Turkey

​Welcome to Turkish Culture

by Abdullah Cureoglu



Culture of Turkey

Turkish culture was born from many Turkish states such as Seljuk and the Ottoman empire that were established in three continents which were Asia, Europe and Africa. Men are the people that usually get jobs to support the family and women are usually the ones that take care the family by making food and taking care of the children. Turkey uses mixed-use development which means that they use apartments that contain both homes and stores where the homes are at the top of the apartment and the stores are at the bottom of the apartment.



According to this, my family believes that this form of family comes from the religion islam and the form of homebuiding comes from the terrein of Turkey because Turkey has little usable land and needs to use smart ways of using the land, therefore they have mixed-use development to save land in Turkey. In addition, this way of building homes is a necessary thing since infrastructure is not so common for rural areas. The Turkish culture is a mixture of European, Middle Eastern, and Asian cultures which also contributes to their way of family and homebuilding. They also believe their culture represents the cultures of the nations, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Suryanis, Zazas, etc. who lived together for many centuries on the same territory (Turkey).

__ Surface Culture __ __ Deep Culture __
 * kissing hands to respect elders
 * giving money to children in celebrations
 * eating meals while sitting down
 * not belching during meal
 * elderly starts the meal first [[image:http://image.wetpaint.com/image/2/DgECpHkpeZkYpMx0aPXBeA79267/GW563H458 width="358" height="293" align="right" caption="Map of Turkey"]]
 * visiting family members during celebrations
 * learning islamic background
 * women wear hijaabs (head cover)
 * marriage : bride lives in her mother-in-laws house
 * men are dominant at home
 * homes are put in the males name

__ Stereotypes __

A stereotype one might have about a Turk is that Turkish people are not modern but are primative. This is not true because Turkey is a very modern country and is advanced in technology.

Another stereotype someone might have about Turkish people as well as many other people in islamic countries are that they are all terrorists. I am to fix that and say that not many turkish people are terrorists excpecially not all Turks are terrorists.

Culture Universals

__**Language-**__ official language is Turkish, some speak kurdish

__**Religious beliefs-**__ over 99% muslim, 1% Christian, and Jewish __**Holidays-**__ __Religious celebrations__: Ramadan (3 days changes); Kurban (4 days changes); __non-religious celebrations__: New Year day (Jan. 1); National Independence Day (April 23); Victory day (Aug. 30); Republic Day (Oct. 29)

__**Food-**__ Special Turkish food (icli kofte, borek, gyro, kabab, baklava, etc.)

__**Styles of dress-**__ Women cover most of body (hair too), me n wear european style clothing

__**Eating habits-**__ Mediterranean; Arabic; Greek; Special Turkish food

__**Music-**__ Turkish art music; pop music; folk music



Cultural Diffusion of Turkey


 * Western culture started to influence the culture of Turkey. Anyone can easily see Hollywood movies are put in Turkish theaters. The Western Culture has impacted Turkish Culture [[image:http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/g1WFVjOQSgIUrrJGKzhDrg72417/GW510H335 width="410" height="259" align="right" caption="Hagia Sophia"]] through western television programs, shows, movies, and Internet which has brought differant forms of living, religion, and dating to Turkey.


 * The Arabic culture also has some influence since the Arabs have a stronger religion of Islam and because both countries are close to each other as well as the religion of Islam being born in Saudi Arabia, It has made Turkey more Muslim.


 * Asian culture is also a factor of Turkish Culture because Turkish people came to Anatolia from Central Asia more than 1,000 years ago. Turkish people have brought a culture with a lot of rice and wheat in their diet which has come from Asian culture.


 * European culture also affects Turkish Culture since Turkey connects two continents together, there are at least 2 million Turkish people working in Europe from Europe's lack of workers so when these people people return home, they bring in European culture.

Physical Geography and Culture


 * A way physical geography affects culture is that because Turkey has many mountains, finding space for homes gets harder. This makes it so that in Turkish culture they have the usual house as an apartment. They use mixed use development so that they have stores and homes at the same apartment to save space.


 * Another way physical geography affects turkish culture is a that many people in Turkey have jobs in mining due to the many mountains and mining resources being in Turkey. [[image:http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/EnbLNVflGJxzfFi1zSgnFA223797/GW460H266 width="407" height="241" align="right" caption="Physical Map of Turkey"]]


 * Turkey's physical geography is inbetween both Asia and Europe so Turkish culture also shows a culture that is a combination of the two continent's cultures as well as a culture that consists of both these cultures.


 * Another way physical geography affects Turkish culture is that some people in Turkey (especially ones in mountinous areas) raise animals as a job instead of growing crops for in many places of Turkey, crops may not be grown though animals may be raised. Many people raise sheep from turkey's physical geography so a lot of cotton comes out of this. because there is a lot of cotton in Turkey; a lot of clothing is produced so clothing is cheaper thus affecting the culture of turkey.


 * One last way physical geography affects Turkish culture is the agriculture of Turkey because the land of Turkey allows it to produce a lot of tea. In Turkish culture people drink a lot of tea.

Works Cited 

"Background Note: Turkey." //U.S. Department of state//. may 2009. Web. 2 Jan 2010. @http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3432.htm.

Brosnahan, Tom. "Turkey Travel Planner." //official Public Holidays of Turkey// (2009): n. pag. Web. 3 Jan 2010. @http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/WhenToGo/national_holidays.html.

Eboch, Chris. //Turkey//. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2003. 112-6. Print.

Lyle, Garry. //Turkey//. Philidelphia: Chelsea house publishers, 2000. 103-8. Print.

"Turkey." Advameg: 2010. Web. @http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Turkey.html.

"Turkish Culture and History." //Turkey for you - Turkey Travel Guide// n. pag. Web. 2 Jan 2010. @http://www.turkeyforyou.com/travel_turkey_turkish_culture.