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Bangkok Post

World

Self-taught Turkish 'linguist' keeps dead language alive

Kusman runs his finger over a tablet engraved with the ancient Urartu language. afp

CAVUSTEPE, VAN PROVINCE, Turkey - Mehmet Kusman did not spend very long at school, but he traced the ancient inscriptions chiselled into the black basalt rock and read: "Before me there was nothing. But by the power of the god Haldi I founded this city."

Kusman, 86, has dedicated his life to the fortress of Cavustepe in eastern Turkey, and to learning the language of the vanished kingdom of Urartu, to honour its forgotten gods and rulers.

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