Well, Turkey, itself, is a beautiful country when it comes to the geography. It looks like California. Greece is also a beautiful country. Turkey has very good food.
Politically, Turkey is a very right wing country. While it is more liberal than its Arab neighbors when it comes to things like religion, in politics it’s not so much better. There’s a massive witchunt going on and anyone who opposes the status quo seems to be labeled a certain label. That’s not healthy in a democracy.
Turkish people can be quite generous. They can invite you to meals, welcome you in their homes. Some of them can be open-minded and liberal. However, some can be quite sexist and seek to dominate the females or believe that females shouldn’t do what they’re doing. For example, a drunk guy who works in a tourist area stabbed his foreign fiancee because she goes to bars. Ironically, he was drunk. Some Turks like the West and Western people. Many others blame all the problems Turkey face on the European Union and the West, which is something typically found in Arab countries.
Many Turkish people are kind to animals - cats and dogs. Especially, in places like Izmir, districts in Istanbul like Kadikoy, Besiktas, Ettiler. However, some are very anti-animal or freak out when they see a cat. I never saw people in the US or Canada freak out when they saw a cat and jump on some tables. Turks, however, often tend to be dog lovers, while people from Pakistan and from Arab countries feel they must avoid dogs. I am generalizing.
Turks are extremely nationalistic. You will see Turkish flags everywhere whereas you will not see that in Western Europe. You will see that to a lesser extent in the United States. You see images of Ataturk everywhere. Every group claims they are more Ataturk supporters than the others.
Turkey is a country where there’s a fight between secularism and religiosity. Many religious complained that they were repressed in the past. Liberals in many cases understood that and pushed for more rights for religious people. Now, many secular people feel repressed, and the religious people are often silent about it. That’s how the secular people feel.
Turkey is a country where there’s a clash of identities. What does Turkishness mean? What does it mean to be Turkish?
Turkish people love Turkish food, and are often not interested in eating foreign food such as Indian, Thai, Mexican food. If they’re going to eat foreign food, it will be American style fast food, Italian pasta. In that sense, that makes Turkish people similar to Koreans, though Koreans have recently embraced Mexican food and more Koreans are embracing Vietnamese and Thai food. Koreans are famous for bringing Korean food with them when they travel, but that’s changing among the youth. Turks may change in the same way.
