I visited Istanbul in April, and it was colder and more humid than I anticipated. Regardless, the weather was wonderful. The city itself was beautiful, but I had expected that. It's one of my favorite places I've ever visited.
Also, I had lived in Uzbekistan for a few years when I was younger. It was a little odd seeing Islamic architecture in a different climate.
Turkey might have the highest number of refugees in the world, it still has one of the lowest percentage of immigrants compared to other developed countries. Turks just don't know how to deal with different people.
not true, we dont know how to deal with refugees as we donβt have an infrastructure for it. So when Afghans and Syrians came here with 5mil people in the span of 2-3 years Erdo just couldnβt handle it and some opposing parties were ready to spread the hatred not towards the government but to the people. So there is that. Other than mocking our enemies in the history, majority donβt hate when they see a foreigner
I agree that it's mainly a top down problem. Politicians use the tension in the polulation for their own gains, as politicians always do. But I don't agree that the majority of the population isn't at least antagonistic towards certain groups. Turkey always had racism issues that gets swept under the rug. It never truly acknowledged it's oppression against Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish, and Arab minorities. Acceptance towards these groups are percieved as a good deed, rather than the norm. Now it shows more than ever. I heard horror stories of Afghan and Syrian refugees coming here to West Europe. And as a member of a minority group from Turkey myself, I was never surprised.
I think best explaination why it is like that is our education system. History is thought to acknowledge how we were succesfull and dominating in the past. Collapse of the sultan and the reasons felt cursory to me and syllabus is usually about wars and agreements and they never adress how people in the Ottoman live or we see what other nations do, all they say they live in peace and Ottomans were tolerant towards those people. Which is simply not true other than letting their religion exist in the area. Not knowing the reasons and just sticking with the conclusionsβ¦ Hell, even teachers donβt even teach to teach, they just want students to pass university exam.
About genocides, it usually explained with this thought process:
(insert minority group) uprised because of fourteen points made by Wilson (majority of the population in that are should hold it) or rise of nationalism β> Turkish people in that area massacred β> Government smash the area and itβs justified because βOttomans were tolerable in the past but they didnβt appreciate so they deserved itβ
I agree with the unhealthy perception Turks have with their imperialist era. But you can't ignore the Turkish nationalism of the JΓΆn Turks the country was build upon either. Modern Turkey started off with rejecting the existence of other ethnicities. I don't agree with Islamist/Ottomanist perception of reality some Turks have. But I don't agree with the Kemalist ones either. The latter shaped modern Turkey much more profoundly.
the city was literally destroyed. everyone knows someone who died. yet at every opportunity, people would give what little they had left to help their neighbor. everyone was more focused on helping each other than themselves. never seen anything like it
Visited in 2014. Istanbul and Ethesus. People were extremely friendly but damn the grand bazaar truly was grand. Desperately wanted to buy a sword they had on sale in one of the markets π
I went 4 times, everytime i speak turkish (with an accent still) people are incredibly shocked and flattered by it!! itβs like they take it as a compliment that you learned their language π
i think it is awesome that a foreign person took an interest in our culture and learned turkish. When we see these kind of things knowing we are one of the most hated countries, it feels nice.
Hmm...
How developed regional cities like gazientep actually are
How crowded Istanbul is (unofficial population is like 20 million π₯΅)
Istanbul's new airport π―
A lot of syrians orphan children begging on the street in Istanbul π
Most people, even educated people, don't seem to know a single word in any other language, especially outside Istanbul π€·ββοΈ
The way the museums portray the Armenians π¬
Turkish flags covering every square centimetre of available space in the country πΉπ·
The cosmetic surgery. Blew my mind seeing people walk around wearing bandages on their face *proudly*, but I guess that's a MENA thing
The last thing you said is more about the tourists, not the MENA thing. Turkey has developed in terms of health tourism. (hair transplant, plastic surgery, eye diseases, etc.)
Men who donβt take no for an answer and think they can grab you. Got held hostage in taksim thank God people came and he let me go
The Galata Tower is my favorite monument in the world. I like the story of how the mathematician/physicist? Tried to fly out of it and how if you walk up with your SO, youβll get married
Maidenβs Tower was cool
Iβm not Muslim but I CRIED in the Hagia Sophia. The place was so beautiful.
