TURKEY CULTURE

Turkey Has a Rich Culture..

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Conformity- Custom- Tradition-Convention

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CONFORMITY

Conformity consists of model attitudes and behaviour which often defined as the strict expectations of society. It also represents society and the cornerstones of its common values. In connection with social structure, this system of common values constitutes the basis of a special law or any code within that legal system.

It is able to designate relations, behaviour, attitudes and manners between individuals, individuals and the family, individuals and neighbours or relatives and relations between individuals, people and the nation.

With its coercive sanctions, conformity continually pressurizes every individual in a society to provide some kind of harmony between the individual and the community.

In some societies, refusing to conform is regarded in the same way as violating laws, and can sometimes be punished even more severely.

CUSTOM

Like conformity, customs also arrange, manage and supervise many social relations. Customs have an influence on society, encouraging good order and affecting the application of rules. For example, greetings and farewells, meals and table settings, celebrations and blessings, asking a family for their daughter’s hand in marriage, engagement ceremonies and weddings, relations between the sexes, peer groups and professional colleagues, rules to be applied during greeting and inquiring after someone's health, attitudes connected with religious festivals, seasons and other important days, appropriate things to say in expressing and accepting condolences are all evaluated within the framework of customs.

Customs originate and take shape from various origins, some of which may be the way of life in the past, a range of visions, interesting coincidences and events. Beyond customs, which comprise society as a whole, there are also customs which concern a specific group such as professions, religious denominations or ethnic groups. Some religious leaders and association managers have deliberately or otherwise attempted to change a custom into a tradition. Although some customs are quite stable and continual, others may change with time. Still other customs protect their natures with small changes to reflect changing conditions, some others lose their vitality and energy, and disappear like living organism.

TRADITION

Broadly defined, tradition is knowledge, concepts, superstitions and way of life, which can pass from one generation to another. In other words, tradition is non-material culture. According to a narrower definition, it is a society's opinions, valid for generations, on important subjects such as sacred or political issues. Traditions can be oral or written. Like customs but in a stronger way, they play an important role in managing and shaping social life. With their conservative character, traditions influence social institutions such as the family, law, religion and politics. Arts and science are less affected by traditions. When a person goes against his community or society's traditions, he will face sanctions in proportion to the degree of that resistance. This punishment may be ostracism, offence, being scorned or ridiculed. Just as with customs, there are laws originating from traditions. Laws are intended to establish appropriate sentences for violation of traditions. In general, traditions govern a wider area than legal codes.

CONVENTION

Compared to conformity, custom and tradition, conventions have less sanctionary influence. Something should be done in conformity, had better be done in custom and tradition and may be done in convention. Briefly, it means to do something in a way which earlier generations also followed. Although it indicates appropriate and necessary behaviour, it does not compel people to comply with these attitudes. Conventions are potential traditions, and may be innovated by changes in the structure of the community or society. Convention may survive or disappear over the time. They play a characteristic role in arranging relations in daily life, in reducing misunderstandings between individuals and in facilitating social relations among members of a group. They help relations to continue smoothly by determining how to behave when visiting neighbors or sick people, getting acquainted with someone or when traveling in a group.

www.kultur.gov.tr

Folk Calendar And Meteorology

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We may define the Folk Calendar as a systematic arrangement of time and life, assuming the task of remembering religious, historical, traditional, educational, religious, legal, agricultural, political and economic ties established by relationships based on long-term experiences between natural events, social institutions and events inherited by the people of a particular region; in essence as a cultural inheritance. Apart from the popularly used calendars, folk calendars, also known as local calendars, give different names to the parts and divisions of the year, and sometimes ascribe positive or negative features to them and to various natural events.

According to widespread belief, not complying with the folk calendar and ignoring its stipulations leads to significant losses, since the folk calendars are products of the natural and cultural environment in which they form. In local calendars, while some divisions of times are explained by natural events which happen on a regular, cyclical basis, these divisions may also be accounted for by social events within a community, such as religious ceremonies, relationships with other communities that affect that society, a novelty introduced to the society, a change in forms of production, the death of an esteemed person etc.

We can define the majority of principal factors that go to make up folk calendars as type of production, and related elements and institutions of the social structure; the economic occupations concerned, practices accumulated around emphasized elements of production in the society, related occurrences and the belief system. In principle, it is observed that the economic structure of the society and the occupations in it, which determine its economy, appear most influential in the formation of folk calendars.

In Turkey, where the great majority of the population is Muslim, people use two different calendars today:

1. The “kameri calendar” that divides the year into 12 parts in the light of the changing phases of the moon every 29/30 days. This calendar regards the year as consisting of 354/355 days.

2. The “semsi calendar”, the solar calendar which is generally used all over the world and which is based on the movement of the earth around the sun that lasts 365/366 days.

People use both these two calendars when referring to special traditional days. They use the lunar calendar for religious festivals, and the solar calendar, which indicates the seasons, for other rites and activities.

We can observe differences due to various causes in the naming and division of the months. In some regions, February is called “Gücük (küçük)” (small) because it is shorter than the other months. Planting, livestock raising and fruit growing also lend their names to various months in popular calendars, such as Koç Ayi (the month of the ram), Orakayi (the month of the scythe) or Kiraz ayi (the month of the cherry).

The year is divided into two parts, Kasim and Hidrellez, in most folk calendars. Kasim begins with the month of November as per official calendar and lasts until May 6. This period is the winter. Hidrellez begins on May 6 and ends in November, representing the summer. The winter period is divided into three main parts, each of which has 45 days: Kasım, Zemheri, and Hamsin. The first 135 days of the winter period, that is regarded as consisting of 180 days, are called “numbered” or “counted”. This is the period when the winter is harshest. There is another 45-day period, which completes the winter, starts on March 21 and ends on May 6. This period is called “dokuzun dokuzu” (nine of nine), “april beşi” (fifth of april), “leylek kışı”, (winter of the stork), or “oğlak kışı” (winter of the baby-goat), etc. This calendar is of vital importance for those sections of society dealing with agriculture and livestock raising. They need to know the “counted” days to protect their animals and plants from severe cold.

Low levels of technology leads some societies to use experiences and observations going back to hundreds of years in order to predict atmospheric events, and a high success rate can attract considerable attention. In traditional communities, in which the most important element affecting life is nature, information regarding weather forecasting assume an important place within the cultural whole. Determining weather conditions before setting out to fish or on migration becomes a precondition for the proper fulfillment of the activity.

In societies dealing with agriculture, information related to the phases of the moon is of great importance. For example, if the moon is in crescent form and its open end is pointing up, this is interpreted to mean that it will soon rain. The time for sowing seeds in the field is also determined by looking at the phases of moon. The first phase of the new moon is called “ayın aydını” (moon bright), and the form it takes after a while is called “ayın garangısı” (half moon). People avoid sowing in the first days of the new moon and wait for a while.

Observing the activities of human beings, animals and plants is effective in weather forecasting, which is of vital importance for people in rural areas. For instance, if poplar trees start to shed their leaves from the top, this means it will be a harsh winter. In the same way, if pine trees a great many cones, it means the winter will be long and difficult. Animal behavior also gives clues about the weather. Rain is to be expected if sheep lie down facing the qibla (the point toward which Muslims turn to pray, esp. the Ka‘ba, or House of God, in Mecca).

Since lack of rain in the rainy season caries with it serious consequences, people tend to think that they should do something about it. Ceremonies held to encourage rain are among the elements of Turkey’s rich folk culture heritage. These come under two main aspects:

a. “Rain prayers” which adults attend,

b. Game-like ceremonies in which children also participate.

The rain prayers in which grown-up people attend are usually performed in open air where there is a grave or shrine and it is led by an imam. The imam prays and the people attending the ceremony joins the prayers; and then an animal is offered as a sacrifice; and then a meal is given to the attendees. A specific number of stones are collected and people pray over these stones. Then, the stones are thrown into water. If it rains sufficiently, these stones are taken out of water.

In the rain prayers which children attend, the youngsters usually gather together and visit all the houses in the vicinity, collecting cooking oil, flour, sugar, etc. Food is then prepared with what they have collected. Meanwhile, they also play and arrange festivities among themselves.

