During the 10th century A.D. Kars was the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Bagratides, a people originally from Armenia. During the 11th century Kars was destroyed by the Seldjuks, during the 13th century by the Mongolians, and later was conquered and destroyed by Tamerlan.

We, that are 20 members of the HÜR-TÜRK-Verein Alanya (Free Turkish-German Friendship Association) and another 4 guests, had the common wish to travel to Van Lake.

Erzurum is the biggest city in Eastern Anatolia and is the capital of the province of the same name. With about 800.000 inhabitants, it is also one of the ten biggest cities in Turkey.

Bitlis is a city and at the same time the name of a province in the South-east of Turkey, bordering the province of Ağrı in the North, Muş in the West, Siirt in the South and Lake Van and the province of Van in the East.

Malatya (in Hethitian Melid) is the capital of the province of the same name in Anatolia, a really mountainous area. In 2000, it was estimated to have a population of 381.081.

Van, located on the south eastern shores of Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey, was known as Tuşpa and was the capital city of the ancient Urartian State (1000 B.C.). Van