What is a whirling dervish?

In English, we like to refer to someone who is rushing around as being ‘like a whirling dervish’ but until I came to Turkey I don’t think I had even stopped to wonder what a dervish really is.

Two weeks ago, on our way to Cappadocia, we passed through Konya which, aside from being the seventh largest city in Turkey and the largest in terms of land area of its 81 regions (38,000 sq km – nearly double the size of Wales), is the centre of the Mevlevi order of dervishes.

Mevlana museum (once a dervish lodge), Konya

A dervish is a Sufi Muslim holy man who follows an austere religious life and focuses on leaving behind the ego and personal desires in order to reach God.  There are other dervish orders in Pakistan, Afghanistan and north Africa, among other places, but the Mevlevi order is based on the teachings of Celaleddin Rumi and was started by his son.

Rumi – also known as Mevlana (‘the Master’) – was a thirteenth century poet and religious scholar who settled in Konya.  He is little-known in the UK but in the USA he is described as the best-selling poet and a selection of his love poems has been performed by the likes of Madonna, Goldie Hawn and Demi Moore!

In most Sufi orders, some form of physical exertion is used to reach a trance-like state.  Rumi believed passionately in the use of music and dance for this and his spinning developed into the ritual Sema (whirling) practised by the Mevlevi dervishes.

The Semazen (whirling dervish) wears a tall, camel hair hat that represents the tombstone of the ego and a wide, white skirt that represents its shroud.  At the beginning of the Sema, he holds his arms crossed over his chest to resemble the number one, symbolising God’s unity.  Later, his arms open and his right arm reaches to the sky to receive God’s beneficence while his left hand reaches to the earth.  As he turns (from right to left) he embraces all humanity in love.

These days the dervish lodge in Konya is the Mevlana Museum and as the site of Rumi’s tomb, a place of pilgrimage.  Every year in December the Mevlana Festival is held to celebrate Rumi’s birthday with demonstrations of the Sema.  But his teachings are also relevant, nearly eight hundred years later.

Mevlana's tomb

Rumi believed that human beings had been created with God’s love in order to love.  He treated people of different religions exactly the same, believing that they all hold the truth.  Most importantly, he called for peace and tolerance, which is something we could certainly use more of today!

Dervish graves, Mevlana Museum

Our Cappadocia trip

Just got back from a few days away in Cappadocia.  WOW!

 

Goreme, Cappadocia (central Anatolian region of Turkey)

If you’ve visited Turkey, you have probably seen pictures of the ‘fairy chimneys’. The strange landscape is the result of cracks and fissures in the soft rock being eroded by wind and rain to make isolated pillars, whose geological name is hoodoo.  The region forms a 1000m high plateau riddled with valleys and from most parts of it you can see the distant peaks of the extinct volcanoes which formed it.  The largest, at nearly 4000m, is Erciyes Mountain which is a popular ski resort.

hoodoo ('fairy chimney')

The geography is so unusual that Cappadocia is a popular place for filming.  It used to be the place they filmed low-budget Turkish ‘kovboy’ movies (westerns – say it out loud!) but more recently many countries have used it as a location, especially for sci-fi films.  Parts of Nicholas Cage’s Ghost Rider II were shot there.

Besides the incredible scenery, Cappadocia has a fascinating history.  Through the ages, it has been under the control of the Hittites, the Persians, Alexander the Great and the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, all of which left their mark in some way.

church at Goreme Open Air Museum

As early as the fourth century it became an important centre of Christianity.  Christians fleeing persecution by the Romans arrived in some numbers and established communities here. They dug out the chimneys to make dwellings and churches, which can be seen best at Goreme and Zelve Open Air Museums.

Zelve village

Some of these are decorated with simple motifs – crosses and symbols – from the eighth century when the Eastern Church banned the use of religious images (a period of iconoclasm).  The later ones are decorated with beautiful frescoes which, thanks to the dry air and lack of light in the caves, are well-preserved.

As well as the Christians suffering persecution, the area of Cappadocia has often found itself on the edge of rival empires.  The residents responded by digging underground settlements, which have been found all over the area.  These were not lived in permanently but each house would have access to them and whenever there was a threat the people would disappear underground.  Some of the largest cities housed thousands of people together with their animals!

Underground cities like the ones at Derin Kuyu and Kaymakli were easy to defend as the narrow tunnels made fighting difficult.  There were also stones that were used to block access tunnels and holes through which spears could be dropped!

