Mehmet Kuşman (born 1940) is a Turkish linguist and a retired guard at

Çavuştepe Sardurihinilli, also known as Haykaberd () or Çavuştepe Kalesi, is an ancient Urartian fortified site located on a ridge on the northeastern edge of the village of Çavuştepe in the Gürpınar district of Van Province in eastern Turkey. It ...

, an ancient

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushp ...

fortified site in eastern Turkey. He is one of only twelve people in the world who can read and write the

Urartian language Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushp ...

Early life

Mehmet Kuşman was born in Van as the child of a farmer family. After finishing primary school, He worked as a farmer with his father until he went to the army. He is married and has eleven children.

Career

After completing his military service, Kuşman started to work as a guard in the

Castle built by the

Urartians Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

between 764 and 735 BC, located along a road near Van leading to Hakkari. Despite being a primary school graduate, he started to learn the Urartian script from the people who came to the region for excavation work and the books they gave. He travelled to many cities of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to learn

and learned the Urartian script in three years. He has been invited to symposiums in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

several times by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. Mehmet Kuşman was invited to the United States by the Governor of the State of California. Although he was offered a 14-year visa in exchange for one year of Urartian education, this offer was rejected by Mehmet Kuşman's family. Mehmet Kuşman retired from

Castle, but continues to be active there at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. As part of his duty, Mehmet Kuşman guides the tourists who come to the castle and translates Urartian inscriptions for them. Urartian Chechen claim

İlber Ortaylı İlber Ortaylı (; born 21 May 1947) is a Turkish historian and professor of history of Crimean Tatar origin at the MEF University, Galatasaray University in Istanbul and at Bilkent University in Ankara. In 2005, he was appointed as the dire ...

claimed in one of his seminars that the Urartians were

Chechens The Chechens ( ; , , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kistin, Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian languages, Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus. ...

. Ortaylı mentioned Mehmet Kușman in a part of the book he wrote and claimed that the Urartians had nothing to do with the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, contrary to what is known. Mehmet Kuşman's learning of the Urartian language led to the emergence of the claim that the Urartian language is related to Chechen.

Documentary

The documentary ''Son Urartu'' (Last Urartian) about Mehmet Kuşman was made by DW Turkish

Awards

“Troy Special Award”

References

External links

* {{cite web , title=Last Learner of Urartian: The Remarkable Story of Mehmet Kuşman , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLXmCjYKUTI , website=YouTube , publisher= GZT News , access-date=28 February 2025 , format=video 1940 births Living people People from Van, Turkey Linguists of Hurro-Urartian languages Linguists from Turkey