"A long history of conformity and conversion
Alkan CHAGLAR
alkan@toplumpostasi.net
The Pontus region has always been isolated from the rest of Anatolia by its high inaccessible slopes, deep chasms, endless tributaries and dangerously narrow mud tracks that swirl around thick forests amid impenetrable alpine mist. It may appear on a map to be apart of Anatolia, but do not be deceived, on the ground level, due to the poor roads, the region was virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Visitors to Pontus nearly always arrived by boat as the mountain range was superlative in its dimensions and its high passes difficult to negotiate.
Pontus can be described as an island, on the one side lies the Black Sea, which provides sustenance and a livelihood for its inhabitants, while behind stand imposing mountains reaching to the heavens that are interspersed with treacherous rain, crackling thunder and occasional snow. Turbulent like its climate, Pontus’ extraordinary social history is one of religious conversions, from Christianity to Islam, back to Christianity and then for some back to Islam again."
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