Turkey - A blend of East and West
Very recently, I got an opportunity to visit Turkey and inspect couple of Hydro Power Projects. It was a very short visit with tight schedule but I managed to visit several places and meet several people. So I thought of sharing the experience with you.
Turkey is located in between Europe and Middle East, bordering Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It has shores of Mediterranean Sea, Black sea, Aegean sea, Marmara Sea and Black sea. Woooo, I think I am finish with explaining the borders of Turkey and Turley is really lucky to have lot of neighbors and lot of seas.
If you carefully observe the world map, you will see Turley has a land strip (near Istanbul) which is the only land which connect the East and the West. Otherwise one from Europe should travel long way through Russia and Kazakhstan to come to India or China. This was the main advantage of Turkey and it was like a trading hub between East and West.
99% of the 72 million of Turkey population is Muslims and most of them are Sunni Muslims. I came to know there is a another variation of Islam which is known as "Alevi" who believes in all human being are equal, equality of men and woman, tolerate other religions. Further, in Turkey I observed that there are less restrictions on dress code of women.
Turkish people like their local food and Kebab and Turkish Pizza are unique cuisine for them. Tea is a popular drink in Turkey and they have unique tea cup which has a shape of hour glass. "Dondurga" is the name for Turkish ice cream and Turks Claim their ice cream is the world best. There are lot of sweets which are very unique to Turkey. Fasting for Ramadan is done as high priority even though it is not a law as in some other Muslim countries. I also tried to fast one day but it is really a hard task but I think if we try to do it gradually, it can be done. Everything is extremely cheap comparing with Europe and I think it is little bit expensive than in Sri Lanka.
Fiat is a popular brand in Turkey and I saw lot of Fiat cars on the roads. They have good infrastructure such as roads, airports ect. However when we are in Istanbul we face a dead lock traffic in a junction with very narrow roads but drives and local people managed to solve that is 5 minutes. In another instance, I saw a fight of two people in Gaziantep but in a matter of minutes Police appeared in that location.
Most of the people I met called me “brother” and I think it is the way they show their friendship and affection. However, one book salesman in Istanbul call me “brother” and tried to sell a book about Istanbul for 37 Turkish Lira (1 Turkish Lira = 75 Sri Lankan rupees). When I refused to buy that he gradually reduced the price to 7 TL and finally I agreed to buy the book because I am also interested to learn about Istanbul. I never expect this somewhere closer to Europe but felt like I am in Sri Lanka after bargaining with that person.
It was scorching when we are there and thermometers hit 40 centigrades. I was traveling with one of my colleague who is in his 50's and was very reluctant to go outside in that weather. However, I manage to convince him and visit Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul which is known as The Blue Mosque in Turkey (I don't know why they call that blue because I didn't see any thing blue on that. May be the color of the Marmara Sea in the background ) and Castle and Musiam in Gaziantep.
If you are planing to travel abroad, I would recommend Turkey because there are lot of historical places to visit. There are nice terrains in rural areas and the people are very friendly even though most of them can't speak English (Specially in suburbs). Most of them are very enthusiastic to get along with foreigners and good in sign language. Expenses are affordable. I think Turkey is a very unique country and you will have a unique experience.
It seems you had a very nice experience in Turkey. Interestingly, Turkey is nick named as the "sick man of Europe" to describe its economic difficulty and poverty. Being a vital trading hub between West and East, how Turkey became a so poor nation to have such a nickname? It may be because of the similar reasons as for "Pearl of Indian Ocean" which is also located in a vital trading hub between West and far-East!
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ReplyDeleteThanks Gihan. Learnt alot about Turkey through your blog. The only knowledge I had before was that Turkey has a strong soccer culture, it's a muslim nation and that they have good food. Now I know alot more. Seems like you had fun.
ReplyDeleteNice argument Buddhika ! However, it was a trading hub when there is no airways and one has to write his death-will before he sails in a ship. Those days Istanbul was known as Constantinople and it was the capital of Roman and Ottoman Empires. At that time Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. "The Sick man of Europe" is the perspective of the present European Union about the Turkey because Turkey is not up to the standards set by Europe. As a Sri Lankan I don't see that kind of sickness in Turkey.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Dushy, Turks love football and Fenerbahçe which was founded in 1907 is a prominent soccer club in Turkey and I came to know that Roberto Carlos was played to that club in 2007 and 2008. Turkish people wear small hand-bands to show their support to their favorite team.