7 Things You Need To Stop Telling/Asking Turkish people

I meet people, and sometimes the fact that I grew up in Turkey comes up. And sometimes, people ask me stupid questions or tell me stupid things regarding this information.

Most people don’t do these. Especially people from San Francisco. They tell me about their trips to Istanbul or how they’ve heard that it’s beautiful. Even if they haven’t heard of Turkey they ask great questions that sometimes lead to amazing conversations. I’m not an advocate for Turkey, or any other country for that matter. It’s just funny to me how some people I meet think it’s okay to ask these questions and use that degrading tone.

Some people insist on taking this approach, and I shit you not, it’s no longer amusing to me.

1- So you guys travel by camels?

I don’t think that happens in metropolitan cities anymore, let alone Turkey. The only time I’ve seen a camel was in a zoo. I also don’t like the degrading tone. In Turkey, people travel by cars, public transportation and motorcycles. Just like they do in America or most of the world. The use of bicycles are usually limited to young people and mostly children.

2- So you guys live in the desert, right?

The city I grew up in -although not very pretty- was the capital of Turkey. The population is about 4 million people. It was not the desert. It looked something like this:

The city that I later moved to was Istanbul. With a population more than 12 million, the city was set on two continents Asia and Europe. Through the city is the Bosporus, which connects the Black sea to the Marmara sea. It was not the desert. The area I lived in looked something like this:

and the city and the Bosporus looks like this:

So NO, I did not live in the desert. However, Turkey is a country with a lot of geographic diversity (just like America). As you go towards the east, the climate and geography change drastically and there are areas that are deserts, and people do live there. But I’ve also been to beaches with white sand and clear blue water.

3- My friend (sic) said Turkey looks like Afghanistan.

I’ve been getting a lot of harsh comments on this. I had no intentions of implying that Afghanistan is “bad” (saying that an apple is not a pear does not mean the pear is bad, if you take it that way, maybe you should look at yourself). I think there is a certain perception of Afghanistan in America and when someone makes this kind of comment, they’re not giving me information but rather they’re trying to push buttons. I don’t want delve into this. Just because Turkey is not like Afghanistan does not mean there is no poverty, terrorism and many more problems. “Looks like” is something completely different. It also does not mean there are no deserts. I’ve referred to this on #2, there are deserts along with beaches and forests. Please stop taking blog posts this seriously, mainly ones that are not written to be taken seriously.

I’ve been getting this a lot. This pisses me off. First of all, your “friend” is an idiot. Go to #2 for geographic information. This statement usually continues with “it’s all sandy and is a desert. You ride camels around, women wear burkas etc). What pisses me off with this question is that the islamaphobia the media has infused into American culture shows itself. Just because Turkey is a muslim country does not mean it is a 3rd world country. It does not mean that people there ride camels or live in huts. Afghanistan is a war-torn country. Mainly because America. The reason you’ve just said that is so you can somehow feel like you’ve degraded me. If you don’t know anything about the country I grew up in stop giving me “facts” about it. Ask me how it was if you’re interested in it or better yet, if you’re not, just say something like “cool” and leave it alone.

4- When you’re in Turkey, do you (have to) wear head scarfs/burkas?

Although I can somewhat understand where this question comes from, it’s become the most asked and most boring question on this list. No I have never worn or intend to wear a head scarf or burka. I am not a muslim. There is no law that says women need to wear certain types of clothing. Most of my friends, including me used to wear revealing clothes, especially when we went out at night.

All my pictures from Turkey are imprisoned in one of my old laptops that I can’t turn on (I should get on that, I really want to see those pictures). I found this on facebook. It’s a picture of me at a cafe in Istanbul a few years back (sans make up).

As you can see, I’m dressed in everyday clothes. This was pretty much how I walked around every day.

However, there are women in Turkey who opt to wear head scarfs and burkas. There are women in Turkey who opt to have pink hair. The ratio usually depends on the city or region you are in.

5- Turkey the animal.

Any joke regarding the animal turkey or food is stupid. It’s not funny, never was. It does not offend me. It just makes me think you’re an idiot.

6- So you guys hate those Greeks, riiight?

This question usually comes with a nudge. No I don’t hate Greece or Greek people. I, for a matter of fact have no problems with any particular race on this planet. I do have problems with some of the governments and their policies, but that does not mean I hate a races or countries. I would be extremely offended if someone asked me this question while I lived in Turkey. I would love to visit Greece one day. But, just like everywhere else, there is racism in Turkey. Even though sometimes it’s extremely subtle. It’s sad but true. I’d also like to note that Turkish people visit Greece and Greek people visit Turkey and have no problems.

7- You can’t be Turkish, you’re white!

Yes, I’m in fact a Turkish citizen. I however do not have Turkish ancestors. My ancestors mostly come from Northern Europe (moved to America more than 200 years ago) and some from Russia. This does not change the fact that there are white Turkish people. There are also brown Turkish people. You strongly stating that I’m not Turkish is offensive. You somehow thinking that telling me I’m white and therefore can’t be from a Muslim country, is a compliment is stupid. It’s not about the skin color but that you insist that I’m not from there. Turkey has great diversity in skin colors. Telling someone they are not from a certain country because of their skin color is idiotic.

Please let me know if there are more you want to add to the list.

My advice would be, when faced with a foreigner, ask constructive questions. Ask them what their country was like rather than throwing some offensive stereotype out there. This goes for any country.