Som jeg har skrevet før så har jeg travlt med 2 projekter, i Rumænien og i Tyrkiet.

I dag var jeg på “field visit” i en tyrkisk kommune for at diskutere losseplads, affaldscontainere, biler, arbejdere, sortering af affald, økonomi, omkostninger, drift, afskrivninger, besparelser…

Da jeg ikke kan tyrkisk og min modpart ikke kan dansk, så foregår sådanne møder på udenlandsk, det vil sige engelsk, med tyske, franske og russiske gloser, fagter og kruseduller på papir.

Midt i sådan et møde på et kedeligt kontor og det 5te glas altfor søde te, kommer jeg til at kigge ud af vinduet.

Jeg er i Amasya, ca 400 km øst for Ankara og ca 150 km fra Sortehavet. Dette er altså ikke noget “turisthul” her bor almindelige tyrkere og gør deres til at opretholde det daglige liv. Midt gennem byen løber Tyrkiets næst-største flod “den Grønne Flod” det tyrkiske navn kender jeg ikke. og lige på den anden side står der en stejl klippevæg med nogle meget markante huler, mure og en borgruin på toppen. og langsflodbredden er der en række huse, en moske med en enkelt minaret (tårn) og et tyrkisk bad.

På et tidspunkt beder jeg så lige om en pause fordi jeg vil gerne lige ned og tage et billede.

Tolken fortæller at hulerne er fra før “det stor Osmanske rige” og at borgen er bygget af Osmanerne for at kunne overvåge dalene omkring.

På vej hjem fra mødet, sidder jeg og snakker med chaufførens søn Musa, fordi han kan lidt -meget lidt – engelsk. Så for øvelsens skyld og for at få tiden til at gå spørger jeg ham om han vil fortælle lidt om Tyrkiets historie, om hvor gammel han tror borgen hulerne, og byen er. Men han kender ingenting til den del af historien.

Musa er 20 år og går på universitet for at studere musik, så han er ikke dum. Men hvis jeg spørger ham om Atatürk – grundlæggeren af det moderne Tyrkiet, så kan han alt og det kommer lettere end salmevers eller kongerække for dem som har gået i den “danske stråtægte” skole.

Dette ikke sagt for at gøre nar af Maco eller Atatürk, dette sagt for at understrege hvad der er vigtigst i Tyrkiet. Mere derom senere i en anden artikel.

Tilbage til Amasya og klippevæggen, fordi nu er jeg blevet lidt nysgerrig og her en sen aften, hvor jeg egenlig burde sove, sidder jeg nu og “googler” efter mere information.

Jeg er faldet over denne wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasya, den er ganskevist på engelsk, men her er alligevel et lille uddrag:

“

Amasya

(Greek: Ἀμάσεια, the Amaseia of antiquity, or Αμάσεια Amáseia) is the administrative district of Amasya Province in northern Turkey. It covers an area of 1730 km², and the population is 133,000, of which 74,000 live in the city and the remainder in surrounding villages. Altitude is 411 m.

Amasya stands in the mountains above the Black Sea coast, the city was built in a narrow valley along the banks of the Yeşilırmak River. Although near the Black Sea this area is very high above the coast and has an inland climate, well-suited to growing apples, for which the province of Amasya is famed.

In antiquity Amaseia was a fortified city high on the cliffs above the river. This area has a long history as provincial capital, a wealthy city producing kings and princes, artists, scientists, poets and thinkers, from the kings of Pontus, through Strabo the geographer, to many generations of the Ottoman imperial dynasty and right up to being the location of an important moment in the life of Ataturk. With its Ottoman period wooden houses and the tombs of the Pontus kings carved into the cliffs overhead Amasya is still attractive to visitors.

History

Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.

Antiquity

Archaeological research shows that Amasya was first settled in 5,500 BC by the Hittites and subsequently by Phrygians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Persians.

Greeks and Hellenes

By 183 BC the city was settled by Hellenistic people, eventually becoming the capital of the kings of Pontus from 333 BC to 26 BC. Today there are prominent ruins including the royal tombs of Pontus in the rocks above the riverbank in the centre of the city.

The Romans and Byzantines

Amaseia was captured by the Roman Lucullus in 70 BC and was quickly made a free city and administrative centre of his new province of Bithynia and Pontus by Pompey. By this time Amaseia was a thriving city, the home of thinkers, writers and poets, and one of them, Strabo, left a full description of Amaseia as it was between 60 BC and 19 AD.

Under the Romans it gained the titles ‘metropolis‘ and ‘first city’ in the second century AD. After the division of the Roman Empire by emperor Diocletian the city became part of the East Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire). At this time it had a predominantly Greek-speaking population.

Early Turkish rulers

In 1075 following 700 years of Byzantine rule Amasya was conquered by the TurkmenDanishmend emirs. It became their capital until it was annexed by the Seljuk ruler Qilic Arslan. Under the Seljuks and the Ilkhan the city became a centre of Islamic culture. Schools, mosques, tombs and other architecture of this period still remain.

The Ottomans

After being incorporated into the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Bayezid I Amasya grew in importance as a centre of learning; the children of the Ottoman rulers being sent here for their education. As part of their preparation for future rule they were given the position and responsibility of governor of Amasya. Future sultans from Beyazid I in the late 14th century through to Murat III in the 16th were schooled here and held the position of governor in their youth.

The population of Amasya at this time was very different from that of most other cities in the Ottoman Empire; as it was part of their the training for the future sultans to learn about every nation of the Empire. Every millet of the Empire was represented in Amasya in a particular village — such as a pontic villiage, an Armenian village, a Bosnian village, a Tatar village, a Turkish village, an Arab village, a Kurdish village, etc. (see: 1927 Population count data by DİE.)

The Turkish War of Independence

In 1919 Amasya was the location of the final planning meetings held by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the building of a Turkish army to establish the Turkish republic following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. It was here that Mustafa Kemal made the announcement of the Turkish War of Independence in the Amasya Circular.

The Republic of Turkey

The Greeks of Amasya were replaced by Turks from Greece in the population exchange at the founding of the Turkish Republic.

”

Have a nice day 😉