Military (Mehter)

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Ottoman mehter music, which for centuries accompanied the marching Ottoman army into battle, still echoes in that of drum and zurna - an oboe-like woodwind instrument with seven holes above and one below - which are a part of folk culture all over Turkey. Mehter music was a symbol of sovereignty and independence, and its ardent sounds instilled the soldiers with strength and courage. The rousing songs and crashing sound of the great kös drums were at the same time capable of unnerving the enemy on the brink of battle, and the mehter music composers took pains to create works that produced this effect.The mehter band was established in 1299 when Osman Gazi was made bey or liege lord by the Seljuk sultan Keykubat III, who sent him a tabl (kettledrum) and finial as symbols of rank. However, with the dissolution of the Janissary Corps by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826, the mehter bands were also dispersed, and not until Ferik Ahmed Muhtar Pasa founded the Imperial Military Museum in 1908 was it decided to revive the tradition. In 1914 it was reestablished as the Mehterhane-i Hakani - Royal Mehter Band - attached to the museum. The band was again abolished in 1935 by then minister of defence Zekai Apaydin Bey, only to be reformed in 1952 as an institution of historical interest attached to Istanbul Military Museum. Today the band performs several times a week at the museum, and at certain official ceremonies, and is a reminder of former Ottoman glory.The band has its own distinctive marching step, whose rhythm is that of the words, ‘Gracious God is good. God is compassionate’. The mehter band marches behind the commander of the band or çorbacibasi, who wears a headdress known as üsküf. After him to his left and right respectively march the bearers of the white and red standards, the latter with an armed guard. Behind these march nine plume bearers three by three, the ‘plume of attack’ positioned behind the red standard. Then comes the band master in the centre, and behind him the çevgâns (jingling instruments in the form of a crescent), zurnas, trumpets, nakkares (small kettledrums beaten with the hands or two sticks), cymbals, davuls (bass drums) and finally the kös drums (giant kettledrums) played on horseback. The mehter band members form a crescent to perform, and play standing except for the nakkare players, who sit crosslegged at the righthand tip of the crescent, followed anticlockwise by the zurnas, bass drums, cymbals and trumpets. When they march, the band members pause every three steps and turn to right and left in salutation, in a rhythm set by the drums, chanting ‘Rahim Allah, Kerim Allah’ (Merciful God, Gracious God). In former centuries the mehter band used to play even at night on the battlefield to prevent the camp guards from falling asleep. As well as the instruments already mentioned, a full mehter band could also include two types of zurna (cura and kaba), kurrenay (a kind of horn with a curved end), mehter whistle, clarinet-type wind instruments, tabl, tambourine and other percussion instruments.

The mehter bands were primarily military bands, and those under the command of generals included war drums over one metre in height known as harbî kûs or kös. These were carried on camels, and playing them with sticks demanded great skill. The 17th century writer Evliya ÿelebi wrote, ‘Each kûs is the size of a bathhouse dome. They are played on feastday nights and days and their sound is like thunder.’ During performances the kös drums were placed in a line on the ground in the centre of the circle of musicians, and when marching they were loaded in pairs onto camels. The drummer rode and struck the drums to his right and left by turn. The kös was only ever played by royal mehter bands, or in that of the commander-in-chief leading the army in lieu of the sultan when on campaign. Each set of players had a leader known as aga. The leader of the bass drum players was called the basmehter aga, and the master of the entire band was called the mehterbasi aga. All the agas and the çevgân players wore white turbans wound around a kavuk (cap), a red coat over a yellow robe and red trousers, a shawl wound around the waist and yellow leather shoes. The other musicians were similarly dressed, except that their kavuks and coats were dark blue.

As the Ottomans advanced westwards into Europe, many elements of mehter music influenced western composers, particularly in the 17th century. Later Mozart and Haydn composed music inspired by mehter music, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony’s use of the kös, bass drum and zurna in the last movement is another striking example. Mozart, Bizet and many other composers produced ‘alla Turca’ pieces. The military mehter bands symbolised the sovereignty of the Ottoman state, and their powerful stirring music had a spirit which we can still appreciate today when listening to the Museum's mehter band playing this sound out of the past.

Ref: Ilhan AKBULUT / Skylife

Examples of Mehter Music

Pop Music

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Popular music is to a large extent produced by the consumer generation, or even if not later came on to take on many of those characteristics, and takes its form from the criteria of its own particular sectoral features, in such a way that the values that comprise those criteria are not based on the preferences of the culture of any one section of society, and thus is a form that to a large extent brings together different cultures. In the same way that Europe has seen an industrialized society, the increase in artistic products related to popular culture and their increasing spread in all sections of society, and the efforts towards industrialization in Turkey and the concomitant rise in urbanization, have all led to an independent popular cultural atmosphere in society. The basic values that the wide community in which popular culture is influential expects from artistic endeavors can be summed up as easy to understand and comprehend and requiring no great depth, thus calling for no great debate. In Turkey, the products of popular culture have lent color to the last quarter of the 20th century in particular, and as objects, or from the visual point of view, have called to a wide constituency.

Rapidly changing and progressing cultural formations lead to a suitable environment for the emergence of such products as the artistic works of popular culture. In Turkey, popular culture and the music belonging to it are spreading in this environment with great rapidity in all sections of community. By 2000 it had become powerful enough to respond to the musical tastes of just about all of society.

Source: Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Examples of Popular Music

Folk Music

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As in most societies we come across Turkish folk music dealing with daily life and Turkish classical music, the music of the courts. A folk song usually deals with things of daily life, be it a work song, a story-telling ballad, a love song, or a dance song. The subject of the song usually reflects the way people live and work, the language they speak, the instruments they play. Folk songs called "türkü", reflects the events experienced by Turks. Türkü changes with the changing times. Folk songs always have a story behind them. Sometimes it is a love story and sometimes it is the expression of deep emotions even though modern and the latest technical developments are used to convey the powerful feelings of a regional people with traditions stretching back for centuries. You can feel the sorrow of a mother asking about her son lost in the war, or a young newly wed couple not wanting to leave each other alone for fear that something may happen to one or the other. The regional mood also affects folk songs. For example folk songs from the Black Sea are lively in general and express the customs of the region. Songs about betrayal have an air of defiance about them instead of sadness.

Religious Music

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In the framework of music, the forms of music that accompanied or assisted such Islamic obligations as circumcision, fasting and the call to prayer, and known as Mosque Music or Dervish Lodge Music depending on where it was played, can all be considered under the single heading of Religious Music. Forms such as ‘tilavet’ (reading the Kuran), the ‘ezan’ (the call to prayer), and the ‘temcid’ (a call praising Allah chanted by the muezzin immediately after the morning call to prayer during the months of Rajab, ſaban and Ramadan) all fall under the category of mosque music. During the religious dancing or ceremonies practiced by a number of religious sects, especially the dervishes (Mevlevi) and Bektaſi, come under the general heading of Mystical Music.

Examples of Religious Music:

Ottoman Music

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The form of music today generally known as Türk Sanat MüziĿi, or Ottoman Classical Music, matured, developed in form and aesthetics and came to assume the identity of a form of classical music in parallel to the establishment, growth and increasing strength of the Ottoman state itself. This variety of music furnished products dealing with many subjects, such as religion, love and war. Each of these then came to develop its own varieties, styles and communities. Ottoman music was influenced by other musical cultures as new nations became absorbed into the empire, giving and receiving various elements. From the beginning of the 19th century, however, as the empire began to recede and collapse, increasing shallowness and laxness can be seen in Ottoman music. While rich modes and styles had been employed in the past, this concept gradually faded and turned into metropolitan entertainment music. That process has continued to the present day, and the ‘popular song’ has become increasingly popular and popularised, effectively taking the place of the other forms.

A great number of works were actually forgotten and disappeared as less importance was attached to notation in the middle of the 19th century. The number of works that were written down and have survived down to the present day is some 3,000 for works composed between the 15th century and the end of the 18th. The number produced during the 19th century is around 5,000, giving a total of 8,000. A number of works from the first quarter of the 20th century can also be added to those works, which from the point of view of mode, style, means and methods of vocalisation go back to the very earliest times within a framework of their own distinct rules. Ever since then, the music that has continued to be produced under the name of ‘Turkish Classical Music,’ and which has grown ever more popular, can be seen as an extension of Ottoman music adapted to present-day norms.
Ottoman music is a synthesis, carrying within it a great many historical riches. It emerged as the result of a sharing process between the Turks and the minorities living alongside them, the Byzantines, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Jews, Armenians etc. It reached its golden age in the private school in the Ottoman palace. No country that employed that system was able to reach the level of artistry attained by the Ottomans.

Ottoman music was formed and given voice in the ‘Fasıl,’ itself based on unity of mode.

