NationMaster - Discussion - Turkey Profile

Mistakes 12th August 2012	Istanbul's population is 13,483,052, Turkey' population is 74,724,269. They needed to be corrected.
awsomeness 8th March 2011	you guys should post facts about the economy
Max Robinson 28th February 2011	Turkey is a land locked country
juma assi 23rd September 2010	okay the fact the you guys act like you everything, is funny to me. it is a islamic country, and we don't call them "arabs" we call them muslim. so get over yourself "edda" second go get your geography right, because European went war with turkey. they had nothing to do with turkey in the first place. turkey always had muslim people in it.
eck 10th September 2010	to oscar: another mindwashed individual about turks. whne turks not mongols invaded anatolia they didn't massacre people, they mostly used assimilation and migration. that's why today greece, which was under ottoman rule for many centuries remained christian and greek. and you're also misinformed that turks couldn't invade cyprus. cyprus belonged to turks until ottoman empire had to leave it to british empire temporarily. but after the first world war the island remained with the british who later had to give cyprus its freedom. after that, greek cypriots began killing turks and creating chaos, thus 1974 coup had to take place so turkish cypriots were protected. cyprus belongs to turks as much as it belongs to greeks.
Hakan Kutlu 21st February 2010	I wrote a book named 101 questions about Turkey.being a Turkish citizen and a professional Tour Guide.I use some information from nationmaster or similar others.But I kindly ask the moderator of these web sites to give accurate and updated information.ie Istanbul's population is over 13 million.plus If Turkey is a middle eastern country what about Georgia?It is in Europe.Is not it? regards...
Dennis 3rd January 2010	Turkey is definetly not European so the categorization middle east is a nice description, also geografically only 3-5% is European. The only other country that is not 100% on Europe is Russia, and because most of its territory is asian it is considered asian in this website. So the comments about categorizing Turkey should stop. Just because Turkey has a deep military state that prevents having a ruling islamist party doesn't make Turkey neither European neither democratic. Besides no ottoman-concurred country has any 'love' for Turkey whether Christian or Muslim, except Azerbaijan. That basically shows how good rulers you were. It is also a fact that Turkey has 0,1 to 0,2% christians eventhough you are basically surrounded by christian nations. An asian large muslim country like Iran has a 0,5 to 1% christians and that is fact. And that proves that Turks cleansed the country throughtout its modern history. Kurds are estimated to be 20% in Turkey according to CIA. That means about 14.000.000 people. Yet still Kurdish is not even recognized as an official minority language and are probably arrested if they do write kurdish in like newspapers. And then Turks say well there is no kurdish literature or that Kurds write in Turkish. First thing Turkey should do is recognize that a sunni muslim is not necessarily a Turk. A real census covering all minorities should be done if you really want us to believe you that you have 85%-90% Turk population. Then the minority rights must be established and protected. Also if you are European in mentality North Cyprus should be given to its rightful owner the republic of Cyprus. You know that government that did not started the whole war to begin with but felt victim of a very short lived coup de etat which was used as an idiotic excuse to occupy north Cyprus by 'peaceful' Turkey. Too bad for Turks that Cyprus was part of the UK when Turkey did its 'displacement' work in Asia Minor. As for the Turkish Cypriot minority will be well protected within the EU realm so no worries about that either. But then again you dont plan on giving back that land through negotiations are you? Ottomans never gave something out of rightousness or human rights. All countries gained their independence from ottoman empire through war. And Turkey continues that mindset. PKK just used the only weapon turkish people ever understand, the sword. And Kurds have been fighting for their independence from the beginning, since 1925, so they are not terrorists but freedom fighters, fighting a totalitarian and ultranationalistic regime.
Edda 24th November 2009	Turkey is definitely NOT a Middle Eastern country. Turkey has no ties with that region other than having the same religion. Turks are NOT Arabs, they have no common history with the Middle Easterners, no similar language, etc.. Every other website (including European Union websites) consider Turkey as a European country (and it is). Turkey being in this category shows the lack of required knowledge this website administrators have.
Osman Sirin 13th November 2009	Hi All Firstly, Im Osman Im sixteen and Im English Student in A.V.P Anatolian High School.. and I think other countries persons think Turkish's terrorist, They're very strict etc... This's a big MİSTAKE!! If you aren't came Turkey, you doesn't say anything my COUNTRY.. Finally, I probably will go to USA next year.. I know anybody love me there. But Im try this.. Take Cares all
TOSUN 2nd July 2009	Second answer for Mithat Yavlum. You say that turks are not european by race, language, origin. Who are ? Are germans european ? or French ? All those people are descendants of nomadic barbaric tribes coming from the steppes to the Roman Territory. Furthermore, any linguistic authority can explain you that Turkish is in the same european language family tree along with Persian (Iranian).
Tosun 2nd July 2009	Mithat Yavlum. You say that Turkey is not a European country claiming that it has only a small region in Europe. Geographically you seem to be right. Turkey really has its 97% of land area in near east. But you know what. That remaining 3% "small" land area is still larger than several other European countries (Belgium, Netherlands,Luxembourg vice versa). These sentences are written by Tosun....
M. Sevim 23rd June 2009	Turks are not Mongolians, this is not more than a blame of people who do not like Turks! Visit the following Wikipedia page about the genetic origins of the Turkish people for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_origins_of_the_Turkish_people
bilgi-sa bilişim 22nd June 2009	Hakkari, Türkiye
Professor 21st June 2009	Turkey is not in the Middle East. Turkey is in the Near East. Get your facts right! I will not address the several other minor but common misconceptions and indoctrinations stated in this article because I do not have time to rewrite other's people's work.
