[bertanu]

I hear different things about Turks from different parts of the world.

This thread is focused on Turks ABROAD and not in Turkey or Cyprus.

It isn't necessarily about immigrant Turks, it can also be about tourists.
In addition lets try to differentiate between ethnicities of Turks and Kurds.

My own personal view is this:

Turks in the UK, Australia and America are the better educated, open minded, less religious Turks. The reasons for this is usually because they emigrated to the UK, Australia and the USA through their own financial means and were economically well off enough to invest in the UK/Australia/USA whilst being modern/cultured enough to integrate successfully.
Their kids have integrated well and feel a part of their host culture, as well as holding onto some Turkish culture.
I Also think it is fair to say that most of the above Turks were from cities and not villages, that they weren't very religious, the Cypriots especially were very easy to integrate due to their long history with the Brits.

Photos of British Turks:


















When it comes to Turks in Germany/Holland/Belgium and the like, basically the "Guest worker" Turks, we have a mixed bag.
Generally the Turks are from rural parts of Turkey, less educated, more conservative, religious and ignorant towards Western culture.
They have held onto their old values and traditions and are stricter than the previous group of Turks (UK/USA/AU) A lot of the younger 3rd/4th generation are still more attached to Turkey than their host nation a lot of them only mix with other Turks, the non Turks are referred to as "Gavurs" a derogatory term for non Muslims.


Just a final note, in the 1980s Kurdish refugees started coming into the UK, many of them were from villages, and very religious backwards areas, they brought with them: honour killings, arranged marriages, inbred marriages etc...
Many of them (not all) refer to themselves as Turkish, when they first meet a non Turk, and only disclose they are Kurdish after they get to know them. I don't know why they do this.


Anyway, so if there are Turks in your town. please share your view on them.


( I only posted Brit Turks as thats where I am from, if anyone wants to post different photos feel free)

I want to say thank you to the person that gave me this idea for the thread

---------- Post added 2012-04-07 at 00:59 ----------

Just for the record:

Turks in the United Kingdom or British Turks are Turkish people who have immigrated to the United Kingdom. However, the term may also refer to British-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background.
Turks first began to emigrate in large numbers from the island of Cyprus for work and then again when Turkish Cypriots were forced to leave their homes during the Cyprus conflict. Turks then began to come from Turkey for economic reasons. Recently, smaller groups of Turks have begun to immigrate to the United Kingdom from other European countries.[4]
As of 2011, there is a total of about 500,000 people of Turkish origin in the UK,[5] made up of approximately 150,000 Turkish nationals and about 300,000 Turkish Cypriots.[3] Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a growing number of ethnic Turks with Algerian, Bulgarian, German, Greek, Macedonian, and Romanian citizenship who have also migrated to the United Kingdom.[3][6] The majority live in London.

[mygalinasoo]

I know one lady 26 years old who lives in Athens and teaches the turkish language.

Older times you could easily find leftish poliitical refugees from Turkey here.



The article represents truth.

Well done.

[blogwado]

Indeed, the Turks who are living in UK seem to be more progressive than those who live in Germany, Belgium, etc. I've noticed that most Europeans associate them with kebabs, I don't know if that's the situation in UK though.

[maliboia]

I think Brits sometimes associate Turks with Kebabs out of tradition, because the Brits that are able to differentiate know its mainly Kurds nowadays that are in the Kebab industry in London.

[cemDrymnVem]

I've worked with a Kurd who was very cool. When I brought up the troubles between Kurds and Turks he said much of it was exaggerated. He took me a Turkish place for lunch.

I knew a kid who was half Turkish and Irish. Other than his name he wasn't very Turkish. He hadn't seen his father after his parents divorced.

Some teachers who had a number of Turkish students told me the girls work hard in school but the boys don't.

That's about it.

[xqkAY7Lg]

Here's my view of Turkish people in the US:

1. They're tourists and they will shop till they drop and spend ridiculous amounts of money on designer brands. You cannot reason with these people nor convince that another brand is better quality and if they want to drop $3000 for a handbag, they might as well go with the best. They simply have to have that name, whatever's popular in Turkey. They also fail to fit all the stuff they bought in the luggage they came with, so the trip to Samsonite is obligatory. They've like lists of shit people asked them to buy too; Apple products in particular. In short, they know shopping malls inside and out, but probably never bother going to a museum.

