Here are some pictures taken in and around the area of İncirlik AB, Turkey. The dates range from 1981-82 when I was stationed there, to 1987 when we returned for a week's leave.
Left, Mountains near the base. When I arrived in June, it was so humid you couldn't see the mountains for months.
Right, Maggie with "Big John", owner of one of the more popular copper and brass establishments in the "alley".
More copper and brass. Can you ever get enough?
Left, The base hospital. Pic #2, The BP station Restaurant, a popular eating establishment off base.
Pic #3, Just a little something to make you appreciate American plumbing.
Pic #4Turkish modern version of image B38. Note the dispenser for liquid toilet paper.
Pics #1 and #2, More brass. Pic #3: A rather blurry picture as we were in the move,
but the main thing here is the "seven day shitters" as the baggy pants were often called.
Left, Shoe shine boys trying to work up a little business.
Pic #2, A cute little donkey on his day off.
Pic #3 & #4, İncirlik village street scenes.
Pic #5, Base housing on base, circa 1981. Later replaced with modern housing.
Pic #6, Note the sheet metal outhouse. Must be like an oven in there in the summer time.
Left, A local lady and kids.
Pic #2, Turkish businesses outside the base would frequently use American type names for their establishments. K-Mart actually sued this guy and made him change the name. I guess they were taking away too much business.
Pic #3, A mosque in İncirlik village.
Pic #4, Inside an onyx shop in İncirlik village.
Left 2 pics, Window displays of some of the local pipe shops. Right 2 pics, Scenes in "ripoff alley"
Left, Me standing next to a tinned pitcher. Pic #2, Shepard's lamps outside a store.
Pic #3, Tapestries inside one of the local shops.
Pic #4, A local copper merchant and his wares. Bring him a name and emblem and he would make a brass plate for you.
Following are photos taken in the city of Adana, about ten miles west of İncirlik AB.
Left, A couple of guys doing smithy work in Adana's back streets.
Pics 2 & 3, A couple of young lads selling some kind of pastry.
An old Roman bridge on the main road into town from the east.
Note the boy with the tray of pastry balanced on his head.
Street vendors selling Chai and other drinks to passers by. In Pic #3, notice the lady with a head that looks like a cabbage.
Pic 1, A man working at engraving a copper plate.
Pics 2 & 3, Buying ekmek (bread) from a bakery window and looking into the inside of the back room of another bakery.
Pic 4, There were many horse carts in and around Adana.
The horses weren't much bigger than a Great Dane dog,
and the drivers frequently drove while standing.
Old Adana: this was the old part of town. Lots of merchants selling copper and brass.
We enjoyed going to this part of town very much.
Left, Maggie in front of the oldest mosque in Adana.
Pics 3 & 4, A Roman bridge and the river on the east side of Adana.
Various mosques in Adana. 3 and 4 show the foot wash area just outside the mosque.
Left, I was told this man's attire identified him as a Kurd. Don't know for sure. I had just gotten there and was taking the picture from a store's upstairs window across the street.
Remaining pics, the newer part of Adana. Lots of modern apartment buildings.
Left, A rag lady. I assume those were rags in that huge bag she was carrying.
We used to see many older ladies doing the heavy lifting like that.
Pic #2, In almost every store we visited, we were offered çay (tea) if we looked like serious customers. Someone would appear from who knows where, with a tray full of little çay glasses. This is a boy who would go from whereever they make the çay to the various stores on behalf of the proprietors.
Pics #3 & #4 Show some rather ornate (in some cases) shoe shine boxes.
Pic #5, In Turkey, one of the base metals for cooking utensils etc is copper.
You can't cook in copper, because it is poisonous. Occasionally the copper
must be re-coated with tin and this is the guy who does it.
Pics #6 & #7, Women in local dress.
From visitmersin.com: "Cleopatra's Gate is thought to date from the fourth century A.D. It exhibits all the characteristics of Roman arcitecture. The horse-shoe-shaped arch rises 6.17 metres, while the whole structure is 8.53 metres high and 6.48 metres deep. It was in Tarsus that Antony met Cleopatra, in the year 41 B.C. Cleopatra arrived with her fleet and entered Tarsus through the sea gate of the time, which was to be demolished in later years. After Cleopatra's time, the present gate of stone was to be built in its present location."
