I began my last day in Diyarbakir by taking my second and last dose of Dukoral. I waited outside my hotel for about half an hour for my friend who was late. When an acquaintance from a tea house walked by, he invited me to come with him on his banking errands to talk and drink tea. He owns an insurance company, speaks fairly good English and travels a great deal. By the time we got back to my hotel, my friend Murat was just arriving and we headed out to get lunch. I ate an amazing kebab sprinkled with pistachios. Turkey is a culinary dream come true. Oh how Germany seems so impoverished in comparison.

From there we met Mahmoud, a friend of his who was originally Armenian but his family converted to Islam during the Armenian Genocide to escape. Murat is Armenian too, one of three or four in Diyarbakir. After the mandatory few teas, we headed to the university at which an interesting surprise awaited. While walking past various buildings in search of the chemistry faculty, the classrooms suddenly broke out in an uproar with people waving their fists and streaming outside. What were they shouting? ” Abo” which is apparently the nickname of Abdullah Ô“calan, leader of the PKK. From what I understood, the PKK called a boycott of university for the week in protest of the imprisonment of their leader (who incidentally, has been in prison quite awhile). A man who’s head was covered in a black and white checkered scarf, was shouting and waving his fist at the imaginary Turkish state while someone quickly video taped it.

My friend Murat immediately became nervous, taking me by the arm to leave but I insisted and headed for the crowd where I saw some students I’d met the previous night. Murat was worried the police would come and that I would be arrested. Luckily, they didn’t and the protesters moved on to other parts of the university. Quite a day indeed. Keep in mind that the PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and is outlawed.

The rest of the day was spent shuffling between cafes and restaurants. I’ve probably drank my weight in tea today alone. And on a side note, my Kurdish is coming along quite well. I want to type up the list I’ve made so far. Turkish won’t get you very far here. Tomorrow I’m off to Mardin in the morning which is about one hour southeast of here. Then I’ll continue on to Midyat and Hasankeyf before heading to liberated Kurdistan. I met a few more people today who’ve been and all assure me its doable.

Here are today’s pictures:

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