Apart from visiting the churches and underground cities, the most popular thing to do in Cappadocia is ballooning.  It’s the best way to see the landscape and with 50 or more balloons taking off each morning just before sunrise it is a magical experience.

It’s a long way from Fethiye to Cappadocia (700km) but it’s possible to do it by car (preferably breaking the journey somewhere) or by overnight bus and I would highly recommend it!

Referendum blues

Turkey is heading towards a referendum (16 April) which could change the whole political system.  It is impossible to get away from it – it fills the news, the papers and everybody’s conversations.  If you have Turkish friends on Facebook you might have noticed them posting references to the referendum, or changing their profile to ‘HAYIR’ (no – the outcome they are hoping for).

Without going into too much detail – which I don’t understand anyway - Turkey currently has a parliamentary system with an elected party whose leader is Prime Minister and a cabinet.  The President is not allowed to be a party member and officially has more of a ceremonial role.

The new system, being proposed by the current president and his supporters, will abolish the role of PM and make the President head of the Parliament.  He will be allowed remain as party leader, able to choose who runs as MP for the party and choose his own ministers without needing parliamentary approval.  More worryingly he will be able to choose more than half the senior judges in the judiciary.  Political commentators say that while many countries have presidential systems, they have checks and safeguards to ensure that one person does not have too much power.

One of the worst things is that, similar to the British referendum last year, we are not being given proper information.  Supporters claim the new system will enable them to end terrorism, reduce unemployment etc without actually explaining how.  As in the UK, discussions often deteriorate into name-calling with, at the worst, ‘no’ voters being accused of supporting terrorism.

This is apparently a rising phenomenon of modern politics, termed ‘post-truth’ politics.  It was widespread in the American presidential elections too.  It involves appealing to people’s emotions rather than their brain.  It seems that these days we aren’t so interested in policy and facts – much too dull!  We prefer the drama of a good argument, whether the claims being made are real or not (politics reduced to reality TV!).

So – it is an uncertain time for Turkey; not for holiday-makers as whatever happens in the referendum this will continue to be a beautiful place to visit but it might not be quite the same to live here and as it has been my home now for almost 25 years I am hoping it doesn’t change too much.

Enough politics!  Here is a lovely story that was in the news a couple of weeks ago...

... In the mountainous Black Sea region, an eleven-year old girl was watching over the family’s goats as they grazed.  It started to snow heavily and then she realised one of the goats was giving birth.  She took the other animals back home and returned to the goat and baby with two backpacks.   She put the baby in one and tied it to her dog’s back (large Turkish shepherd dog), then put the mother goat in the other bag and which she carried and struggled home through the thick snow.

What a strange world it is where this girl cares for the goats dressed in the traditional clothes of the region, while a picture of her taken by her brother on his phone ‘goes viral’.  Old and new worlds collide! This is one of the things I have always loved about Turkey.

By the way, the baby goat was named Snowball! 

Women in Turkey

Some of you will have seen the photographs I posted on Facebook showing women in the early days of the Turkish Republic (1920s and 1930s).  I loved these pictures of pioneering female doctors, engineers, sportswomen and politicians but it is hard not to feel depressed by the seeming lack of progress in the century since (well almost a century!)

Keriman Halis - Miss Turkey and Miss World 1934

 Ataturk said: “Society consists of two sexes. Can it be possible that a mass is improved by the improvement of only one part, while the other is ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains, the other half can soar into skies?”

He admired the courage of the Turkish women who had voluntarily helped in the fight for independence and he believed in the importance of gender equality and the emancipation of women in all spheres of life.   And remember this was in the 1920s when women in much of Europe still did not have equal rights.

Turkish women during the Independence war

Among the major political, legal, social and economic reforms that he implemented to transform the young Republic of Turkey into a modern, democratic and secular state were many that directly affected the position of women in society.

Polygamy was banned and divorce and inheritance rights were made equal.  The veil was not actually banned (unlike the fez for men) but women were encouraged to dress in a modern manner without covering their heads.  A unified education system offered education to girls and allowed them to teach in girls’ schools and in mixed primary and middle schools.  They could take up careers in law, medicine and public services. 

Women were granted the right to vote and be elected at local level in 1930 and at the national level in 1934 (before France, Italy and Japan, for example).  In that first election, 18 women won places in parliament.

 

Turkish women campaigning

Women also began to shine in other fields.  The Turkish Republic gave the world its first female Supreme Court judge. One of Ataturk’s adopted daughters, Sabiha Gokcen, became the world’s first female fighter pilot (Guinness World Records approved!) – hence the name of the second airport in Istanbul.