Arman Kalyani (Walnut Creek California) 25th March 2009	I just read this whole thing and you all have bits rights but are all jumbled up about your history.First of all...all tribes of central Asia are of Altaic descent which means we are all the same Turks are mongols mongols are Turks it is genetically proven that Russians are a mix of Scandinavian vikings slaves and turkic tribes fighting over the same area looting and raping the same area and left behind their offspring.that is why they all look different.Some are are tall and fair colored and some are stocky and dark and some are more Asiatic.Anyways turks migrated a lot over history to different areas and mixed with people but obviously kept their turkic identity originally the osmans were just one family with a lot of power and there was barely any turkish blood their now even though turkey is populated by many different people turks have taken anatolia by right even if most people are not original turks.if turks have to give up land for minorities then so does china iraq america russia would lose half its country england iran and many other countries but noone will do that but because everyone makes turks out to be villians they expect them to.because it is not turks writing the history books but it is always one of their countless bitterenemies.Turks should not be in europian union they should make a turkic union but remain friendly with europians because the worlds goal should be peace right now.I am karadenizli turk and azeri turk and i can understand when people speak either languages and we may not be able to converse with turkmens or uzbeks but is german and french and spanish the same??? but they are all "europeans"the ottomons brought peace and stability to the regions they ruled before ww1 armenians were very wealthy in turkey and they had healthy relationship armenians were very strong in gold and jewelry trading. Turks being islamic makes no sense!!! they fought the persians and arabs for 400 years over and we only excepted it for influence in the area because at the time the middle east was the richest area in the world.and we were ready to migrate but we needed an excuse to conquer land without revolts happening every day.turks have setbacks.yes we are a naturally violent people.not anymore.through years of modernization we have become rather peacefully except when our soveirenity is threatened.Gifted warriors did what they knew best-rape loot plunder kill. None is bitching at scandinavians anymore for what they did.istanbul is the greatest city in europe hands down.shit happened in the past but bottom line is everyone needs to get over it you do not even know the people who suffered at the hands of turks and we dont even know the turks who were enjoying those riches and i am yet to enjoy turkey being at war with anyone. Turks are a beautiful and diverse people why do people keep bitching about us rather than enjoy what we have to offer?????
Mithat (USA) 3rd January 2009	in response to Alan Kayak who says that Turkey is NOT a middle eastern country! So, what should we consider Turkey then? We know for sure that Turkey is not a European country (even if some turkish people want to believe that). Turkey does not lie in Europe geographically (except for a small part of it). Its people are not european by origin, race or language. the language is originally asian, that became mixed with a lot of Arabic and Persian words. Yes, Turkey did CLEAN their language -as turkish officials called it then- from these words almost 100 years ago. and decided to write their language in latin letters instead of Persian or (Arabic) letters in attempt to make it seems european. But the languge itself is still ASIAN by Grammar. And for people who study languages, it's very close language to the Mongolian language (their cousins). I do know that less than 20% of turkish population are cerkez (sharkess), yuguslav, albinian and other Eurpeans, But the rest are turk, turkic, arminian, greek, persian, Arabs, and others who are asain or middle eastern! So, Alan, if Turkey is not a middle east country, and is not european, what is it, then? Mangolian!!
PAABU DANJI (TARABA-NIGERIA) 21st October 2008	WANT TO KNOW THE POSTAL ADDRESS OF EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN UNIVERSITY, (CYPRUS)EUROPE
Lavinia (Rome, Italy) 3rd September 2008	I agree that Greeks and Turks look very much alike. But they are so different Greeks have problems with all their neighbours. They don't recognize their minorities. They are very bad as neighbours
Ahmet (Germany) 7th August 2008	Turks have a history about over 4000 years with powerful emperorship.At the management of these Turkish emperorship management presidents and emperior was fair.Kurdish people and Turkish people are relatives.They can live together.I'm Kurdish and we do not need any separate country.We are brother of Turks.
nurcan (Istanbul) 26th June 2008	I dont understand why some counties insist saying that Turkey is in the middle East.. It would be but it is not, it is Europe country.. Do you think changing your site title yet?
Alan Kayak (VA, USA.) 29th April 2008	Turkey is not a Middle Eastern country and should not be classified under one as. This is common knowledge and I'm puzzled as to sites and places that still list it as one.
Ruthless (World) 28th March 2008	Since the Kurdish language was banned, people who spoke the language were detained, so there is obviously a decrease in the number of speakers. And this is called forced assimilation. Not everyone in Turkey is a Turk. Not everyone in Turkey came from Central Asia. Turkey is still thinking that it is still an empire.
melis cagin (istanbul) 30th December 2007	Country information chart thing is pretty outdated. The admins of the site had better stay more in tuned with the political developments in the countries they claim to be presenting.
halil (cyprus) 30th November 2007	turks(oguz) learn some real history, not what some imperialist german wrote 200 years ago. gokturk state theory for example is complete BS tatars are turks dear mr staff editor. the turkic peoples speak their own local dialects, but some dialects/languages are purer than others( eg chuvash in comparison to turkish which has too much arabic and persian, even tho kemal cleaned it out). there is no proof that today's mongols( residents of the geographic entity of mongolia) are little other than chinese people who imitated turkic culture and language. temujin is a turkic name( iron smith). the mongols and tatars were both names of tribes living in today's western mongolia, later they were used as (nick)names and a general name for people of the same kin, turks. greeks can sulk and go and jerk off to 1821. that's the only time they can ever beat turks, yet they still complex chinese and mongolians(there is no proof, only speculation that jalaichirs are the progeny of the khalka) did not expel the turks(oguz). it was the pressure of kipcaks( temurids, and so on) who were still tengrianists at this point. there was a holy war waged at the traitor oguz who became muslims. i am unhappy that turk "means" oguz to most people.oguz turks try to distort history and agree with what orientalists wrote 200 years ago in order to cover the shame of defeat by non muslims(in the beginning) kipchaks( nowadays descendants are kazaks, tatars, uzbek and so on). also turkey stop trying to impose your "turkishness" on the turks of cyprus( the majority of whom are descendants of Alevi turkmens persecuted for religious beliefs by fanatical Ottoman sunnis), by sending arabs and kurds in order to create a more homogenous state in turkey. the motherland cannot be divided. but if kurds wanted to 10 million people could've done it from before. there are traitors everywhere, not just kurds. who are the supposed "real turk nationalists"(MHP grey wolves)? they were controlled to kill innocent people, "commnunists" for May 1st demonstrations by the CIA. those are the real traitors
Artun (istanbul) 21st September 2007	We turks are actually mediterrenean which can be described as friendly and easily get used to do the society which we could in..
