The photo shows the Faculty of Economics and Management Science at Bozok University in the town of Yozgat, about a hundred and sixty miles east of Ankara. The photo was taken from the fifth floor of another building, one housing the Bozok Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The name of the university goes back a thousand years or so to when a large group of Turkic peoples were living far to the northeast of Turkey in an area near the Caspian Sea. These were called the Oghuz Turks and had originally come from even farther east. Gradually they moved down into what is now Turkey. Chromosome research suggests that this group contributes significantly to the genetic make up of the present day population of Turkey, though not a great deal more than do some other ethnic groups in the region. For political reasons, though, since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Turkic forebears have been privileged over other groups. And part of the history of the Oghuz Turks is that traditionally they were divided into two large tribal groups: the Grey Arrow clan and the Three Arrows clan. The word for the former is Bozok.

 

(We need to be a careful with our spelling and pronunciation here, especially the vowels. 'Bozuk' means broken or broken down. Don't want to call them that by mistake. And my dictionary says that 'buzuk' means wrinkled, puckered, or, uh...something else. But I digress.)

 

Yozgat is higher and colder than Ankara; but the day of our visit was bright and though the temperature wasn't much above 40, it seemed like Spring was in the offing if not in the air. The university was formerly a branch of a larger university in the same region, but just this year has begun operating as an independent entity. Both the people we met and the late winter scenery were wonderful. I wish I could have taken many more pictures, both inside and out, but alas it was not appropriate. One thing I can say--and despite the lack of photographic evidence you can trust me on this--there is no headscarf ban in effect in the building we visited. Other universities in Ankara and Istanbul may be waiting for further court rulings, but out in the sticks it's a done deal.

 

Tomorrow we travel in the opposite direction, to the town of Antalya in the southwestern part of the country. This is the Mediterranean coast, think palm trees, bananas, oranges and of course, lots of hotels and resorts. Or so we are told.  All the Turks say it’s lovely. More on this in our next post. Because only one of us has to work--boo hoo! poor thing! and on the days just after her birthday too!--the other one of us should be able to take some pictures this time.