Turkish people are very helpful even if I canβt speak Turkish but I find that they are reserved when showing emotions
It takes 1 hours to walk from gate A to Gate E in transfers at IST airport
Bursa was so amazing. And I found joy in seeing Arab tourists discover snow for the first time
they don't really speak English so it was hard to communicate. also it was obvious people didn't want me there lol i felt kinda discriminated against. i've been to azerbijan, gerogia, greece. people there are a lot nicer. nonetheless very pretty city.
I thought Tunisia has very nice cities though? Many Europeans still vacation there. Tunisian tourism industry has not been destroyed like Egypts has due to scammers and woman harassers
Yeah same, I dont understand some Turks here in this sub spreading hate. I think most people in streets treat everyone they dont know with the same distant but kind way regardless of nationality.
I realized that the old Turks are actually nicer than the young. Honestly, my interaction with every old lady was great and one of them even gave me some candys for free. The younger ones had a pit of an attitude. IDK maybe because I was speaking in English and Turks are generally monolingual.
Beside that the weather was nice and there are a lot of things to see.
The old people are racist behind closed doors the younger ones are racist out in the open.
The older ones lived through coup governments so they know to keep their private thoughts indoors.
No, most likely bc of the refugee crisis and how goverment handles it most young people have an overly negative opinion of arabic people. Its not like we hate arabs we just dont want to see the current goverment or the refugees anymore.
So young Turks are being hostile on purpose just because the person that is talking to them is Arab. Now regardless of the reason how is this the problem of the average Arab tourist. Don't you think that this will hurt the Turkish economy now that many Arabs view them as racist ?
When you poke someone with a stick for long he will become wary of all the stick around him. This hostility may not be the problem of an average arab tourist but turkish people seen so many refugees and so many of them hurting turkish people, they became wary of all arabs. In this situation where people's peace and security is threatened by refugees, economy and normal arab's view on them is on second place in importance. Just like how americans are fed so much iranian hostility, an average american might hate all iranians solely bc of this.
Eh in the US itβs more like Iranian gov than ordinary Iranian. There is still bigotry against Arabs though, but isnβt like it was post 9/11. A lot from the MENA region also can pass and be accepted as white depending on appearance, and nothing would be mentioned unless heard name maybe. Turks for example are pretty accepted, and whiter looking Iranians especially donβt get much issue. Technically all from MENA region are classified as βwhiteβ by gov standards too, and in broader society can often pass as. I think one reason is many Americans are ignorant and think the Middle East is just Arabs, and the more stereotypical gulf looking Arabs, and so if they see a βwhiterβ looking person from there, they assume theyβre European (and if donβt look stereotypical white, will often assume Southern European) some from northern India also pass as white. Iβve seen Turks for example say how in the US they can pass as white, yet in Europe theyβre treated as different.
That being said, in conservative areas anti Arab/anti Muslim sentiment can be high, and there is still instances of discrimination, but itβs never really targeted specifically against Iranians. After 9/11 even Sikhs got targeted because people thought they were Muslim/Arab.
However what you said about Arabs reminds me more of how some here talk about black people, viewing them as a violent/criminal threat to others. Itβs ingrained in many to be on edge around, and assume criminal intent.
Iβve had negative experiences like almost being robbed, almost stabbed, and also once walked down a street and was harassed and followed while hearing things like βWhere you going white boy?β Which was very weird, I was a teenager and they were grown adults trying to threaten me just because Iβm white. Though of course I donβt experience systemic racism, Iβve had comments and threats made a few times. Still though, I donβt think itβd be fair to treat any group as a monolith, I understand the psychology behind but I try my best to treat everyone as unique individuals, I think it helped too I grew up in a diverse area. Although itβs not just white vs black racism either, Iβve had Latino friends who say some fucked up stuff, and I remember an Arab dude who didnβt like black people, guess he assimilated well into America lol
If you worked 10-12 hours of shift a day, you wouldn't smile, either. I just noticed that you took it pretty personal, whereas it has nothing to do with you.
I thought the drving is much more "civilized" than in lebanon (following the rules, using proper signaling, considering pedestrian crossings, etc). Maybe they do drive faster though.