Fasıl; Works composed within the same melodic structure (makam) , or mode, set out and played in a particular order. In a genuine fasıl, there will be works for voice and for saz. The basis of the fasıl is that the works should have the same melodic structure, and they are then ordered according to shape or form. There must generally be two ‘Beste’ (poetic forms) and five ‘Semai’ composed to count as a complete fasıl. These are accompanied by lyrics. The compositions are in the form of ‘Murabba’ (a poem composed of quatrains) or ‘Nakıſ’ (a form of song). Murabbas are composed for two rhyming couplets of a ‘Gazel,’ and may be with or without ‘Terennüm,’ which are words that complement the verses that make up the formal lyric of the song, and may either have a meaning or else be just a string of syllables, for example ‘ten, tenen, tenenen, ten nen ni.’ Lines 1, 2 and 4 of the poem are tied to the same melody, with line 3 having a different melody. This latter section is known as ‘Miyan Hane,’ wherein the makam is either widened or changed. Murabbas with terennüm repeat it at the end of each line. The terennüm of the miyan hane may be different, however. In the nakıſ, on the other hand, two verses are read together, followed by a lengthy terennüm.
Semai with lyrics and the same structure as the murabba or nakıſ (but composed in the semai style) are known as ‘AĿır’ and ‘Yürük’ Semai respectively. In the fasıl, lyrical works such as the ‘Kar’ or ‘ſarkı’ and instrumental pieces such as ‘Taksim,’ ‘Peſrev,’ ‘Saz Semaisi’ and ‘Oyun Havası’ may be added. In this way, the structure of a complete fasıl is as follows;
a) Any introductory Taksim with saz.
b) Peſrev
c) The first beste or kar.
d) Second beste.
e) AĿır semai
f) ſarkıs (in order from major rhythmic pattern and slow character, to minor and fast)
g) Yürük Semai
h) Saz Semai
The ‘Kar’ gives considerable space to the terennüm component, and is a work with lyrics requiring considerable expertise. It is one of the most developed forms. The ‘ſarkı’ in Turkish literature is a form that emerged under the influence of the folk song. The ſarkı consists of lines of verse, its name depending on the number of verses involved. It is composed with a minor rhythmic pattern (usul) and take can take various forms. It was particularly popular after the 19th century, and left the other forms which included lyrics in the shade. It went from strength to strength in the 20th century, going beyond the previously established frontiers and eventually turning into the ‘Fantezi’ form as it grew more and more popular. Apart from a few outstanding examples, it played a major role in restricting the sphere of traditional classical music.
The following are the form of instrumental pieces employed in Ottoman music;

Peſrev: Generally composed in major rhythmic patterns, such as ‘Darb-ı Fetih,’ ‘Sakil,’ ‘Muhammes’ and ‘Devr-i Kebir,’ or sometimes in minor ones, such as ‘Düyek.’ It is a saz work that emerged from the sections called ‘Hane’ and the ‘Mulazime’ section that comes between and is repeated with little change.

Saz Semaisi: Although they have the same structure as the peſrev, the saz compositions falling in the semai (six-time), ‘aksak semai’ (10-time) and yürük semai (six-time) categories are known as ‘Saz Semaisi.’ These come at the end of the fasıl, following the yürük semai.

Taksim: Intended to introduce, prepare the way or warm up for the makam, these are played with a single instrument, within the makam, yet not linked to any rhythmic pattern, and are either free-form or improvised.

Oyun Havası: Instrumental pieces composed for dancing.

Usul: Up to 15-time these are known as ‘Küçük Usul’ (minor pattern), and after 15-time as ‘Büyük Usul’ (major pattern). When the two are employed together, this is known as ‘Darbeyn.’ There are also strings that use one usul after another. One of these consists of five usul, either 60 or 120-time, depending on which view one adopts, and this is known as ‘Zencir.’ Kücük usul in 5, 7, 9-time etc. or 10-time works such as the aksak semai, are known as ‘Aksak Usul.’ The true times that bear the name ‘aksak’ are usul in 2+2+2+3 form.

Examples of Ottoman Music

AHMET YESEVI

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Ahmet Yasevi (1093-1166) was born in the town of Sayram in western Turkistan and educated and lived in the towns of Yesi and Bukhara. He is the author of Divan-i Hikmet (Book of Wisdom). Although he knew Arabic and Persian languages, he wrote in Turkish. He followed the line of Ebu Hanife in terms of religion. He also strove to transform the system of “folk piety” which existed among Turks in villages as well as among nomads as a way of religious life into a model for Turkish Sufism. He was successful in merging ancient Turkish wisdom with Islamic concepts.

It may be argued that the “first Turkish Sufism line” is in fact a moral and scientific philosophy, which was present among Turkish people before Islam, which later reconciled the collective “Turkish wisdom” with Islamic elements. For this reason, it has characteristics, which contradicted with the perceptions of “Persian Sufism” which was starting to develop in that period. The first period of Turkish Sufism appears to have been easily understood as a moral system for a moral purpose, with concepts like devotion to one’s own country, repentance, renunciation and soul advice. In his explanations, Yesevi gives examples from his own life and experiences. That he is simple and easily understood brought about the spread of his views very quickly and he was accepted as a saint (veli) and became the one who was followed. Hence “Khorasan dervishes” who came to Anatolia from Central Asia took the views of Yesevi wherever they went and gave rise to the spread of Divan-i Hikmet in Anatolia. In this way it may be said that Ahmet Yasevi merged the Central Asian Turkish culture and Turkish way of life with Islamic elements and thus constituted a “Turkish-Islamic life model” and had these views spread throughout Anatolia and the Balkans via wandering dervishes.

Reference: “Philosophy among the Early Muslim Turkish States”, Prof.Dr. Hanifi Ozcan, The Turks, Vol.2, Yeni Turkiye Yayinlari, Istanbul, 2002.

Yunus Emre

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We know little about the life of Yunus Emre because the sources available to us are precious, scant and uncertain. Almost every significant thing about his life must be drawn from his poems.

The empire of the great Seljuk Turks, established in Khorassan by the mid-eleventh century, had already expanded its borders to the lands of Anatolia. The Byzantine empire which ruled Anatolia launched the Crusades to preserve its borders against the threat of these Seljuk Turks. The armies of the Crusades were defeated in their battles against them, and the Seljuk Turks established precedence over the Byzantines by conquering Anatolia. Yet shortly afterwards, the empire of the great Seljuk Turks collapsed as the Anatolian state of the Seljuk Turks was formed, while the Crusades still continued. And so not only did Anatolia itself fall into ruin from the ravages of war, but the Anatolian state of the Seljuk Turks was also seriously weakened in spite of their major victory over the armies of the Crusades.

The people of Anatolia, already weakened and devastated by the Crusades from the west, now fell victim to the plundering attacks of the Mongols from the east. In 1231 when the Mongols marched into the city of Sivas in central Anatolia, they embarked on the mass slaughter of the civilian population there. By the time the army of the Seljuk Turks arrived the Mongols had already withdrawn, disappearing into the rest of Anatolia. The direct consequence of these recurring Mongol raids on Anatolia was the splintering of its people, already weak and feeble, into many separate groups. Since the authority of the Anatolian Seljuk state was now so weak it had disintegrated politically, and since the army was incapable of protecting its citizens, individual communities gathered around a local ruler or beylik, a sultan.

This was the beginning of a process which strengthened a number of local rulers and sultans. On the one hand, local rulers, severely competitive, were fighting each other; at the same time they were also in revolt against the authority of the Seljuk state, while still struggling with the Mongol invasions. The picture we now see of Anatolia is sketched in by invasion, riot, the transition from nomadic to settled life for large groups of people, social disquiet and the instability of the Seljuk regime. We can say Anatolia was seething with unrest because of the Crusades, Mongol invasions, the revolt of local rulers and political quarrels for sovereignty among sultans.

This period of utmost unrest and turmoil shaped by all these difficulties which the people of Anatolia suffered, also shaped the remarkable character, the poetry and inner world of Yunus Emre. Through this terrible time, he spent his entire life trying to establish peace and unity in Anatolia, with both his ideas and his efforts. In pursuit of this, he traveled extensively among all the local rulers, explaining the significance of unity and peace to them: his great service was to give voice to and stimulate an awareness of these ideals in Anatolia.

There is consensus among historians and scholars that the Sakarya Valley is the place where Yunus Emre came into this world. Accordingly, Sariköy – now called the village of Yunus Emre in the town of Mihalliççik, Eskisehir – has been acknowledged as the village where Yunus Emre was born.

During his youth when Yunus Emre lived with his mother in this village, he found himself in a kind of ghariblik, a strangeness, a sense of otherness which occasionally plunged him into loneliness. Most of the time, Yunus Emre wandered by himself through vineyards and orchards where he found himself in deep contemplation. One day as he was wandering alone again, he encountered “the sorrowful waterwheel.” While raising and lowering the waters of a stream to water vineyards and orchards, the waterwheel resonated as if it were weeping and moaning. He was overwhelmed by the effect of the waterwheel because its groaning actually voiced his own state of otherness, his solitude in this world.

I am the sorrowing waterwheel,

My waters flow and flow,

This is what God has commanded, and

This is why I weep and moan.

I lift the waters up from deep below,

I spin around and push them up;

See the sorrows I have in the world, and

This is why I weep and moan.