2. They come to States to study English or some type of extension program. They party hard, drink, meet new people and cheat on their girlfriend/boyfriends back home with Italians or Brazilians, maybe Asian gals if they're a guy. Usually after a few failed attempts at staying in the country, their parents run out of money so they go back home and usually marry their ex-significant others.

3. They are here for graduate school. Most of them are from the big cities, Istanbul and Ankara especially. Never met anyone from Izmir. They're usually smart and well-off. They stay here for about 3 years and go back home and get decent jobs. The particularly brilliant ones, especially those from smaller cities and in technical fields end up getting hired at top universities or companies and end up settling here even though they keep saying they'll go back at some point.

4. They moved here as young adults from smaller cities, not for education but mostly for a job, like import/export business, kebab shop, grocery store or hairdressers. They end up settling down in big cities on the East Coast. They are street smart, generally kind and hospitable people who have a soft spot for Turkish girls.

5. Finally, there are those who were born here to Turkish parents. Most of them are from Ankara. You can't really tell them apart from average Americans from the way they dress or look but many times they get mistaken for Italian American or Jewish. They're close to their families, hospitable and are louder and more animated than most people, so people tend to like them in general. They tend to marry foreigners.

[exiceJetLip]

In my country there are a majority of Kurds from turkey, but also some Turks, ive met a few and they tend to be much like Norwegians in general, but they are a bit more ADHD in their behaviour, meaning they are "faster" then most people... here is one Turkish girl:

http://www.side3.no/article3366451.ece?page=6

she was nominated with sexiest girl in Norway, but the nomination is by another woman, so how serious can one take it :P she is very cute though...she does stand up (as seen on the link page), she is a program hostess for a science program for kids, and i was going to see her doing stand up, but i never got around to it..

[CindyLavender]

This here's a small community of Turkish people:

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/...milman/fam.jpg

I don't think there's one physical attribute you can define the Turkish community by, but I kind of agree with the ADD comment. It's just our hot bloodedness

[benderkoz]

This is what 5aday said about the subject in the past:
http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/sho...917#post795917

[FliveGell]

Using Emili's list as inspiration:

Turks in the UK:

1: The tourists, these people usually spend most of their time shopping, they love Harrods and Primark, as odd as it sounds !
They also do visit a lot of the touristic sites, such as The London Dungeons and London Speakers corner.
They also visit the Museums.

2. The students that come to study English, well these can generally be divided into two types, those that get extremely lonely and depressed, they end up hating the UK and the ones that never want to leave, that make lots of friends, travel and party.
The second type generally make themselves loads of girlfriends, even though they have someone waiting for them in Turkey. They almost always return to visit or to live. In fact many try to stay and get a work visa.

3. The ones that come to do a Masters or doctorate, they are here to study, so are from very wealthy families. Usually from the bigger cities, they study and do some work experience, they live in West and Central London and try to stay away from other Turks. They spend most of their time on their work. They go back to Turkey to work in their families companies.

4. They moved here as kids with their families (from Cyprus) or used the Ankara agreement to set up a business in the UK. They never left. These people set up all sorts of establishments back in the 1950s such as dry cleaners, restaurants etc. Their children usually went on to higher education and now have set up their own businesses or work for reputable companies. (some did fall off the track though)

[Varbaiskkic]

Curiouscat is civilised.

Curiouscat, do you have property in the UK and a job or what?

Haven't you considered to return to the western part of present day Turkey?

[Uttephabeta]

most of the turks i know here are from Maceodnia,so they look balkanic ,i guess in Germany it is different

[Nurba]

Curiouscat is civilised.

Curiouscat, do you have property in the UK and a job or what?

Haven't you considered to return to the western part of present day Turkey?

How have you decided I am civilised? I still like to hunt on horseback with an axe!!

I think those questions are quite personal so I decline from answering them.

I lived in Turkey for 6 years in Ankara. I returned to the UK in 2011.

[thighikergove]

it think ,living in europe for a Turk needs to have a patience of the Prophet..

