Fodor's Exploring Turkey, 3rd Edition (Exploring Guides)

Book by Fodors

Turkey Is
Turkey's people

As a people, the Turks are characterized by their dignity, nobility, honesty, great physical endurance, and courage, and in comparison to some of their neighbors, can be considered relatively silent. Instead of being volatile in a typically Mediterranean way, they are more like bottled-up volcanoes, erupting from time to time after long periods of quiescence.
Who are the Turks?

This is a vexed question that still puzzles historians. Just how was it that a relatively small number of Turkish invaders from the steppelands of Central Asia (between the Caspian Sea and Mongolia) succeeded, after a comparatively short period of time, in stamping their Turkish identity on Anatolia, rather than being absorbed by the ethnic mix that was already there? There were, after all, no massacres or mass deportations of the indigenous population. The pre-Turkish Anatolians were a thorough mixture of all the races that had gone before -- Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Celts, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Kurds, and Mongols. Yet when a mere handful of Turks arrived, they managed to transform a Greek- or Armenian-speaking Christian population into a mainly Turkish-speaking Muslim people, henceforth to be known as Turks.
The Turkish Perspective

The Turkish view of history, still taught in many schools today, is that the original Turkish homeland -- from the Caspian to Mongolia -- was the cradle of world civilization. One group of the people here migrated eastward in about 7000 BC and founded the Chinese civilization, another group went to India, and yet others headed to northern Europe (the Celts), south into the Middle East, and across to North Africa. As a result, some Turks regard the Greek and Roman civilizations as successors to earlier Turkic civilizations such as the Phrygians, Lydians, and Hittites.
Personality

The Turkish character is one of extreme contradictions and contrasts. Turks are hardworking, yet realize the futility of hurry and worry; serious, yet cherish a comic character as their favorite folklore hero . They respect the authority of the state, yet insist on democracy; they are ruthless, yet kind and hospitable. Many are poor, yet they disdain money. Trust and honor are paramount. Theft is regarded as the most shameful of all crimes and is rare outside the big cities. Murderers form the elite of the prison population, as most such crimes are the result of affairs of honor; thieves, on the other hand, are spat upon as the lowest of the low. Turks despise what they see as a lack of control: it does not pay to lose your temper with a Turk, for it achieves nothing and merely earns you contempt.
Festivals

The Turks love their festivals, which are not intended to impress tourists. All their folk culture is concentrated into these annual events, which usually last a week or more, each region having its own authentic specialties in terms of dance, music, and drama.
City Festivals

Most of the big cities throughout Turkey have an annual fair. The main one, not surprisingly, is in Istanbul, held from about June 20 to July 30 and featuring an extraordinary range of dance, art, and music at a number of venues. Izmir holds an International Fair from August 20 to September 20, which includes commercial exhibitions as well as cultural and folkloric events. Samsun holds a similar fair in July. Bursa's annual festival, from June 12 to July 12, is entirely cultural and attracts some international singers and musicians.
Cultural Festivals In Ancient Settings

Turkey is blessed with numerous magnificent venues for festivals, including Greco-Roman theaters, Byzantine churches, and medieval fortresses. In April and May each year Ephesus hosts an excellent Culture and Art Festival, with folk dancing in the Greco-Roman theater. The Asklepeion theater is the setting for the plays and dances during the entertaining Pergamum Festival, which takes place in May and June. In August, Çanakkale Troy Festival uses the setting of ancient Troy for the mediocre folk dances and other musical performances, while the very professional Antalya Film and Art Festival, held annually in October, makes creative use of the splendid Roman theater at Aspendos.
Wrestling: Men and Camels

Grease-wrestling between two men is popular throughout Turkey; the major festival is held each year in the first week of July near Edirne on the little island of Saray . Up to a thousand contestants take part, clad in leather loincloths and greased all over with olive oil. Gypsies arrive in force to provide entertainment, as well as the drum and single-reed oboe music that accompanies the wrestling warm-up exercises.
In the months of December and January throughout the province of Ayd        n in western Turkey, and more particularly in the small town of Germencik, you can see camel-wrestling. This involves two male camels pushing and shoving each other, and although it can turn out to be quite vicious, it is not usually a blood sport.
Mevlana Festival

This is probably Turkey's most famous festival, held each year in Konya from December 14 to 17 to commemorate the death of Mevlana, founder of the mystic Whirling Dervish order. Temperatures in Konya at this time are perishingly cold and hotel prices double, so many prefer to watch the famous dervish dance (known as sema) at the restored semahane (dance room) in Galatasaray, Istanbul.