In this way, Yunus Emre begun to pile up sorrow within himself for reasons which are unknown. The more his sorrow increased, the lonelier he became in a crowd. This loneliness, even among other people, was his sole friend; he was now the close friend of those who sorrow. In his village, if someone had sorrow and was in misery, Yunus would visit eagerly to share the sorrow, no matter who the person was. From that time on, everyone's sorrow, everyone's difficulty turned out to be Yunus Emre's own sorrow. He prayed to the Creator to help those who found this strange affliction in themselves: with his prayers to God Yunus sought a remedy for their sorrow.

During a famine, he traveled to the dergah, the dervish lodge, of Hajji Bektash Veli, the great sultan of ma‘na, of meaning, to ask for grain and seeds to feed his starving, hungry villagers. On the way to Hajji Bektash Veli, Yunus decided he could not arrive there with empty hands, and he picked some wild pears on the Anatolian steppes as a gift for Hajji Bektash. May God not oblige anyone to arrive with empty hands.

Hajji Bektash asked Yunus if he would accept a nefes, the secret breath of a blessing, instead of a cartful of grain sacks, but Yunus' mind was on his villagers who were starving. Then Hajji Bektash increased his offer, “We will give you ten nefes for each wild pear you brought us.” Since Yunus had never heard of a nefes before, nor could he even imagine its extraordinary bliss, he chose the grain and seeds, and Hajji Bektash gave him the food instead.

Later, on his way back to the village, Yunus thought he had probably made a mistake as he began to realize the significance of the nefes Hajji Bektash had offered him. He rushed back to him and said, “Here is your grain, take it back and give me your nefes.” But Hajji Bektash told him his share of the nefes had been turned over to Taptuk Emre who would soon become his guide on the path. And so Yunus went to Taptuk Emre.

It took only a little time for Yunus to find Taptuk Emre, delivering himself with total love to his guide. Taptuk gave Yunus the duty of carrying wood from the forest to the dergah, the dervish lodge, and Yunus was a very conscientious pupil in his service there. This means he thought bent or curving pieces of wood were not worthy of the dergah, for which only straight pieces were acceptable. Whenever he returned from the forest Yunus was seen carrying unbent branches of wood to the dergah. However, this scrupulous concern for his duty caused a series of painful injuries to his back, of which Yunus said nothing.

Gharib Yunus, strange, secret Yunus, even though his back was covered with the wounds of these injuries, he still delivered the wood. Because the wounds hurt if he tried to unload one piece at a time, carefully, he would just fling it all to the ground at once. When they saw him do this, some of the dervishes who were envious of Yunus ran to Taptuk Emre and complained, “Yunus is already bored with service to you; now he is throwing the wood around and scattering what he brings to the dergah everywhere.”

Taptuk Emre replied, “Give him a beating! He has to give up this duty and be punished.” They went back to Yunus, beat him within an inch of his life then shoved him outside the gate. Now his body was almost out of the dergah, except for his head which was still inside.

Yunus whispered, “Al-hamdu lillah, all praise to Allah, my head is still inside.”

As soon as Taptuk heard what Yunus said, he rushed to embrace him with tears in his eyes, then he turned to the dervishes who had beaten Yunus and said angrily, “You tried to kill him, but I told you to beat him. Now I have heard what I wanted to hear.” Taptuk Emre himself cleansed Yunus' wounds and healed them; he never had him fetch wood for the dergah again.

One day, when Taptuk presided over a gathering with his dervishes he turned to Yunus and said, “Recite your poems, my Yunus, recite your poems!” Yunus began to recite the words of the poems we know today. The envious dervishes, furious with this recognition, could not tolerate his presence in the dergah any longer, and they began to accuse him, to bring charges against him with never-ending intrigues. Offended by the plots against him, Yunus asked Taptuk for permission to leave, “I understand it is not easy to be a dervish; so let me go into the world with my solitude, my otherness, I will become an intimate friend of those who sorrow.”

Yunus traveled on foot, miles and miles through the steppes of Anatolia. There was a time during his travels when he realized the maturity of the state he had reached on the path. One day while he wandered the steppes of Anatolia , he encountered two traveling dervishes who invited him to accompany them. At the dusk of the first day, one of the dervishes prayed to God asking for food to eat: no sooner had he finished his prayer than a well-prepared dinner appeared. Yunus was amazed. On the second day at dinner time, the other dervish prayed and a meal just as good as the first one appeared. Yunus began to worry he might in his turn, be asked to produce a meal, and indeed, on the following day the two dervishes asked Yunus for his prayer to beg God for food. Yunus prayed silently, “O my God, I do not know such prayers, but I ask in the same name that my friends used in their prayer to You, please, may You not embarrass me.”

As soon as he finished his prayer, twice the amount of food they had eaten on the previous days appeared. The two dervishes were very surprised and asked Yunus, “In whose name did you pray to God?”

Yunus replied, “First, tell me in whose name you prayed.” They answered they had prayed in the name of a dervish called Yunus from Taptuk Emre's dergah.

After that, Yunus returned to Taptuk who gave him this explanation, “We would have delivered you to Haqq, to God, as a sealed chest, but you hurried away and opened your mouth. From this day on you will be the intimate friend of the gharibs, the strangers, the hidden beings, and those who sorrow. This is your path, go, do your duty!” And so Yunus traveled every square inch of the steppes of Anatolia on foot by day and by night. On his travels sometimes he would be a remedy for those who sorrowed, sometimes he would reconcile enemies, sometimes he would defend the rights of those who were treated unjustly, sometimes he would put local rulers and landowners to shame by asking them to act with justice.

As we observed before, the local rulers and sultans of Anatolia were fighting each other, there were mass killings, the Mongols were invading. In an age when battles, killing and destruction were rampant in Anatolia, Yunus, the volunteer for peace, traveled among the local rulers sowing the seeds of love, compassion and unity. In the same way, may God permit us to follow the same principles that Yunus did, may we have the determination and the intention to serve all without discrimination in this world today where unpleasant things are also happening. Amin .

During his lifetime Yunus did not claim to be a dervish nor did he describe himself as a sheikh or sultan. He was content with Haqq, the truth or reality which is God, losing any sense of self or varlik, individual existence, in the presence of Haqq. In this way he achieved the happiness of being yokluk, nothing, while at the same time becoming a source of hope for the gharibs, the hidden beings living in their otherness.

Yunus traveled to Syria and Azerbaijan as well as through Anatolia. Sariköy, the place of his birth, is also the place where he died. Though several towns in Anatolia claim to possess Yunus' mazar, his tomb, they are, in fact, his maqams, his spiritual stations in the world, places where he might have stopped to rest during his travels, where he might have visited people to discourse to them. The reverence for these places reveals how much the people of Anatolia valued Yunus, how they accepted and loved him. In fact, they appreciated and understood him well, aware that Yunus was truly close to them, and so they embraced him. He was, indeed, that friend who was conscious of their sorrows, their difficulties in life; he never separated himself from their reality. Furthermore, he was the only poet of his time who turned his face towards them, composing his poems in their spoken tongue. He implicitly explained the most complex, the most profound and perplexing truths to the people in their own language, making it easy for them to understand what he conveyed in his poems.

Reference: Yunus Emre: His Life and Selected Poems written and edited by Faruk Dilaver

Mevlana (Rumi)

2008-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi is an Anatolian holy man who gave hope and inspiration to humanity. Mevlana was born in 1207 in Khorasan, and died in 1273 in Konya. He took his first lessons from his father Bahaeddin Veled, who was known as “sultan of scholars”. While he was studying Sufism he met Ahi Sems Tebrizi, and after this meeting his own ideas began to emerge. It is his poems about Sufism, however, for which he is chiefly remembered, respected and admired today.

The branch of love comes from ancient times, and its root from immortality,
That greatness is too much for this mind and morals,
Fade away, pass through your existence. Your existence is murder.
Love is nothing other than finding the truth.

According to Mevlana, love is the only thing necessary to attain God. A plant or an animal may also love, but it is only man who has the capacity to love with his body, mind, thoughts and memory. Mevlana exalts the state of being in love with a woman because if someone loves someone else, he also loves himself, humanity, the universe and God. The most beautiful love, “Love of Truth,” begins when someone reaches this level of wisdom. Followers of Mevlana (Mevlevi) spin around and around in a ritual called “sema.” This ritual symbolizes a world united in love and keeping step with the world’s universal rotation. While one of their hands points to the sky, the other hand points to the ground meaning “Love from God spreads to the earth”. The spirit bursts forth from God and is immortal. The sound of the nay (a reed flute) tells of man’s longing to return to his initial source.

He means that the universe is an endless place within the existence of God, and as a small part of the whole, man keeps that divine essence inside him by saying, “You who search for God, it’s you that you’re searching for....”

Come, no matter what you are,
Whether atheist or sun worshipper.
Whether you’ve backslid a thousand times,
Come, no matter what you are.

As we see, all mankind are brothers, and differences between religions do not square well with the divine presence. Mevlana attaches great importance to women and maintains that men and women are equal, saying, “The more you insist women should cover themselves up, the more you incite people’s desire to see them.

