I choose then to begin with the beginning. I am in Turkey. Istanbul her largest city. On the Asian Side. From here then I would like to dispel all of the most common misunderstandings about this place that I've encountered from people prior to my arrival. This may be one of the least understood countries in the world for Canadians. History of this place is not really taught in schools and regrettably, the most exposure anyone has had of this place was through that movie "Midnight Express". From there people have filled in the blanks with assumptions and guesses to allocate Turkey a place in their mind should mention of it ever come up. Well time to fix just a few things...
1. Turkey is NOT an Arab country: Though there is a shared history through the Ottoman Empire and some cultural and linguistic spill over as a result, Turks are not Arabs. To suggest otherwise to a Turk could result in a heated reprimand. The opposite is also true. Turks are Turks. They speak Turkish.
2. Turkey is a safe country: With the exception of separatist activity in the Kurdish region(more on this issue later), this is by and large a safe place to visit. I would also highly recommend being on high alert as you cross the street in a land where the car always has the right of way and the drivers are basically insane by Canadian standards.
3. Turkey is a secular country: The religion of the majority is Islam. You can hear the Ezan (call to prayer) from Mosques all over town, you can see women covered head to toe just as easily as see one in a mini skirt, people fast during Ramaddan and they don't fast. It's up to them. Most folks go out and visit relatives during Bayram how most Canadians see family at Christmas. The country though is officially secular. Its in the constitution put into place by the modern republics' founder Attaturk. This is definitely not Saudi Arabia. One can order a drink in a restaurant and buy alcohol at the corner store. In this respect Turkey is actually more liberal than many parts of Canada.
4. Turkish people are NOT mean: What can I say?? Turkey certainly has her share of thieves and tricksters and yes maybe you should be a little more careful on where you place your wallet when you head out to Taksim, but Turks are a very warm people. Hospitality is central to how they view themselves and I have to say I feel as though I've been warmly embraced by most of the people I've met here. Turks (at least in the part of Istanbul where I live) do not get too much contact with foreigners, so when the opportunity presents itself, they become very gracious. They seem to seize most chances to speak English and will always try it out if they have any to share.
5. Turkey is fun! : The beaches here are awesome, the food is fantastic and it is easily 1/3 cheaper than Greece.
Turkey is a pretty complicated country. Its nothing like say Finland where everyone is Finnish and thats that. There are a multitude of layers that make up Turkish identity which I'm still trying to understanding. In many ways it is just as modern as any other Western country and in other ways it is well, not Western. Maybe not even modern. What's clear though it is still in its early days. Seems an odd thing to say for a country and a people with thousands of years of history behind them, but modern Turkey has only really existed since the 1920's. The Turkish experience with democracy has been..well...unique, and reconciling with her nieghbours, like Armenia for example, hasn't really been an option until the early 1990's as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. All these things are about to change it.
My hope is to share with you as best I can antidotes about my stay here as well as focus in on some of the quirky differences I've encountered. My next post will be about hygiene. Yes hygiene. Trust me, you'll find it quite compelling.
Thanks for reading!
David
