Before visiting a new country, our family and friends will start sharing their thoughts about
that particular place according to what they have read or seen on social media or news
But let's be honest, most of the time those statements aren't accurate at all.
And the only thing they create are false stereotypes. That is why in this new episode
we would love to talk about those common stereotypes about Turkey or Turkish people.
So let's see how many of these stereotypes you have come across with.
Turkey is an Arab country. Turkey is not an Arab country and Arabic is
not the language of Turkey. What Turks and Arabs have in common is that Islam is the predominant
religion. In Turkey, turks speak turkish which is the major member of the Turkic language within the
Altaic language group. During the ottoman empire, they also had another language, this was like the
Ottoman Turkish language and they were using some sort of Arabic script but after the founding of
the Republic of Turkey in 1923, everything changed. Even the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin
alphabet which is the one being used nowadays.
Turkey is unsafe.
When it comes to this topic
I cannot deny that in the past Turkey was pretty hard hit by terrorist attacks
especially in the main cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, and also those other cities that are
close to the border with Syria. But what I can tell you for sure is that, for the past years
these situations have been totally controlled. To be honest, I don't feel unsafe here, I feel
really good, I feel safe and I cannot complain. I can tell you as well that Turkish people are
amazingly kind, they are warm, they will always help you with anything you need especially in
the most local areas. I mean you will find out once you are here in Turkey, you will realize
that the country is not as many times it's been trying to be shown on the media. Like it's unsafe,
it's dangerous, maybe for women, but the reality is totally different. The only advice I can give
you is that come to Turkey and experience the real environment this country has and I am sure
that you will love it and you will agree that Turkey is very safe. Just as in any other country
or city around the world, we recommend you keeping an eye open to your surroundings because we never
know what could happen. Remember that there are bad and good people all over the world,
Doesn't matter if you are in the US, in the UK, in Mexico, in Turkey. Just keep an eye open.
All turkey is conservative. Yes and no. Actually, everything
depends on the region you are in Turkey. What is true about this country is that it's a mixture of
eastern with western, traditional with modern, and also liberal and conservative. All depends
on the region you are visiting in Turkey. Let's imagine that you're visiting Istanbul, Antalya,
Ankara, or any other city in the coastal area from the Aegean and the Mediterranean coast.
Those cities tend to be much more liberal and also modern. On the other hand, if you visit
cities like Urfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin, and mostly the cities in the east part of Turkey,
they tend to be more conservative and traditional. That is why i think Turkey is
a fascinating country because each region will offer you something different, fascinating and
unique and you can also have the opportunity of learning different traditions in one same place.
All women must cover the hair and wear a hijab at all times.
This is totally false. In Turkey women are totally free to wear whatever they want. Also,
they can decide whether they want to cover their hair with a hijab or not.
In fact, when I first arrived to Turkey one more time I proved my point on how misleading sometimes
any sort of media can be. When walking on the streets you will see both types of women,
those ones who cover and those ones who don't. Locals are very respectful to one another and in
my personal experience, I have never encountered a bad situation in Istanbul or Ordu, the first
city where I live and which by the way that's a conservative and more traditional city to live in
and I didn't experience anything bad for not covering my hair in public. Also what
I have seen in Turkish families that I have personally met or also seen outside is that,
let's imagine the mother is covering the hair with a hijab but not the daughters. So, this
is how also families work like. They respect one another. What is true is that every woman visiting
sacred places such as mosques needs to dress up more conservatively and also cover their head with
a hijab. Another tip that I would like to give you and this is something that i personally do
when I visit more conservative neighborhoods in Istanbul or even another city in Turkey.
I dress up a bit more conservative, for example, let's imagine that it is summer
then I wear long dresses or just t-shirts at least to cover my shoulders. That way i won't
make anybody feel uncomfortable and also let's remember that when we are visiting
another country that has a different culture and religion than ours is also very important
to be respectful and behave appropriately.
Turkish men can marry two or more women.
