I will remain a passive user of this site. I will not post anymore. I am also resigning as a mod.

I am leaving this site.

There are no safety issues as far as I know. It is a bit tiring to climb the hills where the first Christians lived. There is an ancient cave church on top of a hill with an excellent view of the city. Antakya is always very windy and this offsets the unbearable heat of the summer.
The biggest advantage is that you can swim even in early May.

We flew to Adana from Istanbul, we had arranged the rental of a car before leaving and the guy was waiting for us at the airport with the keys. We went everywhere during a one week period. Especially Daphne is a must see. It is very green, very pleasant. It has been considered a major enjoyment area since antiquity. There is also a story about Daphne being chased by Zeus here and converted into a tree at her request. So much full of history, helpful people, different religions existing together in peaceful terms.

You could alternatively fly to Gaziantep and see Zeugma Museum first which is a must see as well. It is one of the most extensive mosaic museums in the world. There is a bronze statue of Mars in the middle holding a spear in his hand. It is excellent. In any case, you will need a car for sightseeing. I don't know if you drive or not...

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I came back from Antakya (Antioch) with a big belly. Surely, not the right place for dieting people.

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OK. But the problem is you can only get them mixed with candies or chocolate.

There is so much disinformation about Turco-Armenian relations we don't know what happened really. I hope the crimes attributed to the Ottomans were never committed. As common people, we don't know anything beyond that. As common people again, we do not support ethnic hatred, ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination. If claims about this are proven, or even if there is the possibility of fewer people getting killed at the hands of our soldiers and locals, we should officially apoligize and take reparatory action. If claims about Armenians slaughtering Turks during those incidents are proven the same applies to them as well.

As for ASALA, as a terrorist organization whose ultimate purpose was taking revenge, they murdered innocent people who could not protect themselves. What that proved is a question mark. You cannot cure hatred with murder. As civilized people, we should try to prevent further catastrophies and guilts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-NRriHlLUk