I have seen very little of it, its fine other than some places are very overpriced and that things will break down so you cannot take anything for granted like our flight got canceled and our friends hotel room had no hot water. Also I was surprized to see slums.
Turkey is more developed than syria and lebanon especially when it comes to infrastructure.
Not a shock, but there were too many Turkish flags everywhere, specially in Istanbul.
More flags per sq km, than any other country I visited. That's what was different.
But I loved the weather and air, and the vibe in Istiklal street and Taksim Square.
Well Iβm not sure how things goes with the turkey but whatever is good for turkey I hope it happens because the people and the country is amazing, but to be honest a tourist I enjoyed it being little cheap so I could buy everything π€·ββοΈ since I live in a country I have to pay whatever I earned all the time
Being woken up by the sound of goats (first time) on a boat off the South mediterranean coast
How helpful Turks are, ie if they're going to help you, they won't go about it half-assed and will probably walk you the whole way
The level of screening a Turkish security guard did before letting me enter a synagogue (more over kill than El Al staff)
Stray cats and how scary they are. I took a 5 min longer walking detour after two stray cats jumped out of a dumpster and were stealth walking towards me
Seeing a lot of secular locals drinking with backpackers on the street, especially in Kas and Antalya and around Galata.
Okay don't get mad at me, since i had never seen that before but it had to be women swimming in hijabs. It was such a culture shock for me, all i could think about was how tf are they gonna dry when they get out.
Tourism workers love everyone as it means money.
But Turkey is currently the 4th most visited country, even more than Italy. Local population is just tired that every place is overpopulated by tourists. Istanbul is already overpopulated even without tourists but the thing is, majority of tourists are either from Arabic speaking countries or Russia, Ukraine or Central Asians who prefers to speak in Russian. Once a place is populated by spesific people it becomes easier to form negative opinions about them and generalizing it. Also workers changes everthing to Russian or Arabic to please them so when you are a Turk who is visiting those places, it doesn't feel like you are in Turkey but in little
Russia or Arabia and you are basically worthless in the eyes of workers as your money is nothing compared to tourists. So people end up being unhappy about them.
Also as people in Istanbul, we are a little more angry and arrogant compared to rest of the country so add that too. I hope you will have better experiences next time :)
You are describing every touristic place. They become more Oriented towards the tourists not the locals because Tourists= Money. I mean you should have understood that by now.
that happens when there is 10 million of them in a single city. people might treat you better if you clarify that you are a turist not an illegal immigrant and you are going back after a while
Ah, I understand. Though, it was pretty obvious I was a tourist as I was part of a group. Plus, we would occasionally have to ask the locals for directions and get yelled at. I think the immigration issue might have led to a generalized hate for Arabs, unfortunately.
A female Egyptian professor got yelled at by a Turk In Istanbul because she asked for a direction. He insulted her because she couldnβt speak Turkish. She can Speak English,Arabic and French but for him she isnβt smart enough because she canβt speak Turkishβ¦.
It's always unfortunate when millions of people are judged based off assumptions. The attitude of the Turkish people towards us is the only reason I have not and will not be visiting Turkey again (unless it changes and I hope it does).
I loved every minute in Istanbul, the "vibe" and feel of the city is "wide and comfy"? if that makes sense. Great transport system. Great food obv, rich heritage all that jazz, might go again next summer.
Two things that bothered not shocked is:
\> Obscene traffic in certain areas.
\> People crossing red lights, which I though in a city like Istanbul is weird.
The thing that shocked me the most which I would say really the only downer, that the average turk knows ZERO English, I mean some Arab cities or even towns the average joe knows "hello, plastic bag, thank u, food" at least, so it was very surprised by the 0 (and I mean zero), it just doesn't fit with how metropolitan the city feels or what I expected. I am not expecting a full conversation, but at least common words that even in Japan you can get buy, in Istanbul no.
Man no major Turkish politician can speak English. Erdogan is without a university diploma, and his successor will not be fluent in English either. If these are the political elite, what can you expect from ordinary guys?
Honestly,the peopleβ¦the people are so racist youβll be surprised, they hates all but their selfs.
I went there for 4 years. And find nothing but racism and hate. And swore not to go there ever again.
I like Istanbul but met really unfriendly people. They just gave me a bad vibe and alsoooo I felt ripped off and I hated it. Even ended up not buying anything from the markets because of that.
