Since the founding of the republic in 1923 as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has been secular and Kemalist in orientation. The country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, initiated a modernization of Turkey through social and legal reforms modelled on various European nation states.
The current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been at the helm of the country since 2003. Since around 2012, he has led the country in an increasingly authoritarian manner. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press in particular are considered to be severely restricted. The currency and debt crisis triggered by its economic policies as well as high inflation have continued since 2018, which makes Turkey quite attractive from a tourist perspective.
The culture of today's Turkey is a fusion of the ancient Turkish nomadic culture of Central Asia and Siberia, the Greco-Roman era, the culture in the Ottoman Empire with its Byzantine, Persian, Arabic, Caucasian, Armenian and Kurdish influences, as well as the strong European direction since the founding of the Republic Ataturk. The cultural centre of the country is the metropolis of Istanbul.
With the political changes, the content of Turkish literature also changed. Early representatives include Fakir Baykurt, Sabahattin Ali, Sait Faik Abasıyanık and Yaşar Kemal, who put ordinary people at the centre of their work. With the turn to describing living conditions, social and political criticism of the state is inevitable. The state reacts with censorship and political violence. Authors like Nâzım Hikmet, Yaşar Kemal and Aziz Nesin spend many years in Turkish prisons because of the persecution of their publications. Kemal therefore referred to the prison as a “school of Turkish literature”.
Turkish cuisine has also influenced Greek and the rest of the Balkan cuisine - including etymology. For example, tzaziki comes from the Turkish cacık, and Ćevapčići comes from kabapcik. Yogurt also comes from Turkish Yoğurt. Doner kebab is made from beef, veal or poultry. In Turkey, but also in other countries, the kebab is also served on a plate.
Whenever you are in Turkey, you may be surprised that a lot of Turkish people notice your orign just by watching you and they are able to use your language properly. Listening to all the different people in a bazaar, you will hear a lot of different nationalities as there is English, German, Dutch and Danish, but also Norwegian and Russian.
Until couple of years ago, the most common cars on the streets in Turkey have been Tofas, a product of Fiat, which have been produced in Turkey under license of the Italian firm. The bestseller was the Sahin,which is the original Fiat 131 and which is still available in Turkey today.
With the Foreign Capital Law No. 6224 which went into effect in 1954, Turkey adopted the most liberal law of the period. The liberalization policies adopted in the 1980s, and the changes in the regulation of currency exchange have made foreign capital investments quite attractive.
Post offices are mainly small and sometimes hard to find. You need to look for signs showing PTT or, in tourist areas, post office. Post office business hours vary. Main post offices in the centres are always open from Monday to Saturday from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon, and on Sundays from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm.
One thing every visitor to Turkey would like to avoid, is to need a lawyer. However, as usual in daily life, there can be certain situations where you are absolutely helpless and may need the experience of a well - trained lawyer, whether it is because of a traffic problem or something more serious.
Everywhere in ancient cities you will find "souvenirs" in the form of potsherds with the remains of decorations, amphora handles, roof tiles, processed marble lumps, pieces of glass and much more.
After the introduction of cross-border agreements between the European countries by the EC, the amount of goods allowed to be brought into these countries from non "EC" countries are standard.
We have raised the issue of "domestic violence against women in Turkish society" a number of times, when news of brutal murder of a woman shakes the world again.
Because of the rapid development in tourism and more requests for flats and villas, the duties of the architects have changed. Today clients want modern designed villas and technically equipped flats.
In order to make the Turkish laws as similar as possible to the European ones, the Legal Board of Construction is introducing new ones. Most of the newly introduced regulations are quite similar to the ones we know from Europe, especially from Germany.
Flats, plots and beautiful villas for a reasonable amount of money! European buyers of real estate in Turkey will get the full guarantee and security of the Turkish government concerning their property.
Whenever travelling to Turkey, don´t forget that Turkey belongs to the Eastern European Time zone. In relation to CET (Central European Time), you need to add one hour.
All over Turkey you will see these blue wall eyes, called Nazar Boncugu. In Arabic, Nazar means view or look. This word has the same meaning in the Turkish language. There is a strange belief held by people that there are sometimes negative, bad, and even destructive forces at work. This is what they call the evil eye.
Foreign persons are allowed to establish either a joint stock company or a limited liability company in Turkey under the provisions of the Foreign Capital Promotion Law to invest directly in Turkey. Therefore, general basics about these two companies are explained under this title.
Couple of our readers were asking if we can organise trips to some of the famous sights and so we decided together with some of our partners (Kizkalesi - Reisen Travel agency, the magazine Merhaba Akdeniz, Alditours Travel agency) to set up a first readers trip leading to Mount Nemrut.
Once arrived in Turkey the question how to reach another town or place may appear suddenly. It is not the railway which is the basic transport media like in Europe. In Turkey people use an excellent bus system which is comparable to the American Greyhound system.
A really interesting adventure is a trip they call the Blue Journey. At some harbours you can book a journey as a member of a small team for a weeks cruise along the coast. In this way you learn about life on a boat aswell as a lot about people and the sights. Offers like this are also available in the internet.
Hiring a car in Turkey is a great way to go off the beaten track to really see this beautiful country. Using a car to tour region by region, you can go where you want, when you want, getting to the most out-of the-way places which are difficult to reach on public transport.
In general the regulations for all types of car insurances are like those in Europe. The titles are compulsory car insurance, comprehensive automobile insurance and services.
European people who come to Turkey to spend their holidays over here, are allowed to bring their car, campervan, mini-bus or motorcycle into Turkey for at least 6 months within a one year period. After this period of 6 months, the car needs to leave Turkey.