[xtrudood]

How have you decided I am civilised? I still like to hunt on horseback with an axe!!

I think those questions are quite personal so I decline from answering them.

I lived in Turkey for 6 years in Ankara. I returned to the UK in 2011.

I meant that your posts are quality material and useful to the communtity.
I cannot the same for your compatriots here.
So,i just wanted to express the categorisation i have in my mind between users like you and logi for example.

I respect that you decline to answer my questions...i was interested in your backround,stuff like education and such.

[YTmWSOA5]

My observations of Turks in Western Sweden.

Mentality: Turks are very extroverted. They are not the smartest. They prefer action to thinking. However, they are very friendly. The turks are also very nationalistic.

Phenotype: Dark skin, hair and eyes. They are typically short and quite hairy.

Oh: and I would like to add, atheists.

[estelle]

My observations of Turks in Western Sweden.

Mentality: Turks are very extroverted. They are not the smartest. They prefer action to thinking. However, they are very friendly. The turks are also very nationalistic.

Phenotype: Dark skin, hair and eyes. They are typically short and quite hairy.

Oh: and I would like to add, atheists.

Interesting, and you are sure they are Turks and nor Kurds?

Also Atheists?

Not typical of Turks to be atheists. Which parts of Turkey are they from or where did you meet them?

---------- Post added 2012-04-07 at 16:33 ----------

I meant that your posts are quality material and useful to the communtity.
I cannot the same for your compatriots here.
So,i just wanted to express the categorisation i have in my mind between users like you and logi for example.

I respect that you decline to answer my questions...i was interested in your backround,stuff like education and such.

Thats kind of you.

I am sure if you approach my compatriots with the same respect you approached me with, they will return the respect.

My background I have repeated a few times, born in the UK, education-wise I have a BA Honours in Business, nothing special.

[L6RLnyfl]

Three Turks ive known of

One was a bar owner, non religious.
Two in my high school, one was really laid back and westernized. The other was some bog moron, not westernized and just a "crazy Arab" basically.

[cinggooft]

I did some googling and wiki Sweden gave me this information:

Turks in Sweden is usually defined as persons in Sweden with Turkish as their mother tongue. During the 1950s - and '60s, many Turks came to Sweden through labor .
Kurds , Assyrians / Syriacs , Armenians and other ethnic groups from Turkey has also in many cases included in the statistics of Turks in Sweden, even if they are not ethnic Turks, as the Migration Board in Sweden senses people by country of origin rather than ethnicity. [2]
There are various reasons quite difficult to give exact figures on how many ethnic Turks from Turkey that may exist in Sweden. One can, however, according to Turkish clubs membership figures and other government sources estimate that there may be about 15 000 ethnic Turks in Sweden. The figure includes the ethnic Turks from both Turkey and the Balkan countries.
There are also Turks from Bulgaria , Macedonia , Kosovo and Northern Cyprus . Most residents of Skåne.

[SDorothy28]

Interesting, and you are sure they are Turks and nor Kurds?

Also Atheists?

Not typical of Turks to be atheists. Which parts of Turkey are they from or where did you meet them?

Sorry, atheist/secular.

I guess they could be kurds.

---------- Post added 2012-04-07 at 18:11 ----------

I did some googling and wiki Sweden gave me this information:

Turks in Sweden is usually defined as persons in Sweden with Turkish as their mother tongue. During the 1950s - and '60s, many Turks came to Sweden through labor .
Kurds , Assyrians / Syriacs , Armenians and other ethnic groups from Turkey has also in many cases included in the statistics of Turks in Sweden, even if they are not ethnic Turks, as the Migration Board in Sweden senses people by country of origin rather than ethnicity. [2]
There are various reasons quite difficult to give exact figures on how many ethnic Turks from Turkey that may exist in Sweden. One can, however, according to Turkish clubs membership figures and other government sources estimate that there may be about 15 000 ethnic Turks in Sweden. The figure includes the ethnic Turks from both Turkey and the Balkan countries.
There are also Turks from Bulgaria , Macedonia , Kosovo and Northern Cyprus . Most residents of Skåne.

The source actually states 67,000.

http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=SW