Do Turkish people like to leave Turkey?
Written By Hikmet Cihan
No.
I dreamt of leaving Turkey a lot for years. But after travelling around the globe for the last 10 years and actually seeing and experiencing things firsthand, I usually returned loving my country even more. If the trip forced me to stay outside of Turkey for more than a week, I returned literally to kiss the holy soil of Turkey.
When I saw the words “Evinize hoş geldiniz” (Welcome back home) in the airport, my eyes literally got wet.
And when I actually had the chance to move away for good (got a job offer from Toronto, Canada and after that England and Singapore), I seriously considered moving away and finally decided really not do it, even when the position made much more sense careerwise.
Here are my several reasons behind the decision to stay in Turkey:
Pride and Prejudice
You will always be second class citizens and no one is welcoming you with open arms.
While Canadians are known to be one of the kindest and most polite people on earth, a few friends currently living in Canada told me racism is still there even if it’s downplayed and swept under the carpet.
No matter how far from Islam you are (two of my friends living in Canada (Montreal and Toronto) are both atheists and outspoken about that), you are still perceived as a Muslim and at least half of the West doesn’t like muslims.
To be a Turk is even worse somehow; not only are you a Muslim but a badass, unruly, and agressive Muslim.
And the cold attitude is not even exclusive to people from the middle earth, I mean the East. Western people, while being relatively more respectful to each other and their privacy, are colder and more distant to each other.
I’ve seen people who look through the hole in their apartment’s door to make sure there is no one on the way to the elevator so that they won’t be required to say hi to any neighbours. In Turkey, we share food with our neighbours and invite them to drink tea or have dinner to get to know them better. Neighbors even take care of your kids when you have to be somewhere. You can even ask your neighbor for some supplies if you have run out, like tomato paste, spices, rice, etc.
Barbecue parties where everyone brings their own meat and stands vigilant in front of it so no one accidentally picks their meat. In Turkey everyone brings some food and everyone is happy to share what they have.
People bringing drinks to the parties take them back when they leave. I’ve even heard they brought back uneaten potato chips. That is just unacceptable in Turkey. We literally forcefeed our guests. If the guest doesn’t stuff themselves silly or doesn’t look extremely comfortable, we think something is wrong with our food or hospitality.
Compassion
Abroad, if you die on the streets no one would care. There was a case of a man brutally getting mauled by some people on the streets and there were hundreds of people watching and no one intervened! In Turkey, if something happens to you in the streets, people will definitely intervene, help you and if needed carry you to the hospital.
People will take care of you, especially in rural Turkey. It’s impossible to stay homeless and without food. As of now, Turkey hosts more than 5 million refugees.
Even in megacities like Istanbul (where I grew), when you ask nicely, people will help you, restaurants will offer something for you to eat, and public transports will take you without requiring any money.
Turks love to take care of their furry citizens as well.
One of the reasons I cannot live elsewhere is I would really miss all the stray animals on the streets of Turkey. Also the Turkish people with their big and kind hearts.
It is not pink as you think!
Greener pasture syndrome.
I have/had many foreigner coworkers, Swedes, Norwegians, British, Germans, Belgians etc. At least 3 of them decided to stay and retire in Turkey even though they never imagined to be staying longer than necessary in a “country like Turkey.” They unanimously say;
“Yes, Turkey has some issues, but everyone else does, too.”
Politicians are universally corrupt.
Media lies to you wherever you go. It is like the disease of the century.
If you think there is at least freedom of expression in the West, then tell me about the Assange situation.
And freedom is also relative. I can say we are even more free in Turkey than anywhere else, at least law enforcement is bit relaxed, too. Usually, no one puts you into prison for criticising government. Hell, I’ve been doing that for 18 years. Though I have to admit you have to be very very careful since there is a fine line between insulting and criticising.
At the personal level, freedoms you enjoy can vary, depending on where you live. In Çankaya, Ankara for example, you can still drink alcohol and eat pork (yes you can find pork in supermarkets like Migros in Bilkent, or order high quality pork online for reasonable prices) even during Ramadan, and no one would even look at you.
Quality of life
Turkey may not be the strongest country economically but it certainly has its own charm. Life is easy in Turkey unless you are “suffering daily, and barely surviving” in a big fat city like Istanbul where everyone wants to be (I can’t blame them. I lived in istanbul for 35 years. She is like a girl you are madly in love with. She hurts you regularly but you are still madly in love.)
My beloved Istanbul is painfully beautiful.
So unless you are suffering in Istanbul, life is actually pretty easy and slow in Turkey.
Housing and food are cheap.
When I was prospecting for a living in Toronto, while the pay was good (around 120k-140k), it was simply impossible to maintain my current lifestyle. Currently me and my wife are both working and getting senior engineer level salaries. We are able to live in a 4+1 house that belongs to us in the capital Ankara (still paying mortgage but we are close) with access to a relatively large garden with trees and roses, and we can afford a babysitter/cleaner lady, and both of our kids are going to private schools. It was seemingly impossible to maintain this sort of life in Canada unless you are super rich.
Life is not all work of course and Turkey is a touristic heaven. You can’t tire of roaming around Turkey, whatever your holiday preferences are.
It it is historical tourism that entices you, Turkey is one of the best in the world. Göbeklitepe (world’s first temple ever), Ephesos, Hattusha (Hittites), Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and many others, do I even need to say more? 20 of Turkey’s Most Impressive Historical Sites - GoTurkey
If your idea of a vacation is beaches.
Maybe mountaineering or trekking is your thing.
Oh, the Turkish food!
Oh, the Turkish food! While I’m not very picky and can enjoy cold smoked fish or bratwurst even for breakfast, after the third day I start to crave for Turkish food.
Turkish Food is definitely one of the best in the world. Each town, even each district has their own specialty. It will take more than one lifetime to sample all the unique food Turkey has to offer. There were even more than one TV programs about that. People travelled all over Turkey to taste the local delicacies. It ran for years.
Turkish breakfast culture is a beast.
While you can go small like this,
you can also go wild with a Van style breakfast.
A French friend went out of her head when she saw the amount of cheese we offer. There are literally hundreds of cheeses (and wines too) Turkey has to offer. She wanted to open a cheese and wine shop in France and put a menu that consists of mostly Turkish cheese and wines.
Oh, and those rakı tables I cannot live without…
Rakı is the traditional alcoholic drink of Turkey. Also called lion’s milk, (or the milk of the lions), it has a very specific way of being consumed. Normally colorless, it turns into white when you add water — alchemy!
There are literally a hundred rules on how to drink rakı. Most of the rules could be ignored of course, but one thing never changes: the best way to drink rakı is with your best friends while listening to sad songs and a few foodstuffs like melons and feta to complement it.
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