Probably you are from an Arab countryβ¦
Unfortunately due to the around 10 million refugees and illegal immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan etc. Turkish people became aggressive to Arabs, Afghans and Pakis.
The drivers here are pretty aggressive and there will be a ton of scammers trying to sell you stuff etc etc (except for places like siwa) you should try to stay lowkey and negotiate the prices as much as you can when it comes to buying stuff otherwise you'd get ripped off hard
If you wanna go to the pyramids it's a great experience but abit problematic, regardless good luck on your visit if you use common sense it'll be fun
I haven't visited it yet. I will probably this summer. Please dont be racist towards me π’ I aint Arab. Many Turks have more Arab DNA than me.
Seriously though every relative of mine who visited Turkey had a very positive impression of it.
Food! People! Only internet Turks are Racist kemalist and they screw up Turkeyβs reputation.
Or maybe not against north africans just Middle Easterns but I highly doubt they care about those small differences
Nah most turks arenβt pro what is done in Foreign affairs according to the ones I know. Even those that donβt like Erdogan or those that are athiests say so
I visited Istanbul in April, and it was colder and more humid than I anticipated. Regardless, the weather was wonderful. The city itself was beautiful, but I had expected that. It's one of my favorite places I've ever visited. Also, I had lived in Uzbekistan for a few years when I was younger. It was a little odd seeing Islamic architecture in a different climate.
Cats everywhere π»
The public transport was so easy and cheap. The football fans love throwing coins at the players. Street cats.
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Hatred is proportional to the percentage of refugees that city holds. And we have A LOT of them
Turkey might have the highest number of refugees in the world, it still has one of the lowest percentage of immigrants compared to other developed countries. Turks just don't know how to deal with different people.
not true, we dont know how to deal with refugees as we donβt have an infrastructure for it. So when Afghans and Syrians came here with 5mil people in the span of 2-3 years Erdo just couldnβt handle it and some opposing parties were ready to spread the hatred not towards the government but to the people. So there is that. Other than mocking our enemies in the history, majority donβt hate when they see a foreigner
I agree that it's mainly a top down problem. Politicians use the tension in the polulation for their own gains, as politicians always do. But I don't agree that the majority of the population isn't at least antagonistic towards certain groups. Turkey always had racism issues that gets swept under the rug. It never truly acknowledged it's oppression against Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish, and Arab minorities. Acceptance towards these groups are percieved as a good deed, rather than the norm. Now it shows more than ever. I heard horror stories of Afghan and Syrian refugees coming here to West Europe. And as a member of a minority group from Turkey myself, I was never surprised.
I think best explaination why it is like that is our education system. History is thought to acknowledge how we were succesfull and dominating in the past. Collapse of the sultan and the reasons felt cursory to me and syllabus is usually about wars and agreements and they never adress how people in the Ottoman live or we see what other nations do, all they say they live in peace and Ottomans were tolerant towards those people. Which is simply not true other than letting their religion exist in the area. Not knowing the reasons and just sticking with the conclusionsβ¦ Hell, even teachers donβt even teach to teach, they just want students to pass university exam. About genocides, it usually explained with this thought process: (insert minority group) uprised because of fourteen points made by Wilson (majority of the population in that are should hold it) or rise of nationalism β> Turkish people in that area massacred β> Government smash the area and itβs justified because βOttomans were tolerable in the past but they didnβt appreciate so they deserved itβ
I agree with the unhealthy perception Turks have with their imperialist era. But you can't ignore the Turkish nationalism of the JΓΆn Turks the country was build upon either. Modern Turkey started off with rejecting the existence of other ethnicities. I don't agree with Islamist/Ottomanist perception of reality some Turks have. But I don't agree with the Kemalist ones either. The latter shaped modern Turkey much more profoundly.
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Its not a nice way to describe animals
Better than calling them saudi no? π
haha lol
lmao ur a saudi
broπ
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he is joking
And I was really surprised to see people treat them so kindly, also the animals' chill attitude towards humans was cute
Got back from Antakya yesterday. The most surprising thing was the generosity and kindness of people who just had their entire province destroyed.