This is another interesting thing that I have heard in many places and a few times a few people
have asked me about it. I will tell you that nowadays marrying two or more women for Turkish
men is impossible. It is totally forbidden by law because after the sultanate was abolished also the
polygamy was prohibited here in the country. So no, Turkish men can only have one wife.
All Turkish men are machos and mistreat women. You have no idea how many times I have read and
heard this statement in many Facebook groups about Turkey. I will tell you something and I will be
very direct with this. Stating something like that I think it's kind of ignorant
and narrow-minded. First of all, because we cannot generalize and put a group of people into the same bag.
As in anywhere else in the world, there are bad and good people.
This is not a problem that you can only see in a certain country or in a religion. Unfortunately,
this is a problem we can experience and see in many countries around the world. Remember that
depending on how that person was educated at home, he will behave towards other people and women.
So please let's not generalize and state that all turkish men are bad because that's not true. Just
for one person or two people that maybe we have met, we won't say that all of them are the same.
Turkey is full of deserts and have camels. Turkey definitely is not all made up of deserts.
I'll put it this way, the country is divided into seven regions: Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara,
Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia. Each one of these regions
is so different from one another and believe it or not, you will even find green mountains.
For example in the Mediterranean, Aegean, in Marmara, we will find stunning coasts and beaches.
When it comes to the Black Sea region, here besides a large coast, we will also find
the greenest mountains ever. Which by the way, this is one of my favorite regions in Turkey.
The only desert that we will be able to find in Turkey is in Karapınar, Konya. Which also
includes Meke Lake which is a crater formed from a volcanic explosion. Here we can find hills
where volcanic sand dunes are peeled up, offering a very soft surface. When it comes to camels,
if you were expecting to come to Turkey and see many camels around roaming free, let me tell you
something. You will get disappointed because the only camels you will be able to see around
are the ones used for photographs in touristic places such as Cappadocia.
Just as an interesting fact, i want to share this information with you. In Turkey there is a special
activity where they use camels and this kind of sport is called camel wrestling. It is said
that the first camel wrestling competition was held in a very small village in Aydın province
about two centuries ago. Today the camel wrestling can be seen mainly in Aydın, also it can be found
in Muğla, Manisa, Denizli and some other cities of the Aegean region. These contests are mainly held
during the winter period especially from December, January, February and March.
Turkish food is only baklava and kebab. I'm pretty sure that as soon as you hear
this phrase, Turkish food, the first things coming to your mind are the baklava and kebab.
It is true that two of the most famous dishes of Turkish cuisine is kebab and baklava but the
reality its gastronomy is totally different because there are so many other dishes and
this Turkish food is so vast that even it's impossible to get to know each one of them in
a few months here in Turkey. Let's remember that Turkey has seven different regions, each one of
them also offers different and unique dishes and most of them are also made with unique ingredients
that can also be found only in that region and each one of them are representing them. As such
the richness of the Turkish kitchen is undeniable.
Every man in turkey is wearing a fes.
First of all, let's define what is Fes. Fes was a men's headwear that varied in shape color
tassels and ways of wearing and were available in different styles. It originated in Morocco and
later on, it became a very popular accessory for men during the ottoman empire in the 19th century.
However during the reforms adopted in 1925 a few years after the founding of the Republic of Turkey
and sultanate was abolished , also the wearing a fes was forbidden. Even penalties were imposed to
those men opposing the new law. That being said, you will never find a man walking on the street
and wearing the fes. The only place you will see them will be in souvenir shops and because
nowadays this is one of the most popular souvenirs in Turkey. Also you will be able to find them when
you are seeing a man selling their ice creams and doing this show, especially
in the touristic areas. They will be wearing a fes and some sort of traditional clothing.
These were some of the most common stereotypes that we have come across
but if you have some others that we couldn't cover
in this video and also you're a turkish person and would like to share your experience,
we would love to read them in comments below. If you enjoyed this video don't forget to like it
and subscribe. That way, also you can receive more content like this one. See you next time. Bye bye.