Like a man, if a woman’s heart is good, she will chose the path of goodness independent of your prohibitory actions. If her heart is bad, you can’t influence whatever you do.” Mevlana’s students were called Kitap-el Esrar (Clerks of the Secret). There were Muslims, Christians, Jews, Iranians, Armenians, Rums and Turks among them. His students from different cultures and religions collected his poems and gave them as a gift to later generations.

Influence of Western Literature on Turkish Literature

2007-12-10T08:04:00.003-08:00

Turkish Literature was also influenced by the Western Literature. Changes in social, economic and political life were reflected in the literature of the time and the quest for change continued till the proclamation of the Republic. The distinguishing characteristic of the era in literature was the concern with intellectual content rather than esthetic values or perfection of style. The latest period in literature, which is known as the Turkish Literature of the Republican period, came to be influenced by the following literary schools after Divan literary styles had been abandoned: Tanzimat (reforms), Servet-i Fünun (scientific wealth), Fecr-i Ati (dawn of the new age) and Ulusal Edebiyat (national literature).

Leading figures in the first period (1860-1880) in Tanzimat literature were Sinasi, Ziya Pasa, Namik Kemal, and Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Leading figures during the second period (1880-1896) were Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Abdülhak Hamit, Sami Pasazade Sezai, and Nabizade Nazim.

Tevfik Fikret, Cenap Sahabettin, Süleyman Nazif, Halit Ziya Usakligil, Mehmet Rauf, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçin and Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoglu are the important representatives of this trend. Others who adopted the western approach, but who were outside the group, were Ahmet Rasim and Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpinar who supported the new Turkish literature.

The most interesting Fecr-i Ati poet was Ahmet Hasim. Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu and Refik Halit Karay who initially were in the Fecr-i Ati at the start of their careers, attained their true literary identities later in the National Literature Movement.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy and Yahya Kemal Beyatli initially followed independent courses and later joined the National Literature movement. The Tanzimat, Servet-i Fünun and Fecr-i Ati groups who came together to create a modern Turkish literature made great strides towards this aim, but their works stopped short of being a national literature with distinctive characteristics. In spirit, it was French-oriented, in language and style it was traditional and Ottoman.

National Literature was created between the years 1911 and 1923. The leading literary figures of the period were Ziya Gokalp, Ömer Seyfettin, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Yusuf Ziya Ortaç, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel, Enis Behiç Koryürek, Kemalletin Kamu, Aka Gündüz, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu, Halide Edip Adivar, Halit Karay, Resat Nuri Güntekin, Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoglu, Necip Fazil Kisakürek, Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Sükufe Nihal, Peyami Safa, and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar.

The Republic later encompassed practically all national literary figures in the fields of culture, ideology and literature. The first decade of the Republic bore the stamp of the National Literature movement, wherein the simple clear language, poetic forms and syllabic metre of folk literature and topics from Turkey were favoured.

The topics, written in simple language, were taken from real life and mirrored the conditions of the country. A unity was created in which all artists: Islamic, Ottoman, traditionalist and individualist could be a part, because the issue was not the concept of the trend of national literature, but the period itself of national literature.

Yahya Kemal Beyatli made his debut in 1912 and won fame during the War of Independence. Until the day he died he did not tire in his quest for pure poetry.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy, often considered an Islamic poet, made a great impact on both intellectuals and the masses with his book of poetry "Safahat" (stages) in which he treats the poverty and underdevelopment of various cities (primarily Istanbul) and countries and the alien aims of the intellectuals.

The first poets of the Republic used simple language and the syllabic metre. The advocates of the syllabic metre who won fame during the Truce Years were Orhan Seyfi Orhon, Yusuf Ziya Ortac, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel and Kemalettin Kamu, all poets who stressed themes from Anatolia and the lives of ordinary people in their poems.

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar wrote intensely profound poems full of hidden meaning, adapting Paul Valery's poetic notions to the Turkish language. Ahmet Kutsi Tecer was inspired in his work by folk sources, while Necip Fazil Kisakürek expressed the mystic tendencies of the Anatolian people in his poems and plays, using the Turkish language skilfully in an original and modern style reflecting his colourful character. Nazim Hikmet Ran, who went to Russia when he was young and returned with Marxist-materialist convictions, wrote revolutionary poems using the esthetic qualities of Turkish in a new way which bore the influence of Myakovsky. These poems were the begining of a socialist trend which became common in Turkish literature in the 1960's. By contrast, Ahmet Muhip Dranas' poems reflected esthetic considerations only. Arif Nihat Asya was original in the richness of spirit and style of his poems.

Ömer Seyfettin, the founder and most successful representative of the short story tradition in Turkish literature became the most widely-read author in the country when the 144th edition of his books was published. The writings of Sait Faik Abasiyanik and Sabahattin Ali started two widely different trends. Sait Faik Abasiyanik picked on happenings in Istanbul with intense poetical feeling based on his own experiences. Sabahattin Ali, on the other hand, had a materialistic philosophy and specialized in objective description of simple events. With these two writers, daily life and events, opinions and expectations began to be reflected in literature, a trend that was to intensify in the 1960's.

Orhan Veli Kanik published his poems in a book entitled "Garip" in 1941, and two others who shared his style, Melih Cevdet Anday and Oktay Rifat, created a new poetic movement called "Garipciler", based on the elimination of such formal restrictions as metre, rhyme and analogy hitherto considered to be essential in poetry. They wanted poetry to become a simple expression of feelings. Orhan Veli's successful poems in free verse greatly influenced those who came after him. Cahit Sitki Taranci achieved the same simplicity through the use of metre and rhyme. Free verse spread rapidly.Asaf Halet Çelebi, Fazil Hüsnü Daglarca and Behçet Necatigil were some of the successful representatives of this style.

The most well-known and widely-read writers of the 1950-1990 period can be listed as follows: Tarik Dursun K., Atilla lhan, Yasar Kemal, Orhan Kemal, Kemal Tahir, Tarik Bugra, Aziz Nesin, Mustafa Necati Sepetçioglu, Firuzan, Adalet Agaoglu, Sevgi Soysal, Tomris Uyar, Selim Ileri,Cevat Sakir (Halikarnas Balikçisi), Necati Cumali, Haldun Taner. Prominent poets in this period are: Behçet Kemal Çaglar, Necati Cumali , Oktay Rifat, Melih Cevdet Anday, Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever, Özdemir Ince, Ataol Behramoglu, Ismet Özel, Ece Ayhan, Turgut Uyar, Sezai Karakoç, Bahaettin Karakoç, Ümit Yasar Oguzcan, Orhan Pamuk .

Turkish Literature After The Adoption of Islam

2007-12-10T08:04:00.001-08:00

Following Turkish migrations into Anatolia in the wake of the Malazgirt victory in 1071, the establishment of various Beyliks in Anatolia and the eventual founding of the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires set the scene for Turkish literature to develop along two distinct lines, with "divan" or classical literature drawing its inspiration from the Arabic and Persian languages and Turkish folk literature still remaining deeply rooted in Central Asian traditions.

Divan poets did not have independent philosophies, they were content to express the same ideas in different ways. The magnificence of the poet came from his artistry in finding original and beautiful forms of expression. The most famous of the Divan poets were Baki, Fuzuli, Nedim and Nef'i.

Initially based on two foreign literary traditions, Arab and Persian, literature gradually stopped being merely imitative and took on Ottoman national characteristics.

To a certain extent, the Turkish folk literature which has survived till our day, reflects the influence of Islam and the new life style and form of the traditional literature of Central Asia after the adoption of Islam. Turkish folk literature comprised anonymous works of bard poems and Tekke (mystical religious retreats) literature. Yunus Emre who lived in the second half of the 13th and early 14th centuries was an epoch making poet and sufi (mystical philosopher) expert in all three areas of folk literature as well as divan poetry. Important figures of poetic literature were Karacaoglan, Atik Ömer, Erzurumlu Emrah and Kayserili Seyrani.

Reference: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

Social Life

2007-12-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hospitality is an integral part of Turkish culture. Friends, relatives, and neighbors often visit each other. In large cities, people usually try to telephone in advance, but in places where this is not practical they may visit without notice. The tradition of hospitality dictates that visitors are always invited in and offered something to drink, such as tea, coffee, or soda water, and sometimes something to eat, such as crackers or biscuits. It is impolite to decline the offer. Turks go to great lengths to make their guests feel comfortable and may even tolerate behavior that they consider inappropriate. However, they are naturally more responsive to guests who display a sensitivity to their customs. For example, in homes where the inhabitants remove their shoes and replace them with slippers, hosts expect their guests to do the same. Guests should avoid asking their hosts personal questions and, because a visit to someone's home is an occasion for harmony and enjoyment, bad news or accounts of problems should be saved for another time and place. First-time visitors to a home may bring a small gift, such as confectionery, fruit, or flowers.