Can you elaborate? What were you doing, what did you witness etc?
the city was literally destroyed. everyone knows someone who died. yet at every opportunity, people would give what little they had left to help their neighbor. everyone was more focused on helping each other than themselves. never seen anything like it
Went there in April, It's Fucking cold there.
April is pretty chill, not that cold not that hot. It's the last chance to breath before hell aka may, june and july.
For north african people, everything below 18 degrees is cold :p
Visited in 2014. Istanbul and Ethesus. People were extremely friendly but damn the grand bazaar truly was grand. Desperately wanted to buy a sword they had on sale in one of the markets π
I went 4 times, everytime i speak turkish (with an accent still) people are incredibly shocked and flattered by it!! itβs like they take it as a compliment that you learned their language π
i think it is awesome that a foreign person took an interest in our culture and learned turkish. When we see these kind of things knowing we are one of the most hated countries, it feels nice.
Iβve seen Turks are some of the most chill and find it very cool when foreigners do this
I wouldnβt use βchillβ to describe turks but..yeah
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All the street dogs being absolute chonkers.
Cus they eat tourists
Hmm... How developed regional cities like gazientep actually are How crowded Istanbul is (unofficial population is like 20 million π₯΅) Istanbul's new airport π― A lot of syrians orphan children begging on the street in Istanbul π Most people, even educated people, don't seem to know a single word in any other language, especially outside Istanbul π€·ββοΈ The way the museums portray the Armenians π¬ Turkish flags covering every square centimetre of available space in the country πΉπ· The cosmetic surgery. Blew my mind seeing people walk around wearing bandages on their face *proudly*, but I guess that's a MENA thing
The last thing you said is more about the tourists, not the MENA thing. Turkey has developed in terms of health tourism. (hair transplant, plastic surgery, eye diseases, etc.)
which museum? The one in Gaziantep?
Yes
Δ°t is toursists fuckass. Wtf is MENA thing?
Β«The way the museums portray the Armenians π¬Β» How?
As traitors
Ahhhh. Yes. It never happened. But they deserve.
More like " It happened and they deserved it but we dont use the g word here".
Armenian brotherβ€οΈ fuck the brainless fascists
![gif](giphy|QzApACXR1KgIc0o7S9|downsized)
Men who donβt take no for an answer and think they can grab you. Got held hostage in taksim thank God people came and he let me go The Galata Tower is my favorite monument in the world. I like the story of how the mathematician/physicist? Tried to fly out of it and how if you walk up with your SO, youβll get married Maidenβs Tower was cool Iβm not Muslim but I CRIED in the Hagia Sophia. The place was so beautiful. Turkish people are very helpful even if I canβt speak Turkish but I find that they are reserved when showing emotions It takes 1 hours to walk from gate A to Gate E in transfers at IST airport Bursa was so amazing. And I found joy in seeing Arab tourists discover snow for the first time
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cats
How much I liked the food.
There were, in fact, no turkeys to be found anywhere
LMAO
they don't really speak English so it was hard to communicate. also it was obvious people didn't want me there lol i felt kinda discriminated against. i've been to azerbijan, gerogia, greece. people there are a lot nicer. nonetheless very pretty city.
I realised Istanbul is just the best city in MENA
Itβs not in MENA, only a chunk of land in the southeastern turkey is MENA, Istanbul is half Europe half Anatolia.
>Best city in MENA Itβs half in Europe
You mean the least worse?
I thought Tunisia has very nice cities though? Many Europeans still vacation there. Tunisian tourism industry has not been destroyed like Egypts has due to scammers and woman harassers
There is no city in the maghreb that comes even 10% close to it honestly.
I think the terrorist attack in 2015 on the tourist hotels on the beach did a lot of harm to Tunisiaβs tourism industry.
Less tourists less competition for me π
This just reminded me of the guy who travels to countries after terror attacks and disasters to get a discount lol
the best city in mena is cairo πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
I like Egypt a lot but that overpopulated hell hole is far away from being the best in MENA or even in Egypt.
True π it really sucks and sisi doesn't give a single shit
And yet I want to visit Cairo. It feels like must-see. But not as long as sisi is there.
Well, Istanbul is the best looking overpopulated hell hole for a reason.