berivan (australia) 24th June 2007	turks do look like mongolians.This is because mongolians moved to mesopotamia because of the fertile land. Real turks actually have eyes similar to those of the people from asian countries. kurdish people however are much different they have big eyes and can be mistaken for greeks or armenian people.The only reason turks nowadays look like kurds is because they intermixed.the country that is now called turkey should really be kurdistan and the turks can just accept that.the kurdish people have lived in mesopotamia for millions of years and it time that they had a country of their own.its because of ignorant and arogant turks that there are 30 million people wandering around without a country to call there home. lol now thats vented out bye berivan dogan
oghuz (istanbul) 27th March 2007	even you say a lie thousands times, it won't be real, even everyone says sky isn't blue, sky is blue. Turkey did nothing to Armenians, it was a civil war, Ottoman only made a law about migration of Armenians who were helping Russians during the war and they helped French troops during the Independence War of Turkey as well, these are proven things, Ottoman had to do that law, which named "Tehcir", but before that there as already a civil war, Armenians weren't the majority in East Anatolia but they had known that they have to be majority for independence, then they started to kill muslims, and muslims started to kill Armenians, thousands of Armenians died but 600 000 muslim died in the same area, it shows the reality, it wasnt a genocide it was a civil war. About the pontian genocide claims, I can just laugh to Greece, I wonder will Japan claim about Japanese Genocide committed by Turks? :D But if you want I can tell you many stoies about how POntian Greek gangs murdered muslim innocent people during the WW and Independence War of Turkey, there are really awful stories I listened from my grandmother. And if you wonder about what Turks did for humanity, please search for Farabi, Ottoman architecture, the story of "carpet", shirts and pants, Europe learned these from Turks, ok? I can understand, you still feel yourself noob because of Turks administrated you hundreds of years but you don't have to, it wasnt your fault and not mine too, leave the past to the history, and let's be friends or just contuniue to claims nonsense things and let's fight like dogs, i don't want to fight but i dont want anyone to say such false things about my past like i / we dont say about your history, if we want we can. And there are US government reports about your anti-democratic acts in West Thrace to the Turkish minority. ;)
aslan (cyprus) 21st March 2007	Before continuing this discussion, we should accept the fact that our state has committed organised murder and genocide at the expense of 1,5 million armenians and a massive number of greek pontians. Until we achieve inner peace by admitting to these horrendous crimes and before compensating these people, we cannot find our roots and decide on the composition of races making up turks today
ILIAS 9th March 2007	Turks came form mongolia after 1000 A.D. Therefore they are not Europeans. They should not ever join the E.U. cos' firstly,they fought christianity since they came and secondly they can't cope with the european culture, which is mainly based on ancient Greek-Roman democracy. The last 600 years Greeks tried to cooperate with the turks but we couldn't manage. Well, if we can't settle things with turks for so many centuries, is it possiple for them to encorporate to the rest of the European family? Europe passed so many wars but now countries respect each other's borders. I don't believe that turkey would ever respect Greece's borders. I do believe, that a major war in the area would burst. Unfortunately, it's only a matter of time. If a new kurdish state is formed and turkey experiences instability, a Greek-turkish war is more likely to happen then.
Johann (Norway) 2nd March 2007	Turkey is a state artificially formed on the territory of different ancient countries like Greece and Armenia. Turkish hordes came there from the Central Asia and managed to become the majority only by the means of massacres and genocides. They are not succesors of either the ancient peoples which had lived there for tousands of years or of their culture. They are just enslavers and makers of false history.
SARI (TURKEY) 9th January 2007	Really sarah???!!So would you mind telling me exactly where "Kurdistan" is??! If you think it's anywhere in Turkey then please look at an atlas, Turkey is Turkey and will stay that way!!!!!
Belisarius (England) 14th June 2006	Tamer, ancient peoples such as the sumerians, thracians, lydians, and trojans are not the same as modern Turks. The latter are a mix, mostly of ancient Turkic tribes that migrated into Anatolia during the Middle Ages, and the indigenous population. The ancient peoples I mentioned (such as the Sumerians), were indigenous Semitic peoples, ancestors of modern-day Arabs. When the Turks migrated into Anatolia, they mixed with some of these peoples already living there. Ancient Hellenic (Greek) tribes did not migrate directly from Asia into Greece. Instead, descendants of the ancient Greeks migrated into eastern Europe from Central Asia several thousand years ago. From there, they eventually migrated south, and occupied the Greek mainland. Over hundreds of years, Greek civilization developed and thrived, and spread out beyond the Greek mainland, to the coast of North Africa, to islands in the Agean, to Anatolia, and even to Sicily, southern Italy, and the coasts of southern France and western Spain. Under the Ottomans, about two millenia later, the Turks took over the Greek speaking world of the eastern Mediterranean, driving the Greeks from Anatolia, and occupying the Greek mainland and islands. At the same time, they also clashed with the ancient semitic peoples I mentioned above, and eventually mixed with them, creating the mostly Turkish-dominant population of modern Turkey. This is the root of the current ethnic tension between Kurds and Turks, as well as the conflict between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus.
