Turkey: East Meets West

Van

The city of Van is on the Silk Road in eastern Anatolia. It was hit by an earthquake on Sunday, 23 October 2011. People were killed, and many more were made homeless. I went there a year later, in 2012, to see how well the city was recovering. Scharlie, my wife, came for the first week in Izmir, where we stayed with Bahar, a former PhD student of mine.

With the help of a guide, Harun, I visited Van and Ergiş, which had suffered severe damage, and interviewed local Governors, urban planners, engineers, geologists, business people and residents about what is being done to boost the economy, deal with social problems and plan the future of the region and the city.

I also contacted engineers and planners in Izmir, Ankara, and Istanbul to better understand how Turkey manages recovery.

Kars

On my weekend off, I hired a car and drove north up the Armenian border, past Mount Ararat, as far as Kars, featured in Orhan Pamuk’s book ‘Snow’ and visited Ani, the ruined medieval capital of Armenia.

Published §29 May 2017, 72 pages, ISBN 9781912460038