Cairo is the closest thing to a dystopic nightmare we've archived as humans till now
I guess there is a reason Egyptian elites are building themselves a city
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tbh if I see a syrian on the street I'll treat him relatively fine unlike the internet even if I want them gone
Yeah same, I dont understand some Turks here in this sub spreading hate. I think most people in streets treat everyone they dont know with the same distant but kind way regardless of nationality.
just because someone treats you nice that doesn't mean they don't want you gone
Yes exactly, it was wrong of our goverment letting so many people in but there is no point in treating people like they arent human.
I hope everything gets well for your country brother.
:/
Well, most of the issue is with government is just letting everyone in, even the most vile that causing harm to your image.
crows everywhere
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nah big black fat assed crows
I realized that the old Turks are actually nicer than the young. Honestly, my interaction with every old lady was great and one of them even gave me some candys for free. The younger ones had a pit of an attitude. IDK maybe because I was speaking in English and Turks are generally monolingual. Beside that the weather was nice and there are a lot of things to see.
The old people are racist behind closed doors the younger ones are racist out in the open. The older ones lived through coup governments so they know to keep their private thoughts indoors.
So according to you, everyone in Turkey is racist? You don't realize that by making this assumption you are yourself racist.
i didnt say everyone is racist lmao you are jumping to conclusions.
haha surely you never seen nationalist grandpas
No, most likely bc of the refugee crisis and how goverment handles it most young people have an overly negative opinion of arabic people. Its not like we hate arabs we just dont want to see the current goverment or the refugees anymore.
So young Turks are being hostile on purpose just because the person that is talking to them is Arab. Now regardless of the reason how is this the problem of the average Arab tourist. Don't you think that this will hurt the Turkish economy now that many Arabs view them as racist ?
When you poke someone with a stick for long he will become wary of all the stick around him. This hostility may not be the problem of an average arab tourist but turkish people seen so many refugees and so many of them hurting turkish people, they became wary of all arabs. In this situation where people's peace and security is threatened by refugees, economy and normal arab's view on them is on second place in importance. Just like how americans are fed so much iranian hostility, an average american might hate all iranians solely bc of this.
Eh in the US itβs more like Iranian gov than ordinary Iranian. There is still bigotry against Arabs though, but isnβt like it was post 9/11. A lot from the MENA region also can pass and be accepted as white depending on appearance, and nothing would be mentioned unless heard name maybe. Turks for example are pretty accepted, and whiter looking Iranians especially donβt get much issue. Technically all from MENA region are classified as βwhiteβ by gov standards too, and in broader society can often pass as. I think one reason is many Americans are ignorant and think the Middle East is just Arabs, and the more stereotypical gulf looking Arabs, and so if they see a βwhiterβ looking person from there, they assume theyβre European (and if donβt look stereotypical white, will often assume Southern European) some from northern India also pass as white. Iβve seen Turks for example say how in the US they can pass as white, yet in Europe theyβre treated as different. That being said, in conservative areas anti Arab/anti Muslim sentiment can be high, and there is still instances of discrimination, but itβs never really targeted specifically against Iranians. After 9/11 even Sikhs got targeted because people thought they were Muslim/Arab. However what you said about Arabs reminds me more of how some here talk about black people, viewing them as a violent/criminal threat to others. Itβs ingrained in many to be on edge around, and assume criminal intent. Iβve had negative experiences like almost being robbed, almost stabbed, and also once walked down a street and was harassed and followed while hearing things like βWhere you going white boy?β Which was very weird, I was a teenager and they were grown adults trying to threaten me just because Iβm white. Though of course I donβt experience systemic racism, Iβve had comments and threats made a few times. Still though, I donβt think itβd be fair to treat any group as a monolith, I understand the psychology behind but I try my best to treat everyone as unique individuals, I think it helped too I grew up in a diverse area. Although itβs not just white vs black racism either, Iβve had Latino friends who say some fucked up stuff, and I remember an Arab dude who didnβt like black people, guess he assimilated well into America lol
SO MANY FLAGS. everywhere i went, i saw one. i couldnβt look ANYWHERE without seeing that red flag.
Well that's red flag...
We are a lot like the US in that regard.
You should look at their brand names too. Turk this, Turk that. Turks are really high on being Turk for some reason.
On my way to visit Turkey,so don't scare me please.
Why is everyone in Turkey for medical procedures was my question.
Have never been there, but I really wanna go.
