Turkey Kit for dummies

1
yourself
2
Geography

• Turkey lies between Caucasus and Greece where
  Asia and Europe meets
• Cyprus is an Asian Island
• There is no link with Maghreb
• There is no desert in Turkey
• Biggest city in Europe is Istanbul with 12
  millions ppl

3
Weather

• Yes it snows, it rains in Turkey also (4 seasons)
• There are 4 big ski stations (in Top 5 largest
  European centers)
• Mt. Ararat is 5137m (gtMt. Blanc)
• There are 4 seas in Turkey and the largest cost
  is BLACK SEA
• This is where Istanbul enlarges and this gives
  neighborhood with Ukraine, Romania and Russia

4
Turkish cuisine

• There is no MINT TEA in Turkey.(You will not
  find COUSCOUS or TAGINE either) Turkish black
  tea is cultivated in Northern Turkey
• TURKISH COFFEE is mainly used as a digestive in
  Turkey
• Popular drinks are Tea, Efes Beer, Ayran and Raki
• Döner Kebap Sandwich (named Greek Sandwich in
  France) is a fast food recipe created in Europe
  including the weird white sauce
• Kebap (grills) are traditional dishes in Turkey
  with a lot of variety (gt20)
• There is a rich palace cuisine that counts among
  the most complex dishes in the world (fishes,
  quince, milky pastries,..)

5
Yoghurt

• Turks are the first nation who used yoghurt.
• Originally, yoghurt is not served as a dessert,
  but a sauce. It is still used so much in Turkish
  cuisine mostly as a garnish with the meat dishes
• The word Yoghurt comes from word Yogurt in
  Turkish which means Knead
• Turks used yoghurt as medicine as well Yoghurt
  has first entered to Europe as a gift from
  Ottoman Sultan to his ally French King François
  1er for healing his sickness

6
Transport / Dressing

• There are no camels in Turkey. Transport is done
  with train, cars (from all continents), planes,
  ships, ferries and subway
• Turkish Airlines is a leader in quality among
  European airlines
• The capital is ANKARA where ANGORA wool comes
  from
• Textile industry is the first in Europe

7
Istanbul

• Istanbul districts go beyond historical areas
• Several modern business centers exist through the
  city

8
Medias

• Television in Turkey consists in a lot of popular
  series, political debates and live shows usually
  performed by comics and/or beauties
• Media shows interest for all life aspects of top
  models, artists and singers

9
Secular Democratic System

• There are only 2 countries in the world using
  laicism, a secular principle / system based on
  the separation of private and public life
• France and Turkey
• Wearing headscarf is forbidden in state
  institutions since 1923 (M. Kemal Ataturk)

• Because Turkey is a democratic country, the
  current conservative government is elected by
  votes. The current government is inspired by
  european tradition of Christian Democrats

10
Neighborhood

• Turks dont hate Greeks or Armenians
• Some nations are saddened and frustrated by not
  having made gains of the collapse of ottoman
  empire
• Christian and Jewish people were happy joining
  the ottoman empire for the enhanced freedoms that
  they were receiving.
• Every nation in Ottoman Empire was free to talk
  his own language and to keep his own religion
• Turks have never been colonized by other nations
  and they have never colonized other nations
• Turks have always lived in Anatolia (since 7000
  B.C.) inherits of Hittites, Ionians, Phrygians,
  Lydians, Sumerians, Byzantines, and Trojans.
• Armenia depends strongly on its diasporaThis
  diaspora cultivates an idealistic vision of its
  past

11
Language / Culture

• Turkish is a language of the Ural-Altaic family
  like
• Finnish, Lapp, Estonian
• Hungarian
• Mongolian
• Korean and Japanese
• Turkish language is written in latin alphabet
• Turks had a shamanist background leading to the
  birth of sufism

12
Memberships

• member of the Council of Europe 1949
• founding member of the OECD since 1961
• founding member of the OSCE since 1973
• associate member of the European Union since 1992
  
• privileged partner of EU since 1995
• member of european sport federations
• Greece favors the entrance of Turkey in EU

13
Genocides

• A lot of Armenian died during the 1st world war
  in the Ottoman Empire. The deaths resulted from
  deportation, massacres, combats and war
  conditions. Turkey does not call these events
  genocide since they could hardly be avoided
  without a surrender.
• Genocide is a crime of intent. Main genocides in
  history before WWII are crusades and other
  colonization/civilization enterprises. This
  however does not constitute a legal term before
  1948.
• The first genocide of XXth century is the Herero
  Genocide where 80 of the total Herero population
  were killed in a brutal scorched earth campaign
  led by German General Lothar von Trotha.

14
Perception of Turkey

• Church has organized since six centuries various
  manifestations of hostility towards Turks
  including crusades, masses and various
  publications
• Christian leaders disputed among themselves if
  Turks were a Gods punishment for their sins
• Ottoman empire has been a main vector for the
  re-appropriation of antique culture by Europe.
  For medicine, hygiene, science, army structure
  and later for glass-making, textiles, weaponry
  usage and ship building.
• This explains partially why renaissance started
  in Italy (the main commercial partner of
  ottomans)
• The ottoman empire was able to make the best use
  of the talented people of the empire with no
  prejudice on their background (ethnical,
  religious, social, etc.)

15
Conclusion

• Turkey is a bridge between religions and
  continents holding one feet one each side of the
  river
• You cannot design a bridge to choose one side