Writer: Yavuz İşçen
May 2009

The British secret agent Gertrude Bell was forgotten but we remembered about her by Gulf War, started with Saddam Hussein’s, the President of Iraq occupying Kuwait in 1991 and after that by the process of occupation of Iraq in 2003 by the coalition states leaded by United States of America. One of the biggest steps of re-configuration of the region under Great Middle East Project of US and Israel was taken by the occupation of Iraq. Together with the occupation, the territories and land integrity of Iraq were started to discuss. In such a situation Gertrude Bell’s coming up is not for nothing because many years ago Gertrude Bell was the one who drawn the territories which are being willed to change now.
After traveling in the east, Gertrude Bell has lived in Ottoman Empire’s territories for almost 30 years. The dates she spent time in today’s Turkish border were March and April of 1905, April, May, June and July of 1907, April, May and June of 1909, April and May of 1911. During her visits, on 1907 and 1909 she was in Cappadocia region and spent time in Aksaray, Kayseri, Niğde and their surroundings. She visited the churches, mosques, madrasahs and ancient ruins and took many photos. In this article you may find Gertrude Bell’s route in Cappadocia and her interesting life story.
 
Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, May 2009 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com