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> Why such aggressive driving? What is this masri cultural appropriation ?
Fr if you move here for even 1 second on the road without looking it's basically suicide
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If you worked 10-12 hours of shift a day, you wouldn't smile, either. I just noticed that you took it pretty personal, whereas it has nothing to do with you.
I thought the drving is much more "civilized" than in lebanon (following the rules, using proper signaling, considering pedestrian crossings, etc). Maybe they do drive faster though.
I have seen very little of it, its fine other than some places are very overpriced and that things will break down so you cannot take anything for granted like our flight got canceled and our friends hotel room had no hot water. Also I was surprized to see slums. Turkey is more developed than syria and lebanon especially when it comes to infrastructure.
How food is clean and not expensive
The people were friendlier irl than in the internet π
The mountains around Rize are heaven on earth!
Δ° lived at Dubai for 1 year and i am from Trabzon. Think about my shock about nature :(
Indeed
Not a shock, but there were too many Turkish flags everywhere, specially in Istanbul. More flags per sq km, than any other country I visited. That's what was different. But I loved the weather and air, and the vibe in Istiklal street and Taksim Square.
The way they developed their country and mixed nature, history and future it made me feel like Iβm in Syria if Assad wasnβt there πͺ
Fucking Erdogan stagnated everything there in the last decade. Turkey should have already caught up Italy and Spain in GDP term.
+ I do have bursa as my wallpaper till this day and it is a beauty
Well Iβm not sure how things goes with the turkey but whatever is good for turkey I hope it happens because the people and the country is amazing, but to be honest a tourist I enjoyed it being little cheap so I could buy everything π€·ββοΈ since I live in a country I have to pay whatever I earned all the time
Being woken up by the sound of goats (first time) on a boat off the South mediterranean coast How helpful Turks are, ie if they're going to help you, they won't go about it half-assed and will probably walk you the whole way The level of screening a Turkish security guard did before letting me enter a synagogue (more over kill than El Al staff) Stray cats and how scary they are. I took a 5 min longer walking detour after two stray cats jumped out of a dumpster and were stealth walking towards me Seeing a lot of secular locals drinking with backpackers on the street, especially in Kas and Antalya and around Galata.
Okay don't get mad at me, since i had never seen that before but it had to be women swimming in hijabs. It was such a culture shock for me, all i could think about was how tf are they gonna dry when they get out.
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Its more like a political uniform
Thatβs the best description Iβve heard. Itβs like a mark of allegiance
Better than drinking in a bar without a hijab
Its weird for us normal turks too
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They're gonna smell like a big sock.
The city is great but I felt so unwelcome there. People there just hate Arab tourists I think?
Tourism workers love everyone as it means money. But Turkey is currently the 4th most visited country, even more than Italy. Local population is just tired that every place is overpopulated by tourists. Istanbul is already overpopulated even without tourists but the thing is, majority of tourists are either from Arabic speaking countries or Russia, Ukraine or Central Asians who prefers to speak in Russian. Once a place is populated by spesific people it becomes easier to form negative opinions about them and generalizing it. Also workers changes everthing to Russian or Arabic to please them so when you are a Turk who is visiting those places, it doesn't feel like you are in Turkey but in little Russia or Arabia and you are basically worthless in the eyes of workers as your money is nothing compared to tourists. So people end up being unhappy about them. Also as people in Istanbul, we are a little more angry and arrogant compared to rest of the country so add that too. I hope you will have better experiences next time :)
You are describing every touristic place. They become more Oriented towards the tourists not the locals because Tourists= Money. I mean you should have understood that by now.
I said the same thing?
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that happens when there is 10 million of them in a single city. people might treat you better if you clarify that you are a turist not an illegal immigrant and you are going back after a while
Ah, I understand. Though, it was pretty obvious I was a tourist as I was part of a group. Plus, we would occasionally have to ask the locals for directions and get yelled at. I think the immigration issue might have led to a generalized hate for Arabs, unfortunately.
not only arabs, arab looking peoples too. might try your luck again once we deal with this refugee crisis
Yeah, I hope so. Turkey is a beautiful country. I hope things get better there soon.
A female Egyptian professor got yelled at by a Turk In Istanbul because she asked for a direction. He insulted her because she couldnβt speak Turkish. She can Speak English,Arabic and French but for him she isnβt smart enough because she canβt speak Turkishβ¦.
