Turkey. Ankara and Background

The Courtyard at Attaturk's Tomb in Ankara

Though not by any standard a Middle Eastern Country, Turkey plays in important role in my geographical region.  Turkey's population is over 90% Muslim.  Most people of the region spoke Arabic until the creation of modern Turkey after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent events after WWI.  Turk's have an unassailable love and reverence for their founder Kemal Attaturk, who's legend cannot be overstated.  A singular historical figure, perhaps no other individual is more closely associated with the character of their country.  Attaturk made his military reputation repelling an Allied Invasion of the Dardanneles in WWI, when he disobeyed his higher command and maneuvered his battalion to a where he predicted the the Allied Forces would come ashore.  In 1923 Turkey became a secular republic with Attaturk as its first president and it capital moved from Istanbul to the remote plains town of Ankara.

Ankara was our first stop on our Turkey, our plan was to fly from Kuwait to Ankara via Istanbul, rent a car and make our way back West to Istanbul where we would drop the car at the airport and spend the next 5 nights in the city.  Our trip began auspiciously as we experienced a weather delay due to fog getting out of Kuwait, the first fog we've seen in our 4 months of living there.  Our original flight to the secondary airport in Istanbul was cancelled and we were placed on the flight going to the main Istanbul airport, Attaturk.  When we arrived, we had no idea as to the fate or our baggage.   The ticket agents were so helpful as to point out that in fact we weren't supposed to be in that particular airport...really?  Thanks.  Fortunately they booked us on the next flight into Ankara.

Unfortunately, our baggage didn't make it.  So, we filled out all of the paperwork, picked up our rental car and headed out into the rain.  After a few wrong turns, and about an hour in traffic, we finally pulled into our hotel.
The next day I had meetings for the better part of the day, where I was briefed on Turkey's economic situation (8-9% Growth last year), their internal politics (The current prime minister is pushing for constitutional reforms intended to strengthen the position of President, and decreasing the importance of his current position.  Many surmise that he is planning to pull a Putin and slide over into the presidency).  I learned about Turkey's relationship with the United States.  Turkey is the only country with a significant U.S. Military presence that we have never conquered nor rescued. Also, they consider what we did in Iraq the equivalent of us dropping the worlds largest dirty diaper in there back yard.  Additionally we learned about Turkey's bid to join the EU, (a lot of work to do, Austria, which repelled two Ottoman invasions, considers Turkey's EU bid just the latest attempt to invade), there relationship with Israel (strained officially, but still humming along economically).

Turkey straddles the line between Asia and Europe, and if you ask a Turk if they consider themselves Asian or European, they will undoubtedly tell you that they are neither, they are Turkish.

Although Ankara is by any measure a huge city (of all US Cities, only NYC has a larger population), unfortunately, our schedule only allowed us to spend a quick morning prior to heading to Cappadocia.  We drove over to Attaturk's tomb and museum which tells the story of his life, along with the story of the great battle of Gallipoli in WWI.  It put into perspective for us, his importance and the central role he plays in the psyche of the country.  I think if you rolled Washington, Lincoln, and a few Kennedys, MLK and Eisenhower into one individual, you would be on the right track.

Next, Cappdocia, land of Fairy Chimneys, hidden churches and hundreds of hot air balloons.