Sabiha Gokcen

So what has happened since then?  How come the status of women in some parts of Turkey is still so shameful, with domestic abuse common and even honour killings still occurring?

 Last year there was a motion in parliament proposing the removal of custodial sentences for men accused of statutory rape in the case of marriage.  It was apparently aimed at couples who marry voluntarily but it basically would have legalised underage marriage.  Thankfully it wasn’t passed.

In the last week the news has been full of the story of a 14-year-old girl found after disappearing for 85 days.  It turns out that in two villages in the Izmir region – an area known for its enlightened views – there is a tradition of kidnapping underage girls.  The girls are persuaded to marry boys they have grown up with (under the threat that nobody else will have them) and families are paid to keep quiet.  Disgustingly, the amount of money paid increases with the decreasing age of the girl - the youngest being just 12 years old.  Every year around 20 girls suffer this fate.

The biggest problem is that while you can alter laws, it is harder to change traditional attitudes and social practices.  The only cure for this sort of ignorance is education and it takes time.  The Turkish Republic is a relatively young country and it is still finding its way.  I really hope that it remembers Ataturk’s ideas about the role of women in society:

“I am convinced that the exercise of social and political rights by women is necessary for mankind’s happiness and pride.”

Ataturk’s message to the International Women’s congress meeting in Istanbul, April 22, 1935

'Modern' Turkish Women 1934

Size DOES matter! (amazing facts part 4)

I know you know it’s big but let’s look at figures....Turkey covers 783,000 square kilometres, compared to 243,000 for the whole of the UK.  It is 1,485 km (922 miles) from Kirklareli in the north west to Hakkari in the south east (the same as the distance between London and Barcelona).  Fethiye is 620km (385 miles) from Ankara and 780km (485 miles) from Istanbul.

The highest mountain, Mount Agri (Ararat), is over 5,000 m above sea level;  Ben Nevis, by the way is 1,345 m high. Fethiye’s Baba Mountain – from which the paragliders take off – is 1,969m.

view of the Black Sea Region

Turkey has 7,200km of coastline fronting 4 seas – the Black Sea in the north, the Marmara in the north west, the Aegean on the west and the Med in the south.  Along the coast are 436 blue flag beaches (including Oludeniz lagoon beach).  For comparison, Greece has 395 and Mexico just 20 (The Blue Flag is the certificate of the Foundation for Environmental Education showing that a beach meets its stringent standards).

As you would expect in an area this size, there are several different climatic zones and extremes of temperature range from -40 to 50+ °C (-40 to 122°F).  Fethiye and the surrounding area enjoy over 3000 sunshine hours a year, while parts of the north east have snow for four months of the year.

picking hazelnuts

This variation is partly responsible for an amazing diversity of plant-life – 9,300 species (compared to 11,500 in the whole of Europe).  Turkey is the world’s largest producer of hazelnuts (check the packet you buy at the supermarket – it will say ‘produce of Turkey’), cherries, figs, apricots and pomegranates and amongst the top ten producers of olives, sugar beet, tea, wheat and cotton.  It has been self-sufficient in food production since the 1980s.

There are almost 500 species of bird in Turkey, including 40 raptors.  Its location on the migratory route between Europe and Africa makes it possible to see many other species at certain times of year.

So, if you are a bird watcher or a botanist, Turkey is obviously a great place!  But here are some of the many activities you can enjoy here....

Walking, trekking, mountaineering (trekking routes include the Lycian Way which starts in  Fethiye)

the Lycian way

Skiing and snowboarding – there are about ten ski resorts

Diving, sailing, watersports (Fethiye is a great place for all of these and Calis has hosted the Turkish kite surfing championships in the past)

kite surfers in Calis

White-water rafting, canoeing, sea kayaking

rafting on the Dalaman River

Cycling, horse riding, paragliding, quad biking ....

.....and if you don't fancy any of these, just lie on one of the Blue Flag beaches and admire the view.

More amazing facts about Turkey (part 3)

Here is a random list of completely historical characters/events took place in Turkey.  See how many you knew!......

Mount Ararat where Noah’s arc is said to have landed as the floods subsided is in Turkey.  The story of the flood and Noah being commanded to build a ship also feature in the Quran.  There is a pudding in Turkey called Asure – a surprisingly tasty sweet mix of grains, beans, fruit and nuts – that is said to have been created from the provisions left on the arc!

