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E-Twinning Project. ‘Knowing the Other Culture’ Part 3. Turkish Culture.
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E-Twinning Project ‘Knowing the Other Culture’ Part 3
Turkish Culture The culture of Turkey combines a heavily diverse and heterogeneous set of elements that have been derived from the Byzantine, Ottoman, European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions. Turkey's former status as a multiethnic empire which, de facto until the loss of Libya to the Kingdom of Italy in 1912 (and de jure until the official loss of Egypt and Sudan to the British Empire in 1914, as a consequence of the Ottoman government's decision to join the First World War on the side of the Central Powers) spanned three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. The present-day Republic of Turkey, which succeeded the Ottoman state in 1923, is still a transcontinental country that spans Europe and Asia. The nation was modernized primarily by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk starting from 1923. As he transformed a religion-driven former Ottoman Empire into a modern nation-state with a strong separation of state and religion, a corresponding increase in the methods of artistic expression arose. During the first years of the republic, the government invested a large amount of resources into fine arts such as paintings, sculpture and architecture. This was done as both a process of modernization and of creating a cultural identity. Because of the different historical factors defining the Turkish identity, the culture of Turkey combines clear efforts to be "modern" and Western, with a desire to maintain traditional religious and historical values.
In this part we would like to introduce some important Turkish traditional values …
Turkish Delight It is a kind of candy and very famous in Turkey but contrary to candy it is very soft. Turkish people serve Turkish delight to their guests on religious holidays. As you see in the picture there are many types of them.
Turkish Coffee Turkish coffee is very important in Turkish culture. It is generally drunk after breakfast. It is served in special tiny cups.
Turkish Meat Ravioli It is called ‘Mantı’ in Turkey. It consists of many bundles with meats in it. It is served with garlic yoghurt sauce and tomatoe sauce on it. It is difficult but a very delicious meal.
Turkish Rakı It's similar to Greekouzo and Frenchpastis. When mixed with ice and/or water for drinking, it turns milky white. Because of its color and hefty alcoholic punch, Turks call itlion's milk.
Turkish Kebab Lamb meat(generally) is grilled with Green pepper and tomatoe pieces on sticks. Turkish men eat Turkish Kebab with Turk’s traditional drink ‘Rakı’.
Baklava It is a kind of dessert. We can say that it is our national dessert. It is very hard to make it. Our grandmothers make it well, we just know how to eat it :)
Nasreddin Hodja Perhaps the most popular figure in the tradition is Nasreddin who is the central character of thousands of jokes. He generally appears as a person who, though seeming somewhat stupid to those who must deal with him, actually proves to have a special wisdom all his own: One day, Nasreddin's neighbor asked him, "Teacher, do you have any forty-year-old vinegar?"—"Yes, I do," answered Nasreddin.—"Can I have some?" asked the neighbor. "I need some to make an ointment with."—"No, you can't have any," answered Nasreddin. "If I gave my forty-year-old vinegar to whoever wanted some, I wouldn't have had it for forty years, would I?"
Karagöz&Hacivat Another popular element of Turkish folklore is the shadow theater centered around the two characters of Karagöz and Hacivat, who both represent stock characters: Karagöz—who hails from a small village—is something of a country bumpkin, while Hacivat is a more sophisticated city-dweller. Popular legend has it that the two characters are actually based on two real persons who worked for Osman I,the founder of Ottoman Empire.
It is a common attitude in Turkey and also in Muslim countries. When we visit old people, we kiss their hands and put it onto our forehead. Especially on religious days, grandchildren visit their grandparents and kiss their hands, immediately after it grandparents give money to the grandchildren.
When we send off a family member or a friend to do his military service in Turkey, this farewell turns into a display to encourage the soldier nominee.
The night before the wedding day, the women among the family and the friends of the bride meet with wearing traditional clothes and turn around the bride singing and dancing with henna in their hands. They sing sadly and wait the bride to cry as she is leaving her house and family. Some piece of henna is also put into each of the women’s palms in the meeting. It is called ‘Henna Night’ in our country.
Vicinity is very important in Turkish culture. Especially in villages neighbours share anything. This can be a photo of it.
Folk-dance Folk dance is our traditional dance and it can differ from region to region,and also the clothes are different in every region.
FIRE OF ANATOLIA It is a professional group of dancers in Turkey which often goes on tour in Europe and displays the modernized Turkish folk and oriental dances.
And if you like the movie,here are some other links of their movies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrImHI9Oz2Q&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRm8DzpbcDE&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNT6fmtIYlQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbbxbAxgtyw&feature=related
Whirling Dervishes A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity. In this respect, Dervishes are most similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus. The whirling dance of dervish or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with Dervishes is best known in the West by the practices (performances) of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sama. It is, however, also practiced by other orders. The Sama is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana).
Our Songs Here are some old and new samples of our music. We tried to choose different kinds for you…I hope you enjoy…
Bab-ı Esrar by YANSIMALAR It is an example of our mystical music. The name of the group is YANSIMALAR means ‘echoes’
We would like to introduce our winner of Eurovision Song Contest of 2003 SERTAB ERENER and her song ‘Everyway that I can’
‘Everyway That I can’ The song ‘Everyway that I can’ is about a concubine in Ottoman Harem, and her efforts to get her love back.
Tarkan Tarkan is a famous Turkish singer and also he is well-known in Europe. Maybe you might have heard him somewhere in your country. Here are his two songs…
Here are some other songs of him… http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=W8tmcJrBHJ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJkpzFlFuD4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVbtVACV5pk&feature=related
Gripin Gripin is a pop-rock music group who has many top-listed songs. They are very popular nowadays…
Hadise Hadise firstly became famous in Europe as she was born in a European country then she came to Turkey and represented Turkey in Eurovision song Contest of 2009. She still lives in Turkey.
And Sezen Aksu… She is the most famous among the others. Everyone in Turkey knows her. She made many songs both wrote the lyrics and compsed them. Also she sang with her beautiful voice.
We know that telling about the culture of a nation is a very complex and a difficult matter. We tried to introduce our culture as good as we do. We hope you feel happy to know the Turkish Culture…We will feel very happy to learn about your culture…