A Radio Tour in Modern Turkey
In
our program today, we begin a radio tour around the entire country of
Turkey. This very ancient country,
Turkey, is at the same time, a vibrant and very modern country. It is the only country in the world that
straddles into two continents, Asia and Europe; and it is a country full of
interest as well as majestic beauty for the intrepid traveller. This country of photogenic landscapes and
colorful seascapes together with high snow covered mountains, wide verdant
plains but no rugged barren deserts, is 1,000 miles long and 500 miles.
As we begin this circular journey
around Turkey, we discover that there were seven lower powered shortwave
stations on the air from regional locations during a 30 year period in the
1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s. We
discover also that these days there are now six high powered mediumwave
stations on the air in Turkey. Just two
locations have hosted both an earlier low powered shortwave station, and a
subsequent high powered mediumwave station, and these are the cities of
Diyarbakir and Izmir.
As an overview before we begin our
circular radio tour around Turkey, we note that the first radio transmitter was
installed in Istanbul in 1927, a 7 kW longwave station on 166 kHz under the
callsign TAC. The first shortwave
transmitters, two RCA units at 20 kW each under the callsigns TAP & TAQ,
were installed in Ankara in 1938; and the first mediumwave transmitter TAW with
150 kW on 704 kHz was installed in Istanbul in 1950.
We begin our radio tour in the city
of Ankara, the national capital of Turkey with its five million population, which
is located almost in the center of the country.
The city was named for its Angora Rabbits, Angora Cats, and Angora
Goats, each of which provides a very fine white wool which is woven into
colorful and expensive fabrics. One of
the main ancient languages in Turkey was Galatian, a historic forerunner to the
subsequent Celtic languages, such as Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Scottish
and Irish.
A little over 2,000 years ago, Roman
armies overran the territories of Turkey, and soon afterwards, Christianity was
introduced. Islam came to Ankara 1,000
years ago; and in 1923, this city became the capital for the newly established
Republic of Turkey.
The first major radio station
installed in suburban Ankara was located at Etimesgut, a little north of the
outer airport. In 1928, two RCA
shortwave transmitters at 20 kW, TAP & TAQ, were inaugurated at this new
radio transmitter base for national and international coverage.
The only mediumwave station for the
capital city area was installed in more recent times, a 2 kW facility on 1063
kHz. In 1970 the shortwave broadcasting
services at Etimesgut came to an end; and around 1990, their high powered
longwave station on 198 kHz was also closed.
This entire radio facility was then taken over for use as a military
airport communication station.
Let’s travel now to the top northwest corner of the country
with its huge bustling city, Istanbul, which is listed as the largest city in
Europe with its 14 million inhabitants.
Istanbul, or Constantinople or Byzantium as it has been known over the
centuries, was the crossover point between Asia and Europe for trade along what
was known as the Silk Road.
The first radio station in Istanbul
was the aforementioned TAC with 7 kW on longwave 166 kHz. A high powered mediumwave station was
installed in 1949, station TAW with 150 kW on 701 kHz. These days this station is operating with 600
kW on the adjusted 9 kHz spacing channel 702 kHz.
We move now to the Black Sea north
coast of Turkey, to the city of Trabzon on the coast towards the eastern
area. The ancient Silk Road running
across Asia from China to Europe also traversed through Trabzon, and
interestingly, the famous Italian traveller Marco Polo came to this city on his
homeward bound journey, where he took a boat ride for the final leg of his
quarter century travels from China back to Italy.
Currently, there is a high powered
mediumwave station located at Trabzon, with 300 kW on 954 kHz.
The city of Erzurum, inland and over
towards the eastern mountain ranges, is the highest large city in Turkey with
an altitude of 6,000 feet, a little more than a mile high. This city was featured in international
newspaper reports back in May 1894, when an American cyclist, Frank Lenz,
disappeared mysteriously.
At the time, Frank Lenz was on the
return journey to the United States at the end of a bicycle ride around the
world. Subsequent information would
suggest that he was murdered by local village brigands.
Back half a century ago, there was a
low powered shortwave station located at Erzurum, with 1 kW on 7650 kHz.
Another notable city in the eastern
mountainous areas is the city of Van, on the eastern side of the picturesque
Lake Van. This city, Van, is home to
half a million people, and its claim to fame is twofold; one being the unique
Van Cat. The Van Cat is a small white cat with pink skin and colored
eyes, and it is reputed to be a capable swimmer in Lake Van, a characteristic
that is unusual for most members of the feline animal kingdom.
The other claim to fame for the city
of Van is that it is the staging point for expeditioners planning to climb Mt.
Ararat. The Van airport is the fly-in
destination for Mt. Ararat climbers, and there are several local organizations
that specialize in providing tourist facilities and tour guides.
Many climbers visiting Turkey enjoy
the climb to the top of Mt. Ararat, in the same way that other well known
mountains attract climbers, such as Mt. Everest in Asia and Mt. McKinley in
Alaska. However, many Ararat climbers
are also on a pilgrimage, to visit the mountain where the Ark of the Patriarch
Noah came to rest after the worldwide Great Flood of prehistoric times.
A dozen writers and historians who
chronicled early events on Planet Earth state that in their day, the remains of
Noah’s Ark were still evident on Mt.
Ararat. The Chaldean historian Berosus
wrote in 257 BC that part of the ship that grounded in Armenia still
remained. The Jewish historian Flavius
Josephus referred to Noah’s Ark three times in his writings and he stated that
relics of the Ark were visible in his day, 90 AD. Writing in the year 1633, Adam Olearius
stated that pieces of the Ark were still available on Mt. Ararat, and that they
had become petrified due to age and weather conditions.
A small shortwave transmitter, rated
at just 400 watts, was installed in Van in the early 1960s and it was in use on
6025 kHz for less than half a dozen years.
Their high powered longwave transmitter, with 600 kW on 225 kHz and a
guyed antenna mast 820 feet tall was inaugurated in 1990, though it is no
longer on the air these days.
That’s
as far as we can go today in our circular radio tour in Turkey. Keep listening to Wavescan each week and you
will hear a further episode in this fascinating radio story some time soon.
(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 378)