Muş

Understand

Lynch described an area where more than half the people were Armenians, Christian artisans and craftsmen who ran small businesses. The other 40% or so were ethnic Kurds or Turks, Muslim peasant farmers, busy enough in season but perforce idle at other times. And among the many conflicts that have tormented Anatolia, it is this divide that most resonates with visitors, not least for the official silence that cloaks it. thumb | 300px | Haspet Castle "Turkification" of Anatolia began here, when the Roman eastern empire based in Byzantium / Constantinople was defeated at Manzikert in 1070 AD. Their conquerors the Seljuks created a dynasty that ruled until the 13th century, but never captured Constantinople. That was achieved by the Ottomans in 1453, and they built a sprawling empire. By the late 19th century this was in terminal decline, though propped up by western powers as a bulwark against Russian expansion. Ethnic conflicts broke out in many places: further west this was mostly Turks versus Greeks, but in the east the Armenians bore the brunt. This culminated in the Hamidian massacres of 1894-96, when between 100,000 and 300,00 Armenians were slaughtered.

Western protests stemmed the killings but there was no stronger action against the Ottomans, or reparations. In 1915 Turkey was embroiled in the First World War and believed that the Armenians were seeking a breakaway state with Russian connivance. This was pretext enough for a genocide in which a million Armenian men w…

Get around

Taxis and buses serve the main thoroughfares, but you need your own wheels to explore this rugged province.

Do

thumb | 300px | Battle of Manzikert broke Byzantine power in Anatolia Hamams are traditional Turkish baths. There's one on Karasu Cd near Grand Mosque. Bird-watching: watch for demoiselle cranes (Grus virgo, known locally as "telli turna") and hear their distinctive melodic song in March-April along the Murat River. Climbing and trekking: plenty of mountains. Tulip Festival is held at the end of April.

Buy

Lots of small supermarkets, typically open daily 09:00-22:00. Ceylan AVM is a shopping mall on Atatürk Blv between Dap and Sehir hotels.

Eat

thumb | 300px | Demoiselle cranes live by the river

Local dishes include: hez (slowly cooked cabbage stuffed with meat cubes and rice), çorti (in winter, chopped cabbage), stuffed cabbage with tomato, hafta direği (sour meatballs), cağ brine (mountain plant collected in summer and preserved in jars, like pickles). mırtöge (fried egg in flour and oil), cavbelek (blending dried yoghurt, locally called “kurut”, with flour, bulgur, garlic, and onion), helimaşı soup (tender meat, boiled until it separates from the bones, with chickpeas, lentils and onions), herse (boiled boneless meat with boiled wheat), kırçik (cucumber peel, onion and pepper roasted in oil), served with "işkene" sauce (yoghurt, garlic, and butter), teter halva (bread soaked in molasses and topped with cream and hazelnuts).