders in Syria and Iraq? Finally, is it safe to visit at the moment?
To understand this, we need to first consider the position of the Kurdish people. Before WW1, the Kurds were a nomadic people, living in the mountainous regions of present-day Southeastern Turkey, Northern Syria and Iraq and Western Iran. After WW1, the Ottoman empire was broken up into different nation-states, but tragically not one for the Kurds. In the following decades, they would face great oppression from the majority-led governments in most countries they settled in, including heinous acts of ethnic cleansing under the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
Things have improved greatly since, but a large proportion of Kurds still hold out hope for an independent homeland - "Kurdistan" - an area covering portions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. They want this region to be "given back" to them. In this regard, the Kurds in Iraq have been most successful and have established the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan after the collapse of the Saddam Hussein government. Remember the first border I was bounced from? In Iran, the Kurds have integrated relatively well into the society, forming about 10% of the population. They only represent a tiny minority in Syria.
It must be said, however, that the dream of a fully independent Kurdistan will likely never come to fruition because it means that the nations above have to give up chunks of land. It's quite sad really, because it was the foreign powers i.e. the British and the French who split up the Middle East amongst themselves after WW1 and conveniently forgot about the Kurdish people. Therein lies the profound sense of injustice which still simmers within the Kurdish people today.
It is the imperative to right this "wrong" that has underpinned the raison d'etre for groups like the PKK or Kurdish Workers Party (formed in 1978), which advocate armed struggle for independence. The on-off military conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK has led to violence in the region, especially in the Kurdish areas along the borders which Turkey shares with Syria and Iraq. A tentative truce was reached in 2013, with largely peaceful negotiations taking place after that.
But this progress was abruptly shattered in July earlier this year when an Islamic State (IS) suicide bombing killed 33 (mostly Kurdish) people on the Turkish side of the border. The PKK killed two Turkish policemen in apparent retaliation for the Turkish government not doing enough to combat IS. The Turkish government responded with airstrikes on IS positions in Syria and PKK positions in Iraqi Kurdistan. PKK has since initiated attacks in Turkey's Southeastern cities, claiming the lives of military personnel and civilians.
To make matters even more confusing, PKK has actually been a major opponent of IS in the region over the past few years. So this Turkish Government - PKK - IS conflict will turn into a very ugly three-cornered fight. The demonstrations we see in Turkish cities right now are largely led by Turkish nationalists i.e. anti-Kurdish movements. And it doesn't help that a second round of general elections will be held in November 2015 after the July polls resulted in a hung parliament. So the rhetoric from all sides has been fiery and the sentiments of the general population further inflamed.
Finally, and most importantly, is it safe to visit Turkey right now? My opinion is a qualified "yes". The Turkish government values the tourism industry and its international reputation too much to allow a major outbreak of violence in the major tourist areas. Yes, isolated incidents e.g. shootings and bombings can happen, and have happened recently. But the chances of being in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time are vanishingly small. What about the Kurdish regions in the Southeast? Well, I'd stay clear of the immediate vicinity of the borders between Turkey and Syria and Iraq for now. But bear in mind that the vast majority of Kurds are amongst the warmest and most welcoming people you'd ever encounter. So staying within the major cities in the Southeast should not be a problem.
Will update if the security situation changes.
Sincere apologies for the longer-than-usual hiatus. I've been living in buses for the past week. And it's not like there's that much to see in Northern Turkey, along the coast of the Black Sea, but I just wanted to get a feel of the non-touristy bits before heading into the more well-trodden paths. The weather hasn't been co-operative either. It's been drizzling for ages, with a monochrome cloud cover that does nothing for photographs. Still, I visited an interesting monastery in Trabzon and I'll be heading to the famed Mount Nemrut to catch the sunrise at 3.30am tomorrow. Hope to be able to post some nice pics soon.
So what's all this fuss about the demonstrations/protests/riots in Turkey that you may have seen on the news? And why has Turkey gone on the offensive in striking rebel strongholds beyond its own borders in Syria and Iraq? Finally, is it safe to visit at the moment?
To understand this, we need to first consider the position of the Kurdish people. Before WW1, the Kurds were a nomadic people, living in the mountainous regions of present-day Southeastern Turkey, Northern Syria and Iraq and Western Iran. After WW1, the Ottoman empire was broken up into different nation-states, but tragically not one for the Kurds. In the following decades, they would face great oppression from the majority-led governments in most countries they settled in, including heinous acts of ethnic cleansing under the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
Things have improved greatly since, but a large proportion of Kurds still hold out hope for an independent homeland - "Kurdistan" - an area covering portions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. They want this region to be "given back" to them. In this regard, the Kurds in Iraq have been most successful and have established the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan after the collapse of the Saddam Hussein government. Remember the first border I was bounced from? In Iran, the Kurds have integrated relatively well into the society, forming about 10% of the population. They only represent a tiny minority in Syria.
It must be said, however, that the dream of a fully independent Kurdistan will likely never come to fruition because it means that the nations above have to give up chunks of land. It's quite sad really, because it was the foreign powers i.e. the British and the French who split up the Middle East amongst themselves after WW1 and conveniently forgot about the Kurdish people. Therein lies the profound sense of injustice which still simmers within the Kurdish people today.
It is the imperative to right this "wrong" that has underpinned the raison d'etre for groups like the PKK or Kurdish Workers Party (formed in 1978), which advocate armed struggle for independence. The on-off military conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK has led to violence in the region, especially in the Kurdish areas along the borders which Turkey shares with Syria and Iraq. A tentative truce was reached in 2013, with largely peaceful negotiations taking place after that.
But this progress was abruptly shattered in July earlier this year when an Islamic State (IS) suicide bombing killed 33 (mostly Kurdish) people on the Turkish side of the border. The PKK killed two Turkish policemen in apparent retaliation for the Turkish government not doing enough to combat IS. The Turkish government responded with airstrikes on IS positions in Syria and PKK positions in Iraqi Kurdistan. PKK has since initiated attacks in Turkey's Southeastern cities, claiming the lives of military personnel and civilians.
To make matters even more confusing, PKK has actually been a major opponent of IS in the region over the past few years. So this Turkish Government - PKK - IS conflict will turn into a very ugly three-cornered fight. The demonstrations we see in Turkish cities right now are largely led by Turkish nationalists i.e. anti-Kurdish movements. And it doesn't help that a second round of general elections will be held in November 2015 after the July polls resulted in a hung parliament. So the rhetoric from all sides has been fiery and the sentiments of the general population further inflamed.
Finally, and most importantly, is it safe to visit Turkey right now? My opinion is a qualified "yes". The Turkish government values the tourism industry and its international reputation too much to allow a major outbreak of violence in the major tourist areas. Yes, isolated incidents e.g. shootings and bombings can happen, and have happened recently. But the chances of being in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time are vanishingly small. What about the Kurdish regions in the Southeast? Well, I'd stay clear of the immediate vicinity of the borders between Turkey and Syria and Iraq for now. But bear in mind that the vast majority of Kurds are amongst the warmest and most welcoming people you'd ever encounter. So staying within the major cities in the Southeast should not be a problem.
Will update if the security situation changes.
