The Van Model

If you ask the people of Van, there are two cities. One of them is “Old Van” living alone with memories of its past at the foot of the castle walls, now visited mainly by researchers and tourists. The other is “New Van”, which is growing with every passing day and making efforts, albeit belated ones, to become modern.

Van has created its own model to soften the inevitable conflict between old and new. It has made enterprises that were more or less idle, such as Van-Et, Van-Süt and Van-Yün into profitable concerns that can help to solve the problems created by population growth. On the other hand, policies are being created that will commercialise local raw material resources (7). Thus, the objectives being pursued are creation of employment opportunities and raising the level of income.

When this policy, known as the Van Model, began to bear fruit the local population realised that it was necessary to take an interest and become involved in the process. When the private sector as well gave its support to work being carried on by government organs the city became a “mixed economy” laboratory. Businessmen from the big cities can now been seen in hotels which formerly accommodated only tourists.

Priority was given to industries related to meat and meat products because livestock breeding is the region’s most important source of income. Concerns such as Van Entegre Et Sanayi A.Ş. illustrate this point most vividly.

Van-Et is one of Turkey’s biggest meat factories; it has been functioning since 1986.

In fact efforts to set up this factory date back to 1977. However, efforts by the Turkish Industrial Development Bank with the participation of the local population to set up a factory could not be realised until 1981 due to the low income level of the area in general, which created financing problems. This factory, which opened in 1986, came close to closing down in 1992 because of lack of working capital.

Ever since 1992 the Special Provincial Administration (which is a government organ) has possessed 40.48% of the Van-Et shares. Use is made not only of the meat obtained from animals slaughtered at the plant, where advanced technology is used, but of everything else as well, right down to the hooves.

Together with Van-Et, two other factories have been set up as well. One of them is Van-Bes Besicilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş, which produces animal feed and the other is Van-Süt Tarımsal Yatırımlar İmalat ve İhracat A.Ş, which concentrates on dairy products. These enterprises were set up to encourage animal husbandry and dairying in the region. Van-Yün İpliği Sanayi Ticaret A.Ş, which produces knitting wools and yarn and symbolises the development of the region, has a similar tale to tell.

Livestock breeding is not limited to cattle and sheep in Van. Beekeeping also occupies an important place. Until 1993 production methods were traditional, this limited marketing opportunities. However, when full use is made of the region’s rich vegetation Van honey will have a great deal of export potential as well as being sold in the domestic market.

It was this necessity that led to the launching of the 5-year “Beekeeping Project” in 1993. Six thousand beehives were distributed to the villagers in the rural districts of Çatak, Gevaş, Bahçesaray, Erciş and Gürpınar, where beekeeping is a major source of income and fıve units was formed for each district. Results were obtained in a short space of time and in 1994 forty tonnes of honey were exported to Germany (8). Thus, the income of the villagers was increased and at the same time, employment opportunities created in the places where they live. Under the terms of the scheme a further 14,000 hives will be distributed and the income from one year will be used to meet the expenditures of the following year-in other words, it is self financing.

Another major source of income for the city is border trade, which started in 1987. In ancient times Van was a place where Assyrian and Persian traders called and now it lies on the route taken by people trading with the countries of Asia heading for the border post at Kapıköy. Between 1990 and 1994 alone border exports accounted for 28.5 million dollars and border imports, for 4 million dollars.

In spite of all these developments what the people of Van really want is tourism. They want to share the historical and cultural wealth that archaeologists have spent decades unearthing with the rest of the world. They also want people in other parts of the world to see their traditional carpets and silver jewellery.The silver and gold jewellery that adorned the necks and wrists of Urartian, Seljuk and Ottoman women for centuries live on in contemporary versions.

Today Van’s small and medium scale chemical, cement, ceramics and textile industries have given it the potential for rapid economic development. The opening of Van University has also partially solved the problem of providing a qualified workforce for the region.

The women of Van, who at one time hesitated even to walk in the streets alone have now become decision-makers in government offices and, in rare instances, in private companies as well. Families want their daughters to be educated. Back in 1935 only 1.30% of the women in the Van province could read and write. This percentage had risen to 38.4% at the beginning of the 1990’s. (9). Unfortunately this development stops at primary school level, for the number of high school and university graduates among the women can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is partially accounted for by intensive migration to the big cities in recent years.

The younger generation view the world differently from their parents and grandparents. Very few of the young people who attend universities in the big cities return to Van to take an interest in their city and become involved in the creation of a new life there.

Van, too, is changing rapidly. The two storied clapboard houses are rapidly giving way to blocks of flats, the coffee houses of old are being replaced by modern cafes. The place of the sherbet and cold cucumber soup sellers has been taken by vendors of lahmacun and kebabs. The summerhouse gardens full of apple, pear and cherry trees and the poplars on either side of the ancient irrigation canals are no more…

However, the people of Van are anxious to protect their traditions. It must be because of their belief that cheese eaten after a meal facilitates digestion that Van is the province with the highest cheese consumption in Turkey… And you have to wait quite a long time to be served should you decide to have butter, herb cheese, cold cucumber soup and honey for breakfast in a cafe.

The famous Van cat, of which there was sure to be one in every household at one time is rapidly disappearing. However, the people of Van have joined forces to protect it from thieves and from people who don’t know how to take care of it. The Van cat has been declared a protected species.

Many changes have taken place since Van was Tushpa, the capital of the Urartian Kingdom. The only thing that has not changed is the warm friendliness of its people and the castle built by the Urartian king Sardur I, for they both proudly defend their ancient history.