A Turkish Wit For All Ages: Nasreddin Hoca

2007-12-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

In Turkey, Nasreddin Hoca is truly a household name-- a ubiquitous cultural figure whose anecdotes are invoked with remarkable frequency by authors, speakers, and people-in-the street alike. Most of his gags and punchlines are used like proverbs: Turkish conversations are often interlarded with allusions to the inexhaustible tales of the Hoca. "The test of true Comedy", wrote George Meredith, "is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter". Along with Aesop, who was born in a place near Ankara, Nasreddin Hoca is the most durable folk philosopher and humorist to emerge in Anatolia. He has provided thoughtful chuckles for all ages and for many countries and cultures since the 13th century. German culture was enriched by Till Eulenspiegel's merry pranks, England by Shakespearean clowns, the United States by Mark Twain's and Will Roger's quips -- and Turkish life and letters by the wisecracks and the satiric barbs of Nasreddin Hoca. A principal criterion of success for a humorist is universality. One nation's laughter is often another nation's bafflement or boredom. Not so with Nasreddin Hoca. His wit has transcended national and cultural borders. For seven centuries he has remained the foremost humorist in the Muslim and non-Islamic communities of the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans and Central Asia. His tales have been translated into dozens of languages including English, Russian, German, French, etc., attesting to his universal appeal. In recognition of the Hoca's worldwide popularity and his timeless wisdom, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization) decided by a unanimous decision of its Executive Board and General Conference in 1995 to declare 1996/7 "International Nasreddin Hoca Year".

Precious little is known about Nasreddin Hoca's life. He lived probably in the 13th century although some authorities place him in the 14th or even the 15th century. He was presumably born in Sivrihisar near Eskisehir, and had his schooling either in Konya or Aksehir where he spent many years serving as a religious teacher, preacher, and judge. He died and was buried in Aksehir where his "mausoleum" stands as an appropriate sight gag: All its walls are missing, only the iron gate remains intact with a huge padlock hanging on it. At this funniest mausoleum, Hoca's devotees hold a mostly humorous memorial ceremony each year. Nasreddin Hoca stories embody the entire spectrum of Turkish humor - from the gentlest bathos to outlandish buffoonery, from good-natured badinage to biting mockery. In evoking "thoughtful laughter" his bel esprit fulfills the requisites of comedy as expressed by some great practitioners of humor and satire: Shakespeare's maxim, "Brevity is the soul of wit." Jonathan Swift's observation "Humour is odd, grotesque and wild./ Only by affectation spoil'd." Jane Austen's assertion "The liveliest effusions of wit and humor are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language." Indeed, Nasreddin Hoca's comic genius has its odd, grotesque, and wild aspects, never falls into the pitfalls of affectation, relates the stories in simple and spare terms, delivers the punchlines swifty, and utilizes the expressive resources of Turkish with literary precision.

The name Nasreddin means "Helper of the Faith". This is far from a ponderous appellation. It actually suits the man's personality and humor. Nasreddin Hoca was an affirmative person who upheld faith in life and in human beings - also aiding others to do so. No wonder the common people of Anatolia have always imagined him as a chubby burly, affable man - like Falstaff or Bottom. He is said to have lived at a time of war and turbulence, but he accepted life stoically, turning anguish into humor and tears into smiles. He avoided the melancholy litanies of the poets among his contemporaries, preferring to offer his tomfoolery and fenciful railleries to give succor to the suffering people of his day as well as to succeeding generations. Nasreddin Hoca's stature as the humorist has been abiding. In fact, his "lore of laughter" has grown with the centuries - even in our time: His authenticated stories number about three-hundered, but hundreds more have been - and are being - ascribed to him, in recognition of his status as the creator, custodian, and embodiment of Turkish folk humor.

The range of Hoca's comic faculty is dazzlingly broad - from subtle ironic piquancy to black comedy from whimsical philosophic twists to ribald lampoons. Whatever the mode, his humor always does justice to the principle of ridentem dicere verum, to speak the truth even when laughing. As satire, his statements never fail to have "moral sting" for all their levity. Among his most effective quips are those that expose cant, hypocrisy, fanaticism, self-righteousness, avarice, and all human phobias. Nasreddin Hoca's wisdom is quintessential: "Listen carefully to those who know. If someone listens to you, be sure to listen to what you are saying." A laconic anecdote sumps up ethics: An inquisitive man -the village gossip- once ran up to Hoca: "I just saw someone carrying a lamb." Hoca said: "So? What do I care?". "But he's taking the lamb to your house." Hoca retorted: "So? What do you care?"

In a mini-Rashomon story, Hoca posits the idea of relativity: Two men involved in a dispute ask Hoca to settle it for them. When the first man tells his version, Hoca says: "You are right." The second one protests. When he tells his version, Hoca remarks: "You're right." His wife, who has been listening, intervenes: "But they can't both be right." Hoca promptly replies: "Woman, you're right, too."

Nasreddin Hoca is a folk philosopher par excellence. Many of his stories, as lessons in moral conduct and as jocular practical jokes, offer critical commentary on stereotyped social thought and behaviour as well as pointing out imaginative alternatives. The bravura with which he confounds life's incongruities and yet affirms his faith in man is a captivating challenge to our sensibilities. Take his extravagantly wistful gag: sitting by a lake, Hoca keeps dipping leaven into the water. Passersby come up to him and ask what he is doing. Hoca calmly says: "I'm making yoghurt." They laugh: "You must know that the lake won't turn into yoghurt". Hoca replies: "But if it does!"

There are some farcical Hoca anecdotes which might well be TV comedy skits: Hoca is sick and tired of feeding his donkey and asks his wife to do it. She refuses. They quarrel. Then they make a bet. Whoever speaks first will feed the donkey. Hoca is resolved not to lose. One day, when his wife is out, a burglar breaks into the house. Hoca is home, but he says nothing to the burglar lest he lose the bet. The thief packs everything up and goes. When Hoca's wife comes home and sees that everything is gone, she screams: "My God! What happened?" Hoca beams with delight: "I've won the bet! You have to feed the donkey".

Nasreddin Hoca's donkey is reminiscent of Sancho Panza's mount in The Adventures of Don Quixote - except it is more of a comic device. One of the most popular Hoca stories about the donkey provides food for thought: Hoca decides that his donkey eats too much, so he reduces the daily amount of fodder. With each passing day the donkey's intake becomes so skimpy that it starves to death. Hoca says incredulously: "Just as he was getting used to it, he died."

Hoca is a master of the ironic touch. He was passing through a village where there was a big feast. He observed: "You people must be very prosperous." The vilagers replied: "No, we're not. We work hard throughout the year and save all we can for this day of festivities." Hoca sighed and remarked: "If only every day happened to be a day of feast, then nobody would go hungry." He can also "burlesque" situations: Once a man brought him a letter to read. Hoca said: "The handwriting is illegible. I can't read it." The man got angry. "Fine Hoca you are. You wear a turban, yet you can't even read a simple letter". Hoca promptly took off his turban, put it on the man's head, and blurted: "Here, now you're wearing the turban; see if you can read the letter." Hoca's humor is often broad, but not without subtlety. One day, while travelling, Hoca was famished and dropped in on a village imam he knew. The imam asked him if he was sleepy or thirsty, and Hoca replied: "On the way here, I took a nap by the fountain."

Although Nasreddin Hoca is not given to malice, he can be vindictive if he is double crossed. Tamerlane had conquered Aksehir and terrorized the people. He ordered the townsfolk to feed and groom his elephant. The people suffered greatly because of this, and decided to send a committee, headed by Nasreddin Hoca, to Tamerlane to plead with him to take the elephant back. As the committee was about to enter the tyrant's palace, Hoca noticed that the other members of the committee got scared and turned back. He was left alone, facing the tyrant. "Your Highness", he said, "I am here to make a request on behalf of the people. They are so happy with the elephant you were kind enough to give us that they would like to take care of one more elephant."

Nasreddin Hoca represents the indomitable spirit of the common people. He is a symbol of courage, the invincible underdog, when he is pitted against the terrible Tamerlane. Hoca's fearlessness is preserved in a story involving Tamerlane. Once when Nasreddin Hoca was in Tamerlane's presence, the tyrant insulted him: "You are not far from a donkey!" Hoca retorted: "I'm only a couple of yards from him." Hoca was a tireless critic of the establishment and its false values. One day, he went to a banquet in his ordinary robe: the guards wouldn't let him in. He rushed home, put his luxurious fur-coat on. The guard saluted him this time as he made his entrance. When he sat at the table he began to feed his fur-coat saying: "Eat my fur-coat, eat."