Tamer (USA) 6th June 2006	Turks come from a very ancient kingdom(Turs, Thor, Trojans, Thracians, Tyrrenians, etc.) that believed in the Tur God(Tanri- Sun God). The Turks originally were centered in Anatolia(Sumerians/Lydians/Thracians/Trojans/Scythians) and they branch out West(Basque/Celts/Etruscans/Avars) and also East(Turkmen/Tienjan/Ainu/Yakut), but still remained centered in the area often called by Turks as Eurasia(spanning from Hungary to Central Asia). Kurds are a mixed group that are Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Armenian. The Kurdish language is very similar to Persian and Armenian. The Kurds are mainly from Northern Iran and settled in Eastern Anatolia during Seljuk and Mameluke Turkish rule. Armenians are also from the region around Iran and are not indigenous to Turkey. The Greeks are definitely not from the Turkish mainland. If you read history, you will note they came from Asia 3-4 thousand years ago and settled in modern day Greece, which was originally Pelasgian(some say are also Turks). Turks do not judge themselves as white, light skin or dark. Anglo Saxon or Middle Eastern are very wrong depictions. The proper depiction is Turkish, which many Kurds and Armenians prefer to be called.
Belisarius (England) 19th May 2006	These are the facts: Turks first came into recorded history when referred to by the ancient Chinese as the "Tu-Kiu" Turks may have been from Central Asia originally, but they were actually hired by the Persians to keep the invading Mongols out in the 13th century. In Turkey, Kurdish IS a MINORITY language, but spoken MORE than Russian or English. There are several languages definitely or most likely in the same language group as Turkish: Mongolian, Korean, Japanese, Hungarian (Magyar), and Finnish Only the northern half of Cyprus is Turkish, while the south is Greek. All of Cyprus was originally Greek, and should have remained so, for most cypriots are Greek. Lastly, the Turks may have killed many Greeks, but they killed many more Armenians.
kara murat (Ankara) 18th April 2006	Answer to Greek: Historians accepts 2 peace era in the History one of them is Roman peace era and the second Ottoman Peace era. Crowded populatians reached peace in this eras...And Anatolia brought up not only good soldiers also brought up philosophers ( Mevlana, Yunus Emre,Pir Sultan Abdal, Hacı Bektas etc.) and some of them are killed like you Greeks killed Socrates!.... And too many Artists with their wonders in all arts.... i can write hundreds of contributions....I know you cant know them and they are not written in european school books, and you cant know chinees,arabic,indian culture as well..etc..and you must learn that all the europe and greeks forgot everything about greek culture for hundreds of years... but luckly Arabians (Endulus ,Spain) memorized them again You are accussing Turks of being conqueror...but your ancestors was very happy about it because they saved theirself from corrupted byzantium rule...and lived in peace for hundreds of years...If They werent leading peaceful. all Balkans, Mid East, Caucasia and North Africa was talking Turkish now. And you were writing your massages in Turkish and I wasn't unswering in English. after nationality appeared...All strong eurpoean countries came together and accepted to weaken nationality in their land and strengthen in Ottoman Land... it was the biggining of our fight. Ottomans gave you more rights than Turks and other islamics. All of the trade and good jobs were in control of christians and jews... But it wasnt enough for you because Englishs were ofering you all west Anatolia if you fight for them... And i want to memorize you how greek soldiers killed Turkish villagers,burned villages,burnd farms for nothing (it was for revenge of losing fight) while escaping from Turkish Lands.... And Armenians.. Yes we moved them from our Land. Because they killed not only Turks but all Muslims (arabics, Kurds, Turks) in their region... Arabics, Turks, Kurts we all fight together for save their lives from Armanians... Russians wanted Armanians to kill muslims... but even russian commenders couldnt believe their eyes How they could be so wild against their neighbour brother.... They said "we werent expecting such a slaughter against muslims, we only wanted get our invision easyier.... so we moved them.... And you are talking abut Kurdish people now.... in Turkey even a child knows Kurdish and Turkish terrorist groups are supported from E.U and U.S.A.. for get the control of region easier...(same games) Of course Turkish officers maybe made big mistakes agains Kurds and also Turks as well... But it doesnt mean we have to give the key of country to USA president...and share it to europeans' slaves (terrorist groups)...we are in survival from the bigging of the world... :)
murat (turkey) 18th April 2006	in Turkey Maps Some parts of Turkey are shown as Kurdish area... and i couldn't add a comment there although my all effort.... so... i am writing them here.... Can you explain what it means Kurdish Areas in Turkey Maps....All Turkey is Republic of Turkey area....and Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Caucasian brothers lives together...This maps are encouraging and supporting separatist terror....if you don't want to support terrorism delete this maps...but if you blame you are innocent about it. why don't you place maps which are showing Turkish area in Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Russia, Greece, Balkans,Middle East, Caucasian.....???.... or maybe you could map Polish people in Chicago or Africans in Orleans, ETA land in Spain etc.....??? fv
cem 20th January 2006	Mr. Greece its a fact that not ottoman empire didn't do anything its a fact that no one doesn't wants to believe! believe or not they did a lot of thing... forget everything we took ISTANBUL(old constantinopolis) from you. We have such big events that our fathers wasn't seeing to invade Istanbul as a very big event. about inconstant people go and check the marshaller web site... and see the real number of people died on the border of Armenia or all others... and about Kurd... turkey fights against terrorism or what ever you put the name for 26 25 years... world has just get know about terrorism... almost 4 years or 5 maximum...that's why other big countries armies are coming to turkey to be trained u should know better maybe...
