Days in Kirklareli 1

Turkey: Days in Kirklareli 1

As there has been the condition of taking classes at Thrace University in Edirne for a while, the fact that there was no seat on the busses from Edirne to Istanbul after Thursday lessons gave the opportunity to discover another new town. According to the driver from Kırklareli, who confidently took his passengers to Kırklareli in one hour in his small-bus, the center of the settlement is in a narrow area and the town is not large in size. However, it seems to be worth spending a few hours in this small town thanks to its famous and delicious foodstuff and the apparent interesting architectural characteristics at the entrance of the town. 

It may look like a bad settlement with bunch of buildings arbitrarily dispersed in the town center without municipal order but it must be remembered that these people were extraordinarily poor under the circumstances of wars and immigration (these notes and images were taken in 2012 and there is likelihood that the town is more orderly now following the construction boom in Turkey).

On the third day spent in the town, this town makes someone, who is specifically interested in and involved with the Balkan culture, think that it is not really a bad place. A different culture compared to the three-month central and southeast Anatolian trips a few months earlier. People are not like the ones in the eastern areas of Turkey. Yes, first, the people are different. Many of them stand out with this difference compared, for example, with the Yoruks living mainly in the Mediterranean coasts or the Lazs of the Black Sea or the Arabic ones around Hatay and Iskenderun or the Kurds to a bit more eastern parts. Majority of the people in Marmara and Aegean regions are the people who once lived in the Balkan countries and they were compelled to immigrate for varied reasons. There are also gypsies who are, as in many parts of Europe, in charge of small businesses and entertainment for sure.

They are friendly people. They are smiling and hospitable people. Many of the townsfolk living around these places stay away from violence, bad-behaviors, crime, and rudeness and they behave respectfully to each other and strangers as if they are the members of a single community. In fact, a person who hears about the level of alcohol consumption that the townsfolk complain about a lot as in everywhere, without visiting these places, feels that he/she would see the bullying Balkan lads who were the subjects of folks songs, the fights between people from all walks of life, intrusions to the wedding halls and other locations, and traffic accidents, etc; but it is necessary to come here and see the dignity of people in order to be convinced the situation is otherwise. Old people said in Turkish, “Mey muhabbete, icki muebbete goturur (Having alcohol creates good conversation but drinking only ends up in prison for a life sentence).” Indeed, many of the townsfolk say that there are numerous people having alcohol a lot but they do this using their mouths only and after a huge bottle of raki, they go back home quite calmly. They all say, "There is never fight here," in a bit unrealistic manner. In the meyhanes (the Turkish restaurants people enjoy mainly raki - Middle Eastern and Eastern European alcoholic beverage made with anis - and foodstuff) that can be considered a bit more in number than an ordinary province in Turkey and that have dispersed in various parts of the town, entertainment is always there until late at night.

Kırklareli-2012- Text and Photographs by A. E. Arslan

 

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