The Hoca tales occasionally banter with God: At his wife's insistence, Hoca buys a cow, but since there is no room for both the donkey and the cow in the barn, if one sleeps the other one has to stand. Hoca implores: "God, please kill the cow so that my donkey can get some sleep." Next morning he goes into the barn and sees that the donkey is dead. He lifts his eyes to the sky and says: "No offense, my Lord, but you have been God for all these years and yet you can't tell a cow from a donkey." Nasreddin Hoca relishes drolleries. One dark night, he looks out the window and catches a glimpse of a man in the garden. He grabes his bow and arrow, lets the arrow go, and hits the figure right in the belly. Next morning, he goes into the garden and finds the arrow sticking out of his own robe which his wife had left on the clothes-line. Hoca says: "Thank God, I wasn't in my robe." His irreverences are often directed against blundering bureaucracy and slow justice. One day Hoca is walking in the street, and a stranger comes near him and lands a mighty slap on Hoca's face. The man is immediately rounded up. Hoca, witnesses, and the culprit go before a judge. The man is sentenced to pay Hoca one gold coin. The judge orders him to go and get the money. Hours go by, but the man doesn't show up. Hoca is impatient: - and not optimistic about the man's return to court. He gets up, goes up to the judge, slaps him on the face, and says: "I've got to go now. Your Honor. Here's your slap. When the man comes back, you get the gold coin." Self-satire is a leitmotiv of Hoca's anecdotes. He tries to mount a horse, but fails. For the benefit of the people looking on he remarks: "I wasn't like that as a young man." Then he murmurs to himself: "You weren't any good as a young man, either."

Ionesco has observed that "the comic is the intuition of the absurd." Nasreddin Hoca obviously had this modern sense of the "absurd" - even of black comedy". An acquaintance complains to Hoca about a headache and Hoca suggests: "The other day, I had a tooth-ache. It went away as soon as I had the tooth pulled out." And once he was rowing ten blind men across the river for ten cents a piece. In the middle of the river, he made the wrong move and one of the blind men fell into the river and was carried away by the current. His friends started to scream. Hoca was imperturbed: "Stop shouting! So, you'll pay me ten cents less, that's all." Nasreddin Hoca perfected the art of tongue-in-cheek humor. Virtually everything he did was good-natured and zany, marked by bonhomie and optimism, and often admirable for his grace. Once, he was visiting a village and he happened to lose his purse. He reported the loss to some of the villagers and remarked: "If it isn't found, I know what I am going to do." The villagers, who respected and loved him, undertook a thorough search. When they handed him the purse, they inquired: "Hoca, you got us all scared. If the purse hadn't turned up, what would you have done?" Hoca chuckled: "Oh, that" he said, "I have an old remnant of a carpet at home. I was going to make a new purse out of that."

Such is the satirical world of Nasreddin Hoca anecdotes. This Turkish wit endures as a gift to universal humor.

Reference: Prof. Talat S. Halman / Bilkent University

Pre-Islamic Era

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Turkish literature was the joint product of the Turkish clans and was mostly oral. The oldest known examples of Turkish writings are on obelisks dating from the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The Orhun monumental inscriptions written in 720 for Tonyukuk, in 732 for Kültigin and in 735 for Bilge Kagan are masterpieces of Turkish literature with their subject matter and perfect style. Turkish epics dating from those times include the Yaratilis, Saka, Oguz-Kagan, Göktürk, Uygur and Manas. The "Book of Dede Korkut", put down in writing in the 14th century, is an extremely valuable work that preserves the memory of that epic era in beautiful language.

Folk Medicine

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Folk or traditional medicine originated from primitive man’s reactions or attitudes to natural events. Magic and witchcraft played an important role here. In these societies, where witchcraft and religious beliefs were of great importance, disease and health were explained by external factors penetrating and harming the body. People’s efforts to find solutions to these diseases set up the basis of folk medicine. Consequently, in traditional societies opinions on disease and health were born as a part of folk culture. For this reason, practices related to this issue are the realm of anthropology, ethnology and sociology, while technical analysis falls under the disciplines of medicine and pharmacology.

Folk medicine is different rather then to modern medicine. Traditional medicine lives among the people as a part of their culture. In traditional societies, any information about a disease is shared by others. This information is passed through the generations. People learn popular medicine in the same way and they learn other cultural components.

Popular medicine perfectly harmonizes with cultural components. In most cases, the patient either recovers or dies. If he gets well, it is believed that the method of treatment used was a valid one, and this method becomes permanent. However, the death of the patient does not mean that the method of treatment method was unsuitable, only that the patient was beyond its scope.

The main difference between modern medicine and traditional medicine is the causes of disease. While modern medicine tries to explain the causes of disease by germ theory, traditional medicine, which also accepts the existence of germs, explains disease by magical and supernatural events. The traditional medicine still present today is the sum of diagnosis and treatment which people have recourse to in underdeveloped or developing countries where modern medical facilities do not exist or because of their religious beliefs. The main reason for traditional medicine's acceptability can be explained by the fact that beliefs change very slowly. In Turkey, especially in conservative communities, we still can see examples of traditional medicine, although fewer than formerly. People who have methods of treatment of their own are known as ''old women'' in Turkey, and are in fact traditional physicians. Their medicines (known as old woman's medicine) sometimes have a positive efffect on disease and sometimes don't. These experienced people learn treatment methods from their parents, and try to cure diseases by using their own drugs based on animal, vegetable and mineral products. Most of them apply treatment in their own homes, while others treat patients in laces which can be considered ''folk hospitals.'' Folk physicians use plants for their drugs. These medicinal plants and herbs are commonly used in Turkey. Some of these are very popular among people and are often used in homes, while others can only be recognized and used by folk physicians. There has been considerable research into these medicianal plants and drugs, and large numbers of publications about them issued by faculties of pharmacology.

Forms and lengths of treatment in folk and modern medicine are sometimes quite similar. For example asprin used as a painkiller appeared as a development of quinine and cocaine, which had been used by folk medicine for a long time. In the same way, research has proved that some herbs used in folk medicine were really effective in curing disease.

In general, we can say that modern and folk medicine interact with each other. While focusing on the causes of disease, modern medicine benefits from folk medicine in order to improve the range of treatments available. Also, folk medicine uses every opportunity to benefit from developments in modern medicine. Within this framework, in some cases folk medicine has given way to pharmacological drugs. However, some people do not trust modern medicine in cases like the evil eye or when someone is under the influence of an evil spirit. Both folk and modern medicine are used in some diseases, like asthma or to deal with heart problems. Cancer and other diseases which requires a surgeon are totally left to modern medicine.

As a result, in conservative regions, the attitudes of residents towards disease are shaped by cultural factors. Research shows that not only educational levels but also peoples’ economic situation influences this attitude. Contacts with big cities, and the availability of transport also enhance the tendency towards modern medicine. This tendency is most commonly seen in the young. Whether educated or not, rich or poor, some people still use folk medicine for specific diseases, and visits to shrines and folk methods of dealing with fractures or dislocations can still be observed.

In spite of this, researchers point out that there is a general movement in the direction of modern medicine, and this tendency may be slow or fast depending on the region’s socio-cultural and economic profile.

Folk Treatments

Bee Stings
a) Ice is put on the sting. If ice is not available, the wound is washed with cold water or mud is smeared on it.
b) A bunch of parsley is wrapped around the affected area.
c) The victim rubs garlic on the sting.

High Temperatures
a) A towel is moistened with vinegar and pressed onto the brow, neck, hands, feet and the whole body. This operation is repeated untill the patient’s temperature gone down.
b) An aspirin is dissolved in lemon juice and rubbed on the patient’s body, beginning with the forehead.
c) A mixture of grain alcohol, aspirin and few drops of olive oil is rubbed on the articular parts of the body.

Asthma
A pigeon egg is consumed every morning for 40 days as the first meal of the day.

Aches
a) The leaf of a black cabbage is heated and placed on the affected area. This operation is repeated frequently.
b) A mixture of boiled and mashed linen seeds, henna and naphtha oil is rubbed on aching parts of the body. This operation continues a few times a day.
c) A cream is made from dry tobacco and raki. The affected areas covered with this cream.
d) Thin sand is roasted, a few olives are added and the affected areas are covered with this mixture while it is still warm or hot. This operation goes on for three or four days.

Sore Feet
Unrefined salt is dissolved in hot water, and the feet are washed in this solution for ten minutes.

Sprains
An onion is mashed with either salt or olives and placed on the sprained area.

Headaches
a) A potato is cut into slices and coffee sprinkled on them. These slices are placed on the forehead.
b) Round lemon slices are placed on the forehead.
c) The patient covers his head with the gall of an animal, mixed with henna, for a few hours.

Bronchitis
a) Linen seeds are mashed with sugar and eaten.
b) A piece of bread is roasted, moistened with vinegar and placed on the chest.

Tonsilitis
The throat is covered with a piece of cotton with pepper and grain alcohol.

Kidney Stones
a) Medlar leaves are boiled and drunk as tea. This continues until the stone is ejected.
b) Water with parsley or yogurt is drunk every morning.