James mitchell 10th December 2005	no turks have never lived in the area known today as "turkey" before the kurds armenians or greeks. lets get one thing straight hungarians are not turks, they originate from mongols and so do turks, so plz do not say they are, furthermore turks are mongols full stop. they conquered and raped exactly the same as there cousins gengis khan and temur, so hence they have a lighter shade.if u do your history u will actually see that there is evidence of kurdish poetry and art. and if you delve deeper you will find that the civilizations before were all armenian, greek and kurdish.
medina 4th December 2005	do you have a map that shows a map of turkey and than shows a map of were it was before the map change.
babak dehghani 26th November 2005	dear moderators; I,m an student of "economic of sport" and need some new information about Turkish sports facilities, sports equipment, sports income and investment. please mail it at: b.dehghani@isu.ac.ir best regards 2005/11/27
gokhan 25th October 2005	I am really sick of keep explaining biased and ignorant western people something about Turkiye.. They all have an idea about Turkiye without knowledge which is very dangerious.. I advise them ( including the staff of this web site ) to read some books and visit Turkiye at least before preparing such a web site. but at least I should thank to them that they did not show the some part of Turkiye as Kurdistan, Armenia or Greece.. :))
Phil 24th October 2005	so what's the status of religious tolerance in turkey?
zehra 24th October 2005	Lydian, you really should check the facts and gain more of an education before making inaccurate claims about Turks and kurds and every other group in the middle east. Turks are NOT Caucasian!
Alper Tunga 18th October 2005	We all know that kurdish is a branch of Persian. In Kurmanji kurdish comprises from Persian, Turkish and Arab words. Iraqi kurds whom speak Sorani and Turkish kurds who speak Kirmanji cant communicate. They are nearly totally different languages. If there was a count today in Turkiye, i dont think the kurdish population will be more than %10. Also there are cities in the South East of Turkiye where lots of Arabs live as well. Cities such as Mardin, Batman, Urfa, Hatay are cities where not only the Arabs speak Arabic but also the other ethnic groups use Arabic as well. Even the pkk uses the Turkish language on its web sites which clearly shows that there is no such thing as a kurdish language as a whole. Today in Iran at least half of the population is Turk. They all could communicate with one language which is Turkish. And even in the Balkans you can communicate with this one language "Turkish". Just in Bulgaria there are 1.5 million Turks, whom names were changed from Turkish to Bulgarian and forced to migrate to Turkiye. Today in Greece there are 200,000 Turks who have no rights even though Greece is in the European Union. They are not allowed to use the Turkish word anywhere but kurds in Turkiye are allowed to open anything they want.
nes 7th October 2005	Lydian can I ask you where are you from? cause I couldn't get any clue from your sentences.
Gökhan ( KaMoN ) 29th September 2005	ı agree my brother and sister :D Ottoman Empire
Greek 28th September 2005	I would like to ask my friends the Turks if they really believe that their nation have ever contributed positively through human history? I studied very hard the history of your nation and unfortunately I haven't found nothing. Instead of that the history of the Turkish nation is full of conquering wars, massacres of innocent people, genocides of several nations (e.g. Armenians, Greeks and nowadays Kurds). The problem is that your leaders today (or I might say your military dictators) haven't changed there attitude at all even though they know that this kind of leadership will finally lead to the destruction of your country. I would like to read your opinion about my statements.
ruthless 21st September 2005	TO Ali Burak Kurtalan: If are not allowed to speak their language obviously they will not have any literature. Also I know that there were many poets who were killed because they were writing in Kurdish. And also http://www.institutkurde.org/en/language/ to see the more about this matter
Salahaddin_Ayoubi_Kurd 13th August 2005	Kurds are now predominantly of Mediterranean racial stock, resembling southern Europeans and the Levantines in skin, general coloring and physiology. There is yet a persistent recurrence of two racial substrata: a darker aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian element, and more localized occurrence of blondism of the Alpine type in the heartland of Kurdistan. The "Aryanization" of the aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian Kurds, linguistically, culturally and racially, seems to have begun by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, with the continuous immigration and settlement of Indio-European-speaking tribes, such as the Hittites, Mitannis, Haigs, Medes, Persian, Scythians and Alans. The process was more or less complete by the beginning of the Christian era, by which time the Kurds had absorbed enough Iranic blood and culture, particularly Median and Alan, to form the basis physical typology and cultural identity.
polat asker 11th August 2005	All the people living in Turkey are called "Turk". Who speaks about the Kurds are liars and cheaters. They are alive under the Turkish Republic and they should not forget this fact.
semir 11th August 2005	arkadaşlar boşverin.biz ne dersek diyelim üstteki yazıyı yazanlar bizi hep öyle kabul edecekler.tarihte hep böyleydi ve değiştirlmesi çok güç.Amerikada hala türkleri fesli,deveye binen ve padişahla yönetilen bir ülke olark görüyorlar.daha ne diyebiliriz k,???
bugra 10th August 2005	I aggree with janissary. The term "Mongoloid" can be refered to the Chinese and Mongolians who expelled Turks from Central Asia.(They all belong to the greater family of Mongoloids) It is not as Oscar puts it that Turks are Mongoloids. But the historic enmity of the Greek Orthodox church towards Turks let these terms pass on generations without any further research or questioning. It's a mere ignorance of that institution. Turks and Azerbaijainis appear to have little or no mongoloid ancestry. It is true we were long time nomads, but not for the last 1000 years. There is also another interesting characteristic of Turkey. While Turks of Turkey and of its past territories were trying to spread islam to Europe and elsewhere, they were still had never been keen practicers of this religion. It seems that the cause had to do more with loot, and wealth, prestige and influence, which was the aim of any country of that time. It was an unlucky time in history in around 600 AC that arabs offered the Turks protection against Chinese raids, in return for their convergence to islam. The Turks accepted that, and some 800 years later dominated the whole Arab world mainly for their exceptional military skills. They lead the islamic world but still quite unwholeheartedly spread islam to Balkans and Europe. But you see from the practices in Turkey and in the Balkans that Turks handle religion more loosely than the Arab world. The idea of a single creator still puzzles Turkish mind, after all the islamic experience, this is due to Turks' former religious beliefs and laicist tendencies.