Troy, site of the Trojan Wars and the famous wooden horse of Greek mythology, is in north west Turkey, near the Dardanelles Straits. Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.

remains of the city of Troy

And another war story...those famous words ‘I came, I saw, I conquered!’ were said by Julius Caesar after his victory at Pontus, a kingdom in the Black Sea region.

Julius Caesar at the Battle of Zela

King Midas – he of the golden touch - was King of Phrygia in central Turkey over 3000 years ago. Legend has it that a grateful god granted him a wish and he wished that everything he touched would turn to gold, which obviously seemed like a good idea until he got hungry and found that even the food he tried to eat turned to gold.  The myth is a warning against greed!

On the subject of stories with a message, did you know that Aesop – he of the fables – was born on the Black Sea coast of what is now Turkey?  He was a slave who was later freed and though he probably didn’t write most – if any – of the stories today collected as ‘Aesop’s fables’ – he was a great story teller.  Unfortunately his stories don’t seem to have impressed the people of Delphi , who accused him of theft and threw him off a cliff!

Homer – writer of the epic poems ‘The Iliad’ (recounting the Trojan War) and ‘The Odyssey’, central to Greek literature– is associated with an area on the Aegean coast, though there is actually much debate about whether the poems were written by one person or a group of people.

By contrast, Herodotus is a well-documented figure who is known as the Father of History because his investigations of the past were more thorough than any before.  Living in Halicarnassos (modern-day Bodrum) in the fifth century BC, he wrote about ancient Egypt and Persia.

Ephesus - it is said Cleopatra and Antony walked along here while on their honeymoon

And finally, though there are many other stories that could be told about Turkey, Antony met and fell in love with Cleopatra in the city of Tarsus, on the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, after which they travelled to Ephesus.  Four years later they were married in Antioch.

Amazing Turkey - part 2 (and down with complaining!)

I was sad but not surprised to read last week that people are being encouraged to lie about being ill while on holiday.  Apparently a British tour operator, suspicious of the rise in claims for holiday sickness, sent investigators who posed as a family on holiday.  They were approached by a representative of a company that specialises in holiday compensation claims who suggested that photographs of a packet of Immodium were all it would take to get them a big pay-out. 

While I have sympathy for anybody who is ill on holiday, this culture of compensation for every little problem has gone crazy.  Most holiday illnesses, in my experience, are caused by change in diet or too much sun (and sangria!) rather than ‘food poisoning’ and are nobody’s fault. The fact that there are companies that exist purely to handle these complaints is revealing.

The other thing that people may not realise when they make a complaint is that they are not only hitting a large tour operator; those companies contact the hotel who then has to prove that the complaint is unfounded – or forfeit payment for the guest.  At Poppy, we haven’t had people complaining of illness but we have had guests requesting compensation.  Amongst the ‘horrors’ they mentioned were leaves on the balcony (it was Autumn), lime scale in the kettle (I do actually de-scale them but it only takes a few boils for it to be white again) and the neighbour’s dog barking.  Thankfully, none of these claims were successful!

So, let’s talk about nicer things.  Here are some more things that are amazing about Turkey.  They may not appeal to you personally but this type of site has created a whole branch of tourism – religious holidays – which Turkey is still behind in.  I have read that 60% of the places mentioned in the bible are located in Turkey, which sounds a little hard to prove to me BUT the following are certainly available for visiting...

St Peter’s Church near Antakya (south east Turkey), hollowed out of a cave on the spot where St Peter preached the Gospel;, said to be the first church of Christianity.

The Church of St Nicholas in Demre (100km along the coast from Fethiye), the burial place of St Nicholas who was Bishop here (then named Myra).  This is already popular with Orthodox Christians for whom he has special significance and it is on the list to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The House of the Virgin Mary (near Ephesus) where it is said she lived her last years after coming here with the Apostle John.  The Roman Catholic Church has never verified the authenticity of the house but it has never denied it either and since 1896 there have been many papal visits (the last in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI).

Saint Paul, one of the most important figures in early Christianity, was born in Tarsus (southern Turkey) and his journeys to spread the word took him to many places in Turkey, some of which still have churches dedicated to him.  He was so successful, and Christianity took such a strong hold in Anatolia that the Emperor Constantine founded the capital of his new Christian Empire here – at Constantinople.  Istanbul still offers many religious sites – including the incredible Aya Sofia (Hagia Sophia) which was the largest cathedral in the world for almost a thousand years from its completion in 537AD.  How amazing is that?!