Castle

In the center of Gaziantep there are the ruins of a castle atop a hill. Gaziantep if fairly hilly as it is so it’s not like the castle can be seen from everywhere in town. But it is clearly part of the older section of the city. As part of my commitment to do at least one “getting to know Gaziantep” activity every week, I had planned to visit the castle this weekend. Actually, you can’t actually go into the castle but there was said to be a castle museum. People who had gone to the museum had said it was worth the trip, although they didn’t say what they saw in the museum. In fact, the museum has nothing to do with the castle but rather tells how the ancient city of Antep became Gaziantep.

Those of you who have read Gertrude Bell’s biography will remember how after World War I, the Allies were busy trying to decide how to partition the Ottoman Empire, which had very unwisely sided with the German Kaiser in that war -- I guess one emperor stuck with another emperor. Of course, it wasn’t just the oil rich Middle East that was up for grabs but Anatolia, the heartland of the empire and what has now become the nation of Turkey. The French, who were slated to get Syria, were also to occupy the Antep and surrounding areas. The citizens of Antep and the surrounding villages put up a tremendous fight against a well-armed force – the French even bombed the city from the air. Eventually, the French gave up all claims to any Turkish lands and Antep was freed. Kemal Atatürk, who had organized the resistance to all the occupying forces, including not only the French but also the British, Greeks and Russians, rewarded the city by giving it the “title” of Gazi. The museum translates the word as “veteran.” That might not be the best rendering but the idea is that they were recognized for their fierce defense of their homeland.

All of the plaques were in Turkish and English, or a close facsimile there of. Of course, the citizens of Gaziantep have every reason to be proud of their fight for their homeland. However, you couldn’t help but recognize that the story was told partly at the expense of other citizens of the region who had suffered greatly as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. Turkey is finally trying to do some fence mending with neighbors they have eyed suspiciously for decades About two weeks ago they signed an historic accord with Armenia and last week there was a agreement signed with Syria and that removed the visa requirement for Turks traveling to Syria. If they really want these agreement to lead to long term understanding with their neighborhoods, they will have to modify the way they talk about their history.

By the way, when I got home I looked up some info on the castle. The observation tour dates from Roman times. It took its present form during the Byzantine Empire in 6 AD. Apparently the structure contains a mosque, baths, cisterns, etc. However, it is being restored, and you really can't see anything but the walls -- from the outside.