REAL TURK 6th August 2005	TURK, as a word, has 2 main meanings, first is a people who has Turkish origin coming from Middle Asia, second is a people who has Turkish/Islamic thought, aim and culture even though they are not from Turkish origin. Please ask any Bosnian, Pomac, Ajara, Chechen, Laz etc what is their religion and nationality.. They will answer you as they are TURK. In Asia Minor, there used to be a lot of nations before Romans, like as Phrigians, Hittities, Hatties, Lidyans, Tracians, Kimmerians, Urartuans, etc. During the Eastern Roman Empire [Byzantiums], All those nations are disappeared actually absorbed or melted by Romans. Hence, Before the Turks and Muslims era, there was no more nations in anatolia [asia minor] but only romans. even armenians were massacred by romans. for example, before the Turkish era, there was no Armenians in Istanbul. Kurds never had a state in the history but they were exist long time. Probably Kurds are mixture of Iranian, Turkic and Aramaic nations. They were living in the mountainious area very long time. Their population in Turkey would be between 5 to 15 % but they have bigrer population growth rate then Turkish families. they have lots of children especially in the rural areas, even more then 40 kids/per father. so, it is expected that in 10~15 years they can consist of one third of turkey. So many Kurds define themselves as a TURK, because of the second meaning of word of TURK. because , they have the same culture, same religion, same aims, same believes, same country etc. Separatists are communist, maoist and atheist peoples. They can not achieve what they are planning, but Turkish bureaucracy and hidden deep state are helping them unintentially.
barutcu 3rd August 2005	In my opinion, the false propaganda of "Kurds are a minority in turkey" is pumped by the Kurdish people living in diaspora. I don't know why but each and every kurd living outside turkey (especially living in Europe) Posesses an unmatched hatred against us. Turkey is a uniterian country of people who call themselves "Turks" (i.e. like "American", you dont have to be racially a Turk). It is our homeland, If you cannot bear this in mind, just go away.
lydia 31st July 2005	In response to Janissary: you must look at mummies in Eastern Turkmenistan in China and Altai Mountains in Siberia. Our ancestors in these mummies were not Mongoloid. On the other hand, Oscar want to say that Turks must go to Asia from Turkey. According to this kind of people, my motherland, Turkey, is the country of Armenians, Kurd and Greeks as Caucasians. I am in Caucasian race and Turkey is my country from prehistory to today. Turkey is Turk.
Oscar 16th July 2005	Like Hungarians, Turks come from Central Asia. The only difference between them is geography. Hungarians are Turkish although w/o the Greek and Armenian mixture; thus, they have lighter skin.
engin 5th July 2005	ı agree with www.karidegiliz.biz partially, when he or she says that there is no so mach kurds in turkey and s/he says that kurdish language is spoken generally in rural areas . former idea is not true, but latter is very good explain situation of kurds in turkey. second explanation is tell us about turkey condition and turkey's government bad applications on kurds. you should be ashamed yourself because you try to destroy a culture in order to gain power.
Bahar 2nd July 2005	i`m a persian student and i`m looking for some statistics about tourism in turkey. who can help me? plz!!! baharfamily@yahoo.com
Oscar 30th June 2005	So, janissary you're trying to say that people in Middle Asia aren't Caucasian then. I see your point.
Oscar 25th June 2005	If Turks and Hungarians aren't Mongoliod, then why are they of Mongolian origin. Turks above all have northern origins, which explains why many of them look nordic. The reason why some Turks look Mediterranean or Middle Eastern is because of the intermarriages with Greeks and Armenians whom lived there prior to the invasion.
janissary 21st June 2005	In response to lydian: Turks aren't originally caucasian.We had lived in middle asia since 3000 yars at least.Then we came to Anatolia because of the Mongolian pressure.
time_passed: done!: 1119287863.0096 20th June 2005	Turks are Caucasians of Mongolian origin. They are not Mongoloid. Same is true of Hungarians and Finns and possibly Slavs and Teutons. Yet I am not sure.
Canie_lover 16th June 2005	lydian, if Turks are Caucasian, then why are they of Mongolian origin?
Ozcevik Furniture 10th June 2005	Ozcevik Furniture Dear Sir/Madam, Firstly,I would like to thank you for the time devoted to read this letter. We are a domestic furniture manufacturer and exporter company based in Ankara-Turkey. We have an experience dating back to 1985 as a furniture manufacturer. As can be seen in our web site :www.ozcevikmobilya.com.tr most of our products are handcrafted addressing to all customer preferences and having modern and antique designs. Our products are manufactured within our official registered designs.But ,we can also produce on order basis and with the customers’ own design preferences since we are a manufacturer company. We have the oppurtunity to alter the designs or change the required parts of the products. We can supply all kinds of designs from classical to modern and contemporary furniture ranges. Our web site, www.ozcevikmobilya.com.tr, shows only a small version of our quality designs. We will be pleased to send you any further information you may require. Waiting for your requirements and orders,I remain with, Kindest regards, IBRAHIM CEVIK General Manager Ozcevik Mobilya Ltd. Co. Akbal str. No:8 Siteler Ankara / TURKEY Tel: +90 312 350 69 75 Fax: +90 312 348 21 78 E-mail: bordo@ozcevikmobilya.com.tr Web: www.ozcevikmobilya.com.tr Tax Number: 674 00 620 54 A NOTE: WE CAN PROVIDE CUSTOMIZED MANUFACTURING FOR YOU…
Hakan 9th June 2005	Jamie: Traditional music from turkey is called Turkish Folk Music :). However, music in Turkey, as the people, is a mixture of a lot of cultures. Each province, even city, has different local traditional styles so that a person who has experience can distinguish. The religious traditional ones are called Turkish Sufi Music for example.
