DISPATCHES FROM TURKEY: KARS, KARS, KARS
Khatchig Mouradian

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Mar 22nd, 2010

KARS, Turkey-I arrived in Kars this afternoon and checked in to my
hotel room. This was my fourth day in Turkey and I had already seen
and heard a lifetime’s worth of outrageous things (and, to be fair,
I also had many great moments). But nothing had shaken me-yet.

I looked at Kars through my hotel window. The entire city was looking
back at me. A bare tree nearby with several crows perched on it caught
my attention.

And there and then, I broke down in tears. A bare tree and a few
crows had done what no one and nothing else had been able to do over
the past few days.

My first stop after leaving the hotel was the 10th-century Armenian
Church, Sourp Arakelots (St. Apostles Church) in the Kale Ici
neighborhood. The church was turned into a mosque, now called the
Kumbet Mosque.

I removed my shoes at the entrance (as required when entering mosques)
and went in. A local was praying. After an initial hesitation,
I silently said my Hayr Mer (the Lord’s Prayer).

It felt like I had never prayed before.