By Susan Ellis of Key Life Journeys

So I was out of the country for two weeks this spring, fulfilling a life long dream to wander though historic landscapes in Turkey. While there three world events occurred making me confront today’s reality. But they all became interwoven in the dream fulfilled.

Since a child, Constantinople evoked wonders and mysteries in my mind and I hoped one day I might visit the modern day Istanbul. Later in my life, once I had started traveling, I went to Greece and was enchanted by Olympia, Delphi, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Knossos. It was self evident therefore that I would be one day drawn to see Ephesus.

Sightseeing started in Ankara beginning with the delightful museum illustrating the progression of ancient Anatolian civilizations from 6,500 year BCE - Neolithic period, forward. This was followed by a visit to the Mausoleum of Ataturk, who founded the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923. For two weeks we embraced the history in between.

The next night was spent in the village of Bogazkale. Here we discovered for the first time the most common roof top item in Turkey – solar panels for heating water.



We had come to experience Hattusas, a gem on green hillsides with blossoming trees and virtually no tourists. Up until 2000 year BCE it was inhabited by the Hatti, but later merchants came and written script was created. Then it was the capital of the Hittites who were formidable conquerors through many generations.



Amid blossomed trees and wild flowers I saw the Yazılıkaya sanctuary friezes cut in the rock from around 1250 BCE. The peace, the stillness, the spirit of the place was mystical. Never again would we have ancient walls and portals to ourselves. I gazed across a hillside, an ancient world, the cradle of civilization and gave myself respite from the modern era. My travels through time had begun.







On April 29th I visited Ephesus. This city served as the Roman capital of Asia Minor, second in size only to Rome. It had been built on the site of a former Classical Greek city. Ultimately destroyed by earthquakes, its loss of commercial prowess came when the harbor silted up and once inland, had no access to the Aegean Sea.







The tourists all go to wonder at the reconstructed façade of the library of Selsus. A testament to Turkey’s strict archeological policy, no one can dig unless they also reconstruct. It is crowded in Ephesus. Most people who come to Turkey will know Istanbul and Ephesus. The cruise ships unleash thousands of tourists every day. But less visited and less dramatic are the ruins close by. The Temple of Artemis is no more than a location, a single pillar rises; a pond is close by. But it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world as listed by Antipater of Sidon; its original for him was #1.


 
I have seen the great pyramid of Giza, also on his list, which was a power filled experience for me. But here at this site, the jutoposition of history that I viewed on this spring day made it magical. An expedition from the British museum in 1869 dicovered artifacts from the temple’s many incarnations, and the best reside in the British Museum in London. However some other columns are found in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The back drop to the remains are the grand fortress of Selçuk on Ayasoluk Hill and the İsabey Mosque completed in 1375.

On May 1st we drove north from Kusadasi to the village of Bergama where we took taxis to the hilltop ruins of Pergamon. It was the capital of an empire founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals. After Alexander’s death, his empire was divided up between the generals.





Our Taxi driver had no English to share but having been a migrant worker in Germany for some years he did have another language. Indeed we found many small entrepreneurs had earned their start up capital in Germany. Most archaeological digs in Turkey are from Germany or Austria. Indeed the Altar from Pergamon sits in a museum in Berlin – and they won’t give it back.

On Monday 2nd May we visited Troy where 9 cities have been discovered on top of one another. The earliest, 4000BCE, with the Bronze age inhabitants ending with the most modern era - that of Roman occupation. There is much excavation going on and again the Turks are trying to get back more artifacts taken by other countries.





That morning we left Asia behind and sailed across the Dardanelles to the European part of Turkey landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula where the Turkish army destroyed the Australian and New Zealand invaders in 1915. The Ottoman Empire ultimately was on the losing side in the First World War.


Anzac Cove

But in that war and during the creation of the modern Republic, minority groups were removed forcibly from the country. These were mainly Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Turkey entered the modern era, like so many other emerging countries, with blood on its hands; the word genocide is often used. 

From Gallipoli we headed for Istanbul and despite spring time showers of heavy rain at times, the city fulfilled all my childhood dreams.

I saw the Hagia Sophia. The first church on the site was dedicated in 360 as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchal  Basilica. On the fourth Crusade, Hagia Sophia was ransacked by the Latin Christians and many materials and important relics were taken to museums in the West. With the Latin occupation of Constantinople between 1204 and 1261, the church became a Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1261, Byzantines captured Constantinople again.