lydian 2nd June 2005	Turkish people is not Mongoloid as saying of Oscar. They are Caucasian. On the other hand, Turks are not only Muslim, but also Orthodox Christian like Gagauzes, Karamanlis in Greece, some Tatars and Jewish like Khazars. Kurds are not main ethnic group, they are only problem with their feudal lords (aga in turkish) and local traditions such as killing the girls for honour. Kurds are the problems for Arabs, Turks and Persians, who use for the economical exploitation in the Middle East by some western powers. Hey Kurds, do not forget the Armenians. We are the neighbors in the Middle East. One day, white man go back to his town. But you continue to live with us, Arabs, Turks and Persians.
jamie 1st June 2005	What is the traditional music from Turkey called?
ng 1st June 2005	The main language is Turkish because individuals can only understand each other through this language. Kurdish and other individuals from other nationalities speak Turkish because their own languages' vocabularies and pronunciation are different in every village.
AO 31st May 2005	It's unfortunate for most nations that they have "difficulty" differentiating between a KURD and a PKK terrorist. Kurds are welcomed in Turkey, terrorists AREN'T.
:) 21st May 2005	Turkey is a blend but the identity is predominantly Turkish. there may have been mixtures but today 89% of people will say "I am a TURK" whether they are originally Laz, Cerkez , or any other race. As for the Kurds, they have been split into 3 language groups in Turkey and around 5 outside of Turkey, for instance the Kirmaji Kurds cannot communicate with the Zaza Kurds without using Turkish. It is the MAIN language.
Oscar 19th May 2005	How can you have Mongoloid country as part of the Middle East?
ömer 17th May 2005	There is another ethnic group in north-east of Turkey: the Lazs.
lila m. calarck 11th May 2005	I'm doing a report on Turkek - can you help me? I need the info urgently.
lila m. calarck 11th May 2005	im doing a report on turkek can u help me it's due 05/20/05
muhammed 1st May 2005	I am Turkmen and not Uzbek. Our people can understand the Turkish language - if a Turkmen stays in Turkey for a couple of months, he/she will understand more than 95% of the language, they are so similar; the same goes for Turkish people in Turkmenistan. In brief, we all are from the same family of Turkish languages, with variations in pronunciation and some of the words. In fact, we Turkmen in Turkmenistan, understand Turkish and Azeri easier than we understand Uzbek or Kazak people becase these have very different pronunciations.
tupac Syanaroa 29th April 2005	Is there a pie chart of the languages in Turkey?
malatya 25th April 2005	The Uzbeks forgot their own Turkish language because of the influence of Russian and Islamic cultures.
ahmet 15th April 2005	A Turk cannot understand what a Uzbek, Kazak or Turkmen is speaking. They can communicate mainly in the Azeri language. This language exists! I am Uzbek and I know this.
ruthless 11th April 2005	Well, the existence of the Kurdish people was denied just a couple of years ago. Also, speaking Kurdish wasn't encouraged, let alone reading and writing. And that is basically called assimilation.
berker 7th April 2005	Kurdish is not a main language officially. It is listed as a minority language. It is wrong to write it as a "main language". Turkey has one language and it is our ancient conquerors' language called Turkish. And other Turkic countries don't speak differently named languages. They also speak Turkish. Though the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation may vary somewhat, they are basically sub-languages of Turkish. They are not Azeri, Turkmen, Uzbek and so on are "Turk".
miray 7th April 2005	People are wrong to keep saying that Kurdish is not one of the main languages and there are not many Kurds in Turkey. I'm Kurdish and I know that in Turkey the Kurdish population is very high, especially in the southeast. And every Kurd does speak Kurdish, even the younger generations. Kurds were in the country from Mustafa Kemal's time. Kurds also fought in the first world war. There are also documents about the Kurds and Kurdish poetry and literature, but as a country Turkey didn't want to include Kurdish as an official language and I believe that is the reason why a lot of people don't know anything about the Kurdish language and the Kurdish people.
Typsi 2nd April 2005	An error was made. It's Byzantine not Byzantinian.
Typsi 2nd April 2005	An error was made. Its Byzantine not Byzantinian.
Oscar 1st April 2005	Obviously you believe that Cyprus belongs to Turkey because it is geographically closer to Cyprus than Greece. But the region you ignorantly refer to as 'Turkey' was actually part of Greece, Asia Minor, until Mongoloids from central Asia invaded, occupied and massacred millions of Greeks. Asia Minor was part of Greece in exactly the same Cyprus was. Genocide against Hellenes perpetrated by Mongoloid-Turks in Asia Minor was conducted more efficiently than in Cyprus this is why Cyprus remains Hellenic today and why unfortunately Asia Minor, the blessed but fatal land belonging to Greece, is illegally occupied by muslim kemalist-mongoloids.
Oscar 1st April 2005	You seem to believe that Cyprus belongs to Turkey because it is geographically closer to Cyprus than Greece. But the region you refer to as 'Turkey' was actually part of Greece, Asia Minor, until Mongoloids from Central Asia invaded, occupied and massacred millions of Greeks. Asia Minor was part of Greece in exactly the same Cyprus was. Genocide against Hellenes perpetrated by Mongoloid-Turks in Asia Minor was conducted more efficiently than in Cyprus, this is why Cyprus remains Hellenic today and why unfortunately Asia Minor is not.
Fräu 30th March 2005	Are Turks Mongoloid or Caucasoid?
ali 29th March 2005	From which power did Turkey gain its independence in 1327?
