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People/customs
The Flag is a respected symbol for the Turks and symbolises national independence. They hold it in high regard and is not allowed to wear a printed flag on clothing. After a number of wars during the period 1919 to 1923, the Ottoman empire collapsed and the new Turkish Republic settled. The red color of the flag symbolises the blood and the star with moon symbolises the independence. The fundamentals of the Turkish Flag were laid down by Turkish Flag Law No. 2994 of May 29, 1936.  Hospitality is one of the cornerstones of the Turkish way of life and is instinctively gracious and generous hosts. They feel honour bound to open their houses to every guest with a smiling face and with all their sincerity give the best seat and cook the best food for their guest. Turkish people are very understanding about foreigners' different customs and they try to communicate in order to help visitors according to their code of hospitality. The mentality of that hospitality is "whatever religion you are from, whichever country you come from, whatever language you speak, you are 'God's Guest", so you deserve to be welcomed in the best manner. The Turkish people respect their elder and support each other in every way. Parents support their children financially until they get married. When a child marries, the financial support may continue but it is expected that the new family could earn enough and manage their livings. Turkish people care very much about their elder. They take care of their elder and support them when they get old or sick both financially and mentally. This close relationship is a kind of boomerang, elder support children when they are young , children support their elder when they are old... Families are divided into several types according to social, economic and local conditions. The traditional extended and nuclear families are the two common types of families in Turkey. The traditional extended family generally means that three generations live together: grandfather, adult sons and sons' sons, their wives and their unmarried daughters. A married daughter becomes a member of her husband's family and lives there. The nuclear family, parallel to industrialization and urbanization, replaces traditional families. The nuclear family consists of a husband, wife and unmarried children and is more suitable to modern Turkish social life today. There are some economic, traditional and emotional conditions that form the duties and responsibilities of the modern nuclear family member. As for the economic conditions, each individual is supposed to play a part in supporting the continuation of the family. The father is usually responsible for the main income, the mother may contribute by working and if not, will assume full-time care of the home. Grandparents may also supply help with income from their pension or returns from owned property and rents. Tradition places the father as the head of the family, but the mother has equal rights. Women leave the outside world to the men, generally remaining in the home. They get married at an earlier age than men and settle into their role as housewife and home maker. As the education level of women increases, the birth rate decreases. Working women prefer to have only one child. 9 million of the 21 million working population of Turkey are women. In the rural areas, the rate of working women, especially in agriculture, is very high. However, women work in this sector as an extension of their housework and not to make a living. In urban areas, women hold important posts in both public and private sectors, the arts and sciences. Today, Turkish women are bank managers, doctors, lawyers, judges, journalists, pilots, diplomats, police officers, army officers or prime ministers. Nearly two thirds of health personnel including doctors and pharmacists, one quarter of all lawyers and one third of banking personnel are women. Although men and women are equal before the law, men are tolerated in regard to adultery and women receive more advantages in terms of working conditions. This is a speciality of this region you should take home as a souvenir. It's called the Boncuk, the Little Magic Stone that protects one from the "Evil Eye" (pronounced "bon-dschuk" ). You will see this blue glass piece everywhere. It is said that there was a man in a town by the sea, who was known to carry the evil eye (Nazar). After much effort and endeavor, the town's people brought the man to the rock, and the man, upon looking at the rock said, "My! What a big rock this is." The instant he said this, there was a rip and roar and crack as the immense rock was cracked in two. Another typical scenario is where a woman gives birth to a healthy child with pink cheeks and all the neighbors come and see the baby. They shower the baby with compliments, commenting especially on how healthy and chubby the baby is. After getting so much attention weeks later the baby is found dead in his crib. It is then ascribed to Nazar. Compliments made to a specific body part can result in Nazar. That's why nearly every Turkish mother fixes with a safety pin a small Boncuk on the child's clothes. |
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