The Ottoman Turks invaded in 1453 and took over the country. Christianity was out and Islam was in. The mosaics and frescoes of this amazing church were plastered over and banners declaring the words of Allah went up. In 1935 it was opened as a museum; paint and plaster had been removed so that some of the awe inspiring artwork is arrayed alongside the Islamic elements. Outside, minarets rise from the four corners and from around the world, all come to marvel.


Susan Ellis in Istanbul

But what about the interweaving of modern realities?

Following the visit to Ephesus (Greco – Roman era) we stopped by a roadside restaurant for lunch. As we sat down we noticed a large screen TV. It was just before 1pm Turkish time. In London England it is 11am and we watched Kate Middleton walk down the aisle of Westminster Abbey and walk out as the Duchess of Cambridge. The commentary was by some very excited Turks. Later at our hotel room in Kusadasi we turned on the BBC World News and with English comments watch the balcony kiss. Next day the hotel lobby had copies of three different Turkish newspapers and all have front page coverage of the Royal wedding.

Modern day Turkey is thriving. It has long wanted to be part of the EU. Major players in Europe have no interest. I should imagine that with the current state of Europe’s economy, no country in its right mind would want to get involved. I believe that Turkey’s role in world politics should be as a neutral balancer between the west and the east. Today we see Turkey is supporting pro-democracy movements in Islamic countries, treating the wounded from Libya and accepting refugees from Syria. However Turkey must tread carefully. The Ottoman Empire had periods of behaving rather badly and nations have long memories. We will leave aside the Crusades in this discussion because all sides behaved rather badly then in the name of god. Turkey should bide its time and be a welcoming safe tourist destination.

On Sunday May 1st we were visiting ruins of Pergamon from which site relics have been removed and live in Germany.



That evening we were on the Asian shore of the Dardanelles looking across at Gallipoli. The Allies underestimated the Turks. The Ottoman army did not have the numbers, training, firepower and Winston Churchill thought capturing Constantinople would be a piece of cake. The cemeteries there attest to the fact that to people in power, life is cheap. With no questions asked you should be expected to sacrifice your life for someone else’s dream.

In Pakistan that day, 1st May 2011, Osama Bin Ladin was assassinated. A man driven by bitterness and anger for the way those in power treat other people. First it was towards the people in power in his native Saudi Arabia and then the Americans and the West. As part of the War on Terror the Americans and British occupied Baghdad. A city of history, a city of priceless artifacts, perhaps 100km from the site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, another of the seven wonders of the ancient world. During the bombing of Iraq, UNESCO informed the powers of the location of heritage sites and asked for protection for the treasures in the Museum in Baghdad. Workers at the museum pleaded with the soldiers on the ground to protect the artifacts from looting. History repeats itself. And would you believe that some of the priceless treasures from that museum have found their way into American Museums?

On Monday 2nd we drove to Istanbul. The next day we visited the Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue mosque) and the Grand Bazaar. It was all a dream come true. Our wonderful, Turkish guide traveled with us for the whole two weeks had indicated that it would be a sign of respect if we women would put on a head scarf while inside mosques. We did. But so many other tourists didn’t. How can we ever expect others to respect us and our customs if we refuse to reciprocate? Are we so ethnocentric that we have to prove our differences and assumed superiority? Get over it, life is too short. I didn’t have a choice in 1977 when in Iran. I had to rent a full length black chador outside the mosque or shrine, or I couldn’t enter. There is no way we can negotiate respect for western traditions if we flaunt some sense of grandeur when we are in the countries of others.

But before heading out to see Istanbul that day I turned on my computer. It was around midnight of the preceding night, Toronto time. I read the news. Harper had won the election. The Canadian Conservatives had won a majority. Life in Canada would never be the same again. The balance of power had shifted. Hard fought ideological rights would be in jeopardy. A compassionate Canada would be firmly in the hands of corporate power.

Between leaving Canada on 22nd April and returning on 5th May, the world has shifted and I have shifted. I had walked through 6,000 years of civilization. In Turkey I had left a country that was building a future; a country that had made many enemies but was trying to reconcile with its neighbors. I would like to think we learn from the past; that we can live in the present and not keep regurgitating yesterday’s drama.

But my idealism always gets smacked down. On my return to Canada I visited my accountant to pick up my income tax forms. I told him I’d just come back from Turkey and had had an amazing experience. "I shall never go there." He said. "I’m Greek."