Turkish Culture and The Modern Life Style in an Islam Country

Turkey is one of the most interesting countries to live in. Being a Turkish is sometimes a proud while other times is very difficult.

Turkey - former Ottoman Empire has always been a Muslim country. It has never been like today' Iran but the traditions and the customs of the country belong to Islam.

There are many kinds of people living in this beautiful country. There are some radical Muslims and there are big atheists at the same time and they all live together and in a peace most of the time. It is still a taboo to talk about religion in Turkey so as long as people do not express outloud their negative opinion about the religion and The God, they have no problem with it. If a non believer says that he does not believe the existence of God, then it is just fine. What I mean here is insulting the believers and humiliate them is problematic and sometimes dangerous but if you are a harmless person and live your own life without trying to change other peoples opinions, nobody will ask for trouble.

The country is being governed by a Muslim political party since the beginning of the 2000s and unfortunately this government has changed a lot in this country. Some part of the population is becoming radically religious but still there is another part which is becoming more modern and European every passing day.

Only a few years ago, if a couple was not married and had a child,it was not allowed for the father to give the baby his surname but today it is possible and also very easy. Government's free social security was not covering the birth expenses of a single lady but today it is covering.

It as impossible for a family to accept that their daugter is living with hi boyfriend but today most of the western Turkish families are okay with it.

But still there are some families who are trying to kill their daugters because she is raped by her own uncle.

The interesting thing about this culture is, if you wake up at 05.00 in the morning and look out of the window, you can see some men going to the mosque for morning prayer and you can see some other drunk people coming from a crazy night party. They all live in the same streets.

So, being a tourist, if you ever come to Turkey, there is nothing to have fear about. If you are a Christian or not a believer at all, and if you do not say insulting words about Islam religion, you will be just fine. It does not mean you can not make any comments about it. As long as your way of saying this is respectful, any Muslim person will be ready to hear your comments. He will probably try to convince you that you are not right but anyway he will listen to you with respect.

I am a travel agent in Turkey and I meet every kind of people. Recently we had a client asking to a female tour guide how many wives does her husband have? The guide was surprised to hear that and she told me that she did not know how to answer this question without breaking the heart of the client.

It is true that there are some men with more than one wife and fifteen children but especially in the west of Turkey and big cities like Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa or Ankara- the capital - all the men are married to one woman. The women are well educated and most of the time working ladies. If they have children, they don't have more than 2 or 3 maximum. They take care of the baby together.

It is also a very common question of our clients if they should wear long pants and wear a scarf when entering a mosque during Istanbul city tours. The answer is "no." They do not have to but it is good if they are a little careful out of respect.

When you come to Turkey, at least for the first day in Istanbul, it is quite recommended to take a private tour in Istanbul in order to have enough time for asking your questions about Turkey and its culture to your private guide so in the rest of your time in Turkey, you will feel more relaxed.