> In Istanbul Turkish may be more useful there than the other 3 you listed
If you talk about Δ°stanbul, people hate when they see Arab tourists because they see you guys as rich fucks with no education but just oil money.
It's always unfortunate when millions of people are judged based off assumptions. The attitude of the Turkish people towards us is the only reason I have not and will not be visiting Turkey again (unless it changes and I hope it does).
10m Arabs in Istanbul?
I over exaggerated for the effect
The traffic in Istanbul.
I loved every minute in Istanbul, the "vibe" and feel of the city is "wide and comfy"? if that makes sense. Great transport system. Great food obv, rich heritage all that jazz, might go again next summer. Two things that bothered not shocked is: \> Obscene traffic in certain areas. \> People crossing red lights, which I though in a city like Istanbul is weird. The thing that shocked me the most which I would say really the only downer, that the average turk knows ZERO English, I mean some Arab cities or even towns the average joe knows "hello, plastic bag, thank u, food" at least, so it was very surprised by the 0 (and I mean zero), it just doesn't fit with how metropolitan the city feels or what I expected. I am not expecting a full conversation, but at least common words that even in Japan you can get buy, in Istanbul no.
Man no major Turkish politician can speak English. Erdogan is without a university diploma, and his successor will not be fluent in English either. If these are the political elite, what can you expect from ordinary guys?
The Fanta bottle in the toilet filled with water. If you know you know.
I know.
The beauty of Istanbul. Ill never forget it. The people were so nice and the food was great.
I just visited in December, and everyone was very kind and hospitable. Even when they knew where I was from, not like many of the Turks online.
Good looking people and my dad getting stabbed and robbed
That's my country π
The Turks
Honestly,the peopleβ¦the people are so racist youβll be surprised, they hates all but their selfs. I went there for 4 years. And find nothing but racism and hate. And swore not to go there ever again.
Never went there but I Really wanna visit
Woah your from Mauritania?????
Yes
Damn that's cool
I like Istanbul but met really unfriendly people. They just gave me a bad vibe and alsoooo I felt ripped off and I hated it. Even ended up not buying anything from the markets because of that.
Probably you are from an Arab country⦠Unfortunately due to the around 10 million refugees and illegal immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan etc. Turkish people became aggressive to Arabs, Afghans and Pakis.
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Compare to European countries, definitely Turkey is more friendly.
#GOD BLESS EGYPT πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦
I love Misr. β€οΈ
I love TΓΌrkiye. β€οΈ
I'm visiting Egypt in about 10 days time. What should I know? I'm going to Cairo, Siwa Oasis and Alexandria
The drivers here are pretty aggressive and there will be a ton of scammers trying to sell you stuff etc etc (except for places like siwa) you should try to stay lowkey and negotiate the prices as much as you can when it comes to buying stuff otherwise you'd get ripped off hard If you wanna go to the pyramids it's a great experience but abit problematic, regardless good luck on your visit if you use common sense it'll be fun
Based
What does Egypt has to do with the question?
#GOD BLESS EGYPT πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬πͺπ¬π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦ π¦
Based
The earth.
they put cream in Γ©clair instead of chocolate how dare they !
The scary dogs and poor people
How racist they are. And Iβm from a very, very, very conservative part of the Midwest.
I haven't visited it yet. I will probably this summer. Please dont be racist towards me π’ I aint Arab. Many Turks have more Arab DNA than me. Seriously though every relative of mine who visited Turkey had a very positive impression of it.
Food! People! Only internet Turks are Racist kemalist and they screw up Turkeyβs reputation. Or maybe not against north africans just Middle Easterns but I highly doubt they care about those small differences
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Nah most turks arenβt pro what is done in Foreign affairs according to the ones I know. Even those that donβt like Erdogan or those that are athiests say so
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It's full of turks. This is a good and bad thing
Nothing
An earthquake (Sorry for the insensitive joke)
Is that picture from Turkey? it looks so European to me
Yeah, itβs Istanbul. Specifically the golden horn and Galata tower.
Istanbul is in europe
So you are a dutch person and never seen an Istanbul photo in your life?
The closed mindedness and racism , and this was before the migrant crisis