Woke up this morning with a horribly upset stomach. Think it was the smoked trout the night before. Spent the day sipping electrolytes.
Off this morning to the Republic of Türkiye which changed its official name from The Republic of Turkey in 2022 via a request to the UN.
To get to the Northeast (Anatolian region) of Turkiye from Armenia is not simple. You cannot go directly because the border has been closed since 1993. There are a number of reasons for this. Turkey closed the land border in 1993 to show solidarity with its close ally, Azerbaijan, during the war between Armenia. Relations have been historically strained by long-standing disputes, including modern Turkey’s rejection of the label “genocide” for the 1915 events under the Ottoman Empire. There are also disagreements over 1921 treaty borders. There are hopes that the border will open soon. Turkiye links the full reopening of its border and the establishment of formal diplomatic relations to progress in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Instead we have to cross the border back into Georgia, drive over horrendous roads for 2hrs, even though it is only 20 kms to the border.
While Georgian border is fast and efficient, the police at the Turkish border go through every page in our passport looking for goodness knows what.
After that, a lovely drive through the Turkish high plateau and past Mt Ararat and Lake Cildir, where we stop for Turkish tea (because the season is over there is no Turkish coffee)
Kars, our stopover for 2 nights, historically was an Armenian city. Little is known of the early history of Kars beyond the fact that, during medieval times, it had its own dynasty of Armenian rulers and was the capital of a region known as Vanand. It had a hugely turbulent history around the Mongol and Ottoman empires and in the nineteenth-century, the Russian empire, until it was taken by Turkish nationalist forces in 1920.
Today is Sunday and a lovely Autumn day. The city is heaving when we arrive around 2pm (back another hour).
We gave been told that Kars is a conservative town. Anatolia, its province, is the political and conservative heartland of Turkey, heavily supporting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP ). On first appearance , though , it is an interesting mix of Muslim dress and younger people, particularly, in Western garb. on the other hand, restaurants do not serve alcohol although our hotel has a bar. The restaurant, where we go for dinner, is dominated by meat (shashlik)and our guide tells that this is normal for this part of the country. The food (at least here) is a big regression from the diverse salads and herb-rich Armenian cuisine.
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