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 ...
Moldova (Part 2): Soviet Chișinău - • Moldova (Part 2): Sovi...
Moldova (Part 3): Gagauzia - Land of "Christian Turks" - • Moldova (Part 3): Gaga...
Moldova (Part 4): The Western Soviet Mosaic Trail - • Moldova (Part 4): The ...