This Turkish card shows the cover image for the book Son Ülke (“The Last Country”).  It’s also a detail of the painting “The Tempest” by Giorgione, painted around 1508.  (According to the card, the title of the painting in Turkish is Fırtına, which is the Turkish word for “storm”; not a lot of synonyms in the Turkish language.)

Yasemin sent me this card from Ankara, writing (in Turkish): “This is my first time writing to someone who knows Turkish, I am excited.  I hope you like my card.”  I do like it, very much.

I also like the stamp, which shows Iğdır, a city in eastern Turkey.  On the right of the stamp, you can see the Ermeni Soykırım Anıtı (Armenian Genocide Monument), which is a memorial to non-combatant Turks killed by Armenians during World War I.  Off in the distance is Mount Ararat, alleged by some to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark.

Anıtkabir (in Turkish it literally means “memorial tomb”) is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. Atatürk is still venerated there, much in the same way that George Washington was idolized during the first hundred years in the United States, almost as a god among men. I have stood on these steps.

The very cool thing about this card is that it came inside a package from Leslie, whom I met on Postcrossing, and her husband Hilmi.  I had casually mentioned that I had brought back from Turkey a Beşiktaş football club flag, but that I had lost it during Hurricane Andrew.  Hilmi, who is himself a fan of Beşiktaş, made it his personal mission to find me a replacement flag.

Although they did not find a new Beşiktaş flag, they came through with some Turkish swag for me that was even better!

Two of the neighbor boys were present when the mailman delivered the package and, being originally from Mexico and rabid soccer fans themselves, they were very impressed by the contents.  In addition to the Turkish flag (which will go in the parlor) and a very nifty week-by-week calendar from the Turkish General Staff (whom I would run into from time to time, back in the day), there is an excellent Beşiktaş scarf, which will find a home on the wall in my office.

Leslie writes: “Sürpriz! Umarim bu küçuk paket seni mutlu edecek (I hope this little package makes you happy).”  Bu beni çok mutlu yaptı. Size çok teşekkür ederim!

This is one of a set of postcard scenes of Anatolia that I picked up in Turkey, around 1990. It shows a night scene of the castle on Güvercin Adası (goo-vair’-jin ah’-da-suh, “Dove Island”), which is really a peninsula off the Aegean resort town of Kuşadası (koosh-ah’-da-suh, “Bird Island”), Turkey.

This card depicts what is presumed to be the final home of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Efes (Ephesus), where Catholic tradition holds that she died.

I sent this card to my Aunt Brenda, who at that time was the keeper of the collection, in an envelope along with several other postcards. I was in Turkey courtesy of Uncle Sam, and was still in awe over the favorable exchange rates.

The notation in the lower left — “her hakki mahfuzdur” — translates roughly as “every genuine(ness) looked after”, presumably the same sentiment as “all rights reserved”. The Turkish language is not for the squeamish. (Also of note: the word is correctly spelled “hakiki”, but the publisher has spelled it as it is actually pronounced.)

Efes is also the name of a pretty good Turkish beer, which sponsors a fairly mediocre basketball team, which has some really hot cheerleaders.

(Now how did I digress from the Virgin Mary to hot cheerleaders?)