Ali Burak Kurtalan 28th March 2005	Yes some Kurd people of course speak Kurdish but it's not strong enough to be called a main language of Turkey. There's no history of literature in Kurdish (any poetry, document or story) and many Kurds speak different versions of the language.
soner 24th March 2005	Kurdish groups that used to be Marxist guerillas have become just mafia in big cities. Some have become Islamic fundemetalists, some even rascist.
soner 24th March 2005	Most kurdish was just terrorist but today they became mafia in big cities.Their terrorist organizations (altough its said that they are marxist guerilla) are basicle islamic fundemetalist in addition they are also rasist
Coskun 24th March 2005	PKK, a Marxist-Leninist group! I wonder what Marx would say about that.
Metin Kadaster 22nd March 2005	We Turks look very nordic and are oftenly confused for Mongolians and Inuits.
Metin Kadaster 22nd March 2005	We Turks look very nordic and are oftenly confused for Mongolians and Chinese.
Opine 19th March 2005	How come Turkey is considered a part of the Middle East?
Dünya 17th March 2005	Exaggerating the population of Kurdish citizens in Turkey is popular these days and I see here that Kurdish is listed as one of the "main" languages of Turkey. Even in the most populated city by Kurdish citizens, Diyarbakir, people speak Turkish more than Kurdish.
Yalin Can Ates 15th March 2005	Although we Turks are of Mongolian origin we are Caucasian...not Mongoliod or Anglo-Saxon. Most of us have light skin and can be mistaken for Russians or Irish.
www.karidegiliz.biz 14th March 2005	Kurdish is spoken extensively in eastern and southeastern Turkey, although I wouldn't go as far to call it a "main" language. Yet, there are many uni-lingual Kurdish speakers in rural areas, mostly seniors. Younger generations are generally bilingual in Turkish and Kurdish. Same goes for Arabic in Hatay and neighboring regions.
ethem the circassian 23rd February 2005	20% of the Turkish population is Circassian, 20% is Kurdish and rest is Armenians, Georgians, and Turks. This is the reality..... Believe or not, it's true.
Stavros 11th February 2005	turkish,you are origine asian-mongolian why you want to enter in E.U you are not European?and more important why you took from us Costantinopoli,Asia minor and Cyprus ther was Greek for 3000 years,the same you try to do with the greek island why?you are offensive and whant more land that you need why?we have not problem with Turkish people,we are simile like persone with us,but do your one things,why you provocate us,with naves and aeroplanes?and enter in our teritori,look your people who live one difficolt life,also for us ,for esemple the cost of the aeroplane benzen you can help our people and not provocate Grece the Live is difficolt why yo must make it more difficolt HI Stavros
joe 10th February 2005	Why do Turks think that Thanksgiving is racist?, when we say we eat turkey we aren't actually referring to their country.
Ibn_Al_Ummati 9th February 2005	There is no real value in a Turk desiring to look Nordic and to be Anglo-Saxon. Yal1n Bey can't be serious when he says that Turks are Anglo-Saxon.
Helga Weitschlausse 27th January 2005	I am a German girl. I live in Berlin but every summer I spend my time in Turkey. Turks should not be compared with Anglo Saxons or other nort folks.Turks do not look like any other nation but if we should say something about Turks appireance they are characteristic Medittarenians. if we talk about their mantel abilities even the most detailed comment will be inadequate.
Yalin Can Ates 25th January 2005	No wait we Turks look cross between a Mongolian and an Anglo-Saxon.
Al Sosa 21st January 2005	I thought Turks looked like Mongolians.
burcu 9th January 2005	I agree with Yalin. Number of Kurds living in Turkey (and people speaking Kurdish)is usually exaggerated, first of all it is not possible to come up with a certain percentage since ethnic origin is not asked to the people in census conducted in Turkey. One may only estimate.
Packard Bell 31st December 2004	Turkey: EU talks should be free of preconditions Turkey's influential National Security Council, which includes top political and military leaders, on Thursday welcomed a European Union decision to start membership talks with the country but said the negotiations should not include preconditions. EU leaders, in agreeing to start membership talks with Turkey earlier this month, imposed tough conditions, including that Turkey steps toward recognizing divided Cyprus. With many EU countries fearing a possible influx of Turkish labor, they also reserved the right to consider restrictions on freedom of movement of workers and caps on farm aid subsidies - moves many here see as discriminating against Turkey. A statement released at the end of a four-hour long security council meeting said EU membership negotiations should "not contain any conditions (or) be discriminative against Turkey," and stressed the need for talks to proceed without "several negative elements." The security council groups top generals with civilian leaders and often has been used by the military to impose its will on the government. Analysts said that, by issuing the statement, the military was making clear its objections to the Cyprus condition and restrictions on Turkey. The government last week also objected to the preconditions by sending a formal note to the EU, saying only temporary restrictions to the movement of Turkish labor would be acceptable. Turkey is to start membership negotiations in October, but is required to take steps toward recognizing Cyprus before then. Turkey's accession talks are expected to take at least a decade. During the EU leaders' meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to sign an agreement by October expanding its customs union with the EU to include Cyprus and nine other members that joined the block in May - but stressed the move would not amount to the recognition of the Greek Cypriot government. Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 to block a coup by Greek Cypriots, and decades of diplomacy have failed to reunite the Mediterranean island. About 40,000 Turkish troops remain in northern Cyprus, which is controlled by Turkish Cypriots. The military, the self-appointed guarantor of Turkey's secular regime, has staged three coups in the last four decades. In 1997, the military also pressured a pro-Islamic government out of power. The EU is pressing Turkey to stem the influence of the military.
Yalin Can Ates 29th November 2004	There are not too many Kurdish or speakers of a second language other than English in my country. Also, in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and some other countries people speak their own version of Turkish.

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