To the Nash-Didan Villages / Yitzhak Karmeli
Yitzhak Karmeli is a journalist and researcher of Jewish communities. For many years, Yitzhak has visited and documented remote Jewish communities around the world, bringing back remarkable stories. Several years ago, he traveled to the villages of eastern Turkey, in the Van and Başkale area, in the triangle where Turkey, Iran, and Iraq meet, in the heart of Turkish Kurdistan. The journey was documented on a disc titled The Journey to the Mountains of Ararat, in which he searches for the remains of Noah’s Ark, which are traditionally said to have been found in the Mountains of Ararat.
When Yitzhak sent me the discs, I was deeply moved. The Demirel family, like other Nash-Didan families, came from Başkale (Bashkhalan in Lishan Didan), and my father’s grandfather was among the founders of the Jewish community in Van. There is relatively extensive documentation and photography of Urmia, where the largest Nash-Didan community lived, but much less is known about Başkale and Van, as well as Salmas. My family lived in Başkale, and from there my uncle traveled to Urmia to marry; that is where they built a synagogue and more.
I am pleased that Yitzhak agreed to let me publish parts of his journey here, and I thank him. Yitzhak can be invited to give lectures, accompanied by slides, about his travels (tel. 052-7677575).
In the first video, you can see the Muradiye Falls and Lake Van. The lake, covering more than 3,700 square kilometers, stretches for 120 kilometers and its waters are saline. It was once ruled by the Armenians, and on its islands and shores there are magnificent churches and fortresses.
I uploaded a picture of my grandfather’s shop in Van, as well as another picture here. I hope the video may bring back memories of an earlier generation. All the pictures can be viewed in the site’s Photo Gallery.
In the next video, Yitzhak leaves the city of Van and sets out to search for Jewish remains in the village of Başkale. I wrote an article about the village, which contains evidence of its Jewish community in the 19th century. The Jewish community was one of the original Nash-Didan communities (like Urmia and Salmas), and it is a short distance from Urmia (my family used to visit relatives in Urmia).
There are several pictures of Başkale on the site, for example this one. Visit the site’s Photo Gallery, and if you have anything to add, send it to me!
Once again, my heartfelt thanks to Yitzhak Karmeli for the journey, the documentation, and the sharing. In addition to the Mountains of Ararat, Yitzhak has also visited India, Cuba, Egypt, Albania, Uganda, the Basque Country, Tunisia, Croatia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Chelm, Monaco, Jordan, Slovenia, the Azores, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Armenia, Sardinia, Malta, and more… He gives lectures accompanied by slides, and he can be contacted at the telephone number given at the beginning of this article.