Moldova (Part 3): Gagauzia - Land of "Christian Turks," Lenin Statues, and Wine

12-14. March 2022. Moldova. Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATUG). ATUG's autonomy is ethnically motivated by the predominance in the region of the Gagauz people, who are primarily Orthodox Turkic-speaking people. This 3-day visit to Gagauzia (Gagauz: Gagauziya) took us through its capital city Comrat (Komrat), Ceadir-Lunga (Çadır-Lunga), and Vulcănești (Valkaneş), the southern exclave of ATUG that borders Odessa, Ukraine. We had time to visit 4 Lenin statues, Soviet WWII monuments, and two wineries (Vinuri de Comrat & Kara Gani), getting by with a mix of Turkish, Romanian, and German.

Moldova (Part 1): Not Chișinău -    • Moldova (Part 1): Not Chișinău  
Moldova (Part 2): Soviet Chișinău -    • Moldova (Part 2): Soviet Chișinău  
Moldova (Part 3): Gagauzia - Land of "Christian Turks" -    • Moldova (Part 3): Gagauzia - Land of ...  
Moldova (Part 4): The Western Soviet Mosaic Trail -    • Moldova (Part 4): The Western Soviet ...