History Channel filming in Noah’s Ark area
AĞRI
History Channel, a world-famous television network of the United States, is shooting a documentary about the area believed to be home to the remains of Noah’s Ark in Doğubayazıt district of the eastern province of Ağrı.
While working on aerial photographs to create regional maps at the General Command of Mapping in 1959, survey engineer Captain İlhan Durupınar discovered the area near the Telçeker village of Mount Ararat, where the alleged remains of Noah’s Ark came to light.
The region, which hosts thousands of local and foreign tourists every year, also attracts the attention of foreign researchers and documentarians.
The Turkish Film Commission has initiated a study on Noah’s Ark, which has been a mystery for centuries, to draw the attention of the film industry to the region.
The American television channel is now working on the area, which has been the subject of documentary channels in Turkey.
American researcher Andrew Jones, tourism expert Zafer Onay and Professor Faruk Kaya, the vice-rector at Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, make evaluations about Noah’s Ark in the documentary film directed by Sait Yanık. The film’s cinematographer is Abdurrahman İtik and cameraman is Bülent Kaya.
Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Turkish Film Commission President Sait Yardımcı said that Turkey has many values and that their goal is to contribute to the country’s tourism with a documentary.
Stating that Ağrı’s recognition with Noah’s Ark increased a lot, Yardımcı said: “When this project is finished, it will play a significant role in the promotion of Ağrı. We both protect the cultural heritage and contribute to the country’s tourism.”
Stating that foreign scientists are also doing much research in the region, Yardımcı said that the world has started showing interest in the area.
Stating that interviews were conducted with scientists related to the field, Yardımcı said: “History Channel is the best known documentary channel in the world, and I think this documentary will be shown to more than 1 billion people in the world. It will be an important documentary. There were local documentaries made about this place before. As the Turkish Film Commission, we believe that Turkey is a natural film plateau and that more content should be produced because our geography is a unique historical place.”
He also stated that the documentary would be screened in the summer.
On the other hand, Jones noted that they have been conducting research in the region for a long time with Onay.
Stating that people will know more about Noah’s Ark when the documentary is screened, Jones said: “When I first came here a long time ago, I was excited. Later, when I saw the hospitality of the people of Ağrı, I started promoting there so that tourists from America would come here. The Christian world is aware that there is Noah’s Ark in Ararat because it is also mentioned in the Bible. Many people are sure to know about Noah’s Ark, but we will draw more people’s attention with this documentary.”
