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GENERAL & PRACTICAL INFOS
The reasons for visiting
Turkey are numerous. To begin with,
this wonderful land is blessed by a
lovely nature. Surrounded by seas on
three sides, it is covered by
mountains, forests, steppes and all
sorts of land variations, all of
which is of superb beauty. Indeed
the greater part of the country is
as lovely as a national park. The
genuine friendliness and traditional
hospitality of Turks
towards visitors is justly renowned
world wide. And then of course, the
history of the land of Turkey,
called Anatolia, is incredibly rich
and long.
Turkey has hosted over the past
5000 years more than 36
civilisations .
The
whole country is the reflection of
this richness, through its culture,
traditions, archeology, and still hosts many ethnic and
religious minorities such as
armenians, jewish, christians,
old levantine families, and so on.
Its geographical location
borders with Armenia, Iran, Syria, Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia which
all add to Turkey’s great influence.
As a fact Turkey is the cradle of our
civilisations, harboring in its
bosom an incredible blend of
cultures, history, and
archaeological sites.
SAFETY
At this very moment there's
not a single reason not to go to
Turkey. Regarding the average crime
rate most foreigners will be even
safer in Turkey than at home. The
crime rate in Istanbul (about 12
million inhabitants) is far lower
than in western countries and in non-
tourist Turkey. It's virtually non
existent. The risk that something is
stolen from you by Turks is about
zero.
RELIGIOUS
ASPECT
It is a well- known fact to
those who have already been to
Turkey, which The Turkish Republic
is a singular and unique country,
totally different from all Islamic
countries of the world.
It is indeed a modern,
democratic, secular country, where
everyone can openly belong to any
religion of their choice. This is
guaranteed by the Constitution
itself. Although the great majority
of the population is Moslems, there
is total respect and tolerance
towards other convictions, cultures
and descent.
You need to be aware though
that Turkey, some areas are still
conservative and the values of Islam
are widely respected. Very informal
or revealing clothing can be seen as
disrespectful, especially in small
towns.
ATATURK :
MUSTAFA KEMAL
Turkey is a democratic,
secular republic that was
established in 1923 after the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The
founder of Modern Turkey is
Ataturk
who led Turks in the 1919-1922
War of Independence. He went on to
reform the education system and
language, replaced the Koranic law
with European codes and commenced
the process of building a modern,
industrial society.
In 1949 Turkey became a
member of the Council of Europe,
1952 it joined NATO and played a
vital role in the Cold War. And
joined the Customs Union with Europe
and has applied for full membership
of the European Union. The military
is seen as the defender of the
Constitution and Secularism in
Turkey.
WOMEN'S
RIGHTS
The new Civil Code, adopted in 1926, abolished polygamy and
recognized the equal rights of women
in divorce, custody, and inheritance.
The entire educational system from
the grade school to the university
became coeducational. Ataturk greatly admired the support that the
national liberation struggle
received from women and praised
their many contributions: " In
Turkish society, women have not
lagged behind men in science,
scholarship, and culture. Perhaps
they have even gone further ahead."
He gave women the same opportunities
as men, including full political
rights. In the mid-1930s, 18 women,
among them a villager, were elected
to the national parliament.
And Turkey had:
"The world's first women supreme
court justice."
LANGUAGE
The most difficult change in
any society is probably a language
reform. Most nations never attempt
it; those who do, usually prefer a
gradual approach. Under Atatürk's
Leadership, Turkey undertook the
modern world's swiftest and most
extensive language reform. In 1928,
when he decided that the Arabic
script, which had been used by Turks for a thousand year, should
be replaced with the Latin alphabet. He asked the experts: "How long
would it take?" Most of them
replied: "At least five years." "We shall do it," Ataturk said, "within five months".
Today,
Turkey has major universities all
over the country. Except for Europe
and North America she has one of the
world's highest ratios of university
graduates to population. English and
German are widely spoken in hotels
and restaurants resorts and cities.
In villages it can be difficult to
find people who speak languages
other than Turkish. But the natural
friendliness of Turkish people will
overcome many barriers. If you learn
even a few basic words of Turkish
you will be rewarded with an
enthusiastic response form the
people.
WHAT TO PACK
Turkey has a diverse range of
climates. The coast is generally
mild in winter and hot in summer.
The interior is warm in summer and
cold in winter so you will need to
bring clothes according to the
season. Turks are generally informal
in their choice of clothing and so
there is little need to bring formal
wear.
Turkey is also a
country for walking either to enjoy
the scenery or visiting the rights.
Good footwear, hat, sun protection
are advisable.
Turkey uses a 220volt electricity,
50cycles, 2pin European plug system,
so you will need to bring an adapter
if your electricity system is
different.
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