I am working for our Syria response team, based in Antakya, Turkey, which is about as close to Syria as you can get without worrying about bombs falling on your head all the time.
Antakya used to be known as Antioch, and it is a fairly important place in the religious history of the Middle East. A lot of people have heard of Antioch, and imagine it is due to its being mentioned in the Bible, although in fact they tend to be thinking of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from the Monty Python film Search for the Holy Grail.
Antakya used to be known as Antioch, and it is a fairly important place in the religious history of the Middle East. A lot of people have heard of Antioch, and imagine it is due to its being mentioned in the Bible, although in fact they tend to be thinking of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from the Monty Python film Search for the Holy Grail.
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| Antakya - old city just behind minaret in the middle
The town is surrounded by the same mountain range as all the towns in northern Iraq, as well as Beirut and Sana'a - presumably this is picked up by big helicopters and put down when I arrive in each new place. Running through town is the River Orontes, which means Rebel in Turkish as the river flows backwards. Disappointingly, it turns out that 'backwards' means 'south to north' and not 'uphill'.
The ancient Church of St Peter is carved into the rock on the edge of town and is surely a fabulous tourist attraction. We walked there on Christmas Day and found it being renovated - whether it will still count as 'ancient' after the renovation is anyone's guess.
Antakya is seen as a key gateway to Syria by jihadist fighters, and when we fly in from Istanbul it is usually in the company of plenty of men with suspicious beards. It is also used as an R&R destination for the fighters, though I doubt they visit the church when they come for their week's holiday. Communications from this part of the world about Syria tend to be monitored, but I doubt a few feeble jokes and badly taken photos every few weeks will cause much alarm. It might be different if I were in Damascus; a couple of months ago a UN worker there was talking over skype with her boyfriend in Norwegian and a voice came on the line and asked them to stick to either English or Arabic.
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