Stark, ochre mountainsides slice at a sky the colour of lapis lazuli. The afternoon sun is slanting away behind the great snow-streaked peak of Mount Ararat, and a cold breeze is blowing from the east, carrying with it the scent of Central Asia.
I am on the battlements of the ruined Ishak Pasha Palace, perched on a craggy outcrop above the remote town of Dogubayazit. The wild world of Eastern Anatolia stretches out before me. The borders of Iran, Iraq and Armenia are all within striking distance, and Istanbul is a very long way away.
The towns of Western Turkey – and especially the great multi-layered metropolis of Istanbul – are as cosmopolitan as they are historic, and as tapped into the zeitgeist as they are in tune with their past. But 600 kilometres to the east is another Turkey, a rugged border region teetering on the multiple brinks of the Middle East, the Persian world, and Central Asia. It is a place of blue lakes and cold winters.
Find the rest of this article on "Turkey's Wild East" and other images in Palladium Magazine N.8.