Nosebleeds
The shell of an egg is burned till it becomes ash. The victims breaths in this ash when his or her nose starts to bleed.
Haemorrhoids

a) Garlic is rubbed on every morning.
b) The middle parts of wild roses are boiled and drunk as tea.

Dolman
Okra is cooked in milk and placed on the finger.

Flu
Mint and dried linden flowers are boiled with lemon and drunk as tea.

Sty
Garlic is rubbed on the sty.

Diarrhea
a) Diarrhea will end if a glass of soda pop with an asprin inside is drunk.
b) A spoonful of coffee is mixed with lemon juice and eaten.
c) A small cup of yogurt is mixed with a similar cup of baking soda and eaten.

Cancer
In summer fresh and in winter dry stinging nettles are boiled and drunk as tea every morning before breakfast.

Parotitis
The patient eats red halvah (a sweet prepared with sesame oil, various cereals and syrup) and fat is rubbed on the ears.

Swollen stomach
A mixture of vinegar and bran is heated, and the stomach covered with the mixture.

Calcification
The patient uses fish oil for calcified areas.

Earache
A little leek water is poured into the ear.

Dog Bites
The bite is covered with a bread poultice.

Stomachache
a) The patient drinks milk with honey.
b) Inula is boiled and drunk as tea.
c) The patient eats sesame oil as the first meal of the day.
d) Verruca flower leaves are chewed and swallowed.

Eczema
a) Eggplant is cooked in hot ashes and mixed with powdered henna. The ointment is placed on the affected area and covered with a clean towel.
b) Peach leaves are boiled and drunk as tea for ten days.
c) The patient eats hedgehog meat.
d) The patient swallows the seeds of the elderberry plant.

Shortness of Breath
a) Stingling nettle tea is drunk every day.
b) Black radish is hollowed out and filled with honey. A small hole is opened in the radish and a cup put under it. The patient eats the honey that flows out after waiting for a night.
c) Cones are boiled and drunk as tea.

Coughs
a) The patient drinks a spoonful of honey mixed with a spoonful of lemon juice every morning for a few days.
b) Apple and lemon peel and linden flowers are together boiled and drunk every morning.
c) The patient eats raw parsley.

Heat Rash
Dry cat tail is heated and the ashes rubbed onto the affected parts of the body.

Rheumatism
a) The patient eats a mixture of mashed chestnuts and sugar.
b) A pot of barley is boiled in a large cauldron of water. Once the temparature of the water has gone down to an appropriate level, the patient climbs inside the cauldron and waits for an hour. This application is repeated for a few days.
c) A bunch of the herb sultan is put in a cauldron full of water and boiled. The patient climbs inside the cauldron and remains in it for an hour. He repeats this procedure for a few days.
d) The patient is buried up to his neck in animal faeces and stays there for an hour.
e) The patient drinks one cup of grated celery root.

Hair
For healthy hair and to avoid baldness, vine stems are chopped in the spring time. The liquid that drips from these stems is collected in a bottle and the hair washed with it.

Jaundice
The patient's forehead or chest is scratched with a razor blade.

Backache
a) A strong massage is applied using a cup.
b) Honey and pepper are rubbed on the affected areas. This is covered with a perforated newspaper and a towel, and the patient spends the night like this. The operation is frequently repeated.

Malaria
A small herb with pink flowers known as "malaria weed" is boiled and drunk as tea.

Cuts and Boils
a) The wound or boil is covered with poaceae, if this is not not available, cabbage leaves or tomatoes may also be used.
b) Soap and a small pinch of salammoniac (ammonia) are together cooked with an onion and applied to the boil when the ointment is warm.
Bites by Poisonous Animals
The head of a match is scraped and this is rubbed on the affected part.

Folk Veterinarians
In more conservative regions, economic life mostly depends on agriculture and raising livestock. Barnyard animals are the main source of money and food for the people of Anatolia, so they value their animals and consider them as a member of the family. Popular or folk veterinary medicine means the methods and practices employed by Anatolian people when they are unable to reach to a veterinarian in order to cure and protect their animals from disease. Some examples of these methods and practices are following;

Sluggish Blood
The animal's ear is cut. The capillary vein under the eye is also cut with a knife.

Fractures and Dislocations
In the case of a fracture, dough composed of flour and egg is spread out on a clean towel and the fracture covered with it. In order to avoid any kind of contact with the ground, a bandage is made with the help of a splint which is 1-2 cm longer than the leg.

Internal and External Parasites
Yellow tar is very good for this disease. One can produce this tar by using dry parts of the juniper tree. These are put in a pot while a hole under the pot is opened. The resin which trickles out of the pot is called yellow tar and used for both internal and external parasites.

Mange
This disease is also treated with yellow tar. Tar and oil are mixed and heated. The affected parts are covered with this paste.

Butterfly Disease
A swollen throat or chin on an animal is known as butterfly disease. When the animal coughs, people decide that there are parasites inside it.

Swollen Abdomen
When an animal’s abdomen swells, people feed it with milk and sugar. The animal may also eat soil. On the mountains, when an animal’s abdomen swells, the shepherd takes milk from the animal, mixes it with soil and feeds it with this mixture.

Dervish Orders

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Khorasan holy men, including Haji Bektashi Veli, united the Christian residents of Anatolia and Turkoman migrants with their educational and developmental activities and played an important role in the formation of cultural unity and central authority in Anatolia. Some holy men migrated in to Anatolia, settled on mountains and empty crossroads and opened dervish lodges there. These institutions settled on empty land gradually became centers for culture, development and religious thought. In this manner, religious congregations spread everywhere, rules of morals, good breeding, attitudes and beliefs reached a high standard, knowledge and science were both produced and spread in these centers. The administration encouraged such holy men to settle in villages, and their educational activities gave them some privileges. As a result, even in the most desolate places in Anatolia, dervish lodges emerged, and with the effect of the education they provided, a common cultural structure began to form.

Haji Bektashi Veli was one of those figures who came to Anatolia from Khorasan with this purpose in mind. He was born in Nishabur, Khorasan in 1248, spent his childhood in Khorasan, and was trained in philosophy and social and positive sciences at Hodja Ahmed Yesevi’s school. After traveling to Iran, Iraq and Arabia, Haji Bektash settled in Sulucukarahoyuk in 1275/80.

At that time, Anatolia was under Mongol occupation, there was a severe social and economic crisis and fighting for political power. In that difficult climate, Haji Bektashi Veli settled in Sulucakarahoyuk, developed his philosophy and began to teach his students. His tolerance and human love based philosophy reached many people, and were taken up by them in the important center of Christianity of Cappadocia.

• Any road that doesn’t follow science, ends in darkness,
• Give education to women,
• Control on your tongue, hands and waist,
• The greatest book to read is man himself,
• Honesty is the door of a friend,
• Being a teacher is to give, not to take,
• The universe is for man, and man for the universe,
• Science illuminates the paths of truth,
• We travel in the way of science, comprehension and human love,
• Clean where you’ve settled and deserve the money you’ve made,
• Let’s be one, be big and energetic,
• Don’t hurt anyone, even though you’ve been hurt,
• Don’t ask anyone for anything that would be difficult for you to do,
• Don’t blame any nation or individual,
• Blessed are those who illuminate the darkness of thought,
• Keep on searching, and you’ll find,
• The beauty of the face consists of the words you speak,
• Don’t forget that even your enemy is human,
• The biggest God-given miracle is work,
• In the language of friendly conversation, you can’t discriminate between man and woman,
• Everything God has created is in order,
• To us, there’s no difference between man and woman,
• If you think there is, you’re mistaken.

His thoughts are based on human love and human existence. This vision is similar to the 1948 Charter on Human Rights. His thoughts were also shared by M. Kemal Atatürk 600 years later, and the Turkish Republic was built on the principles of secularism, democracy and respect for human rights. His thoughts are still alive and still lighten the way for many people. It’s not the trivet but the fire gives the heat, The miracle is not in the crown but in the khirkah (woolen garment worn by a dervish) Whatever you’re searching for, search in yourself, It’s neither in Jerusalem, Mecca nor in the Hadj.

“ There is no need to discriminate between religions. Religions cause disputes among people. In fact, all religions aim to provide peace and brotherhood on earth” says Bektashi Veli in his opus “Velayetname”. Bektashism, which originates from Haji Bektashi Veli’s ideas, aims to comprehend the unity of “Universe,God and Man” based on human love. Man is ornamented with divine characteristics. The first step to success is to know yourself and love yourself because man harbours divine qualities within himself, and the man who loves himself also loves God. This quatrain explains Bektashism’s understanding of love in the clearest way:

Students hew stone,
They hew and present it to their master,
In every inch of the stone,
They call God to mind.

Man is independent. His duty is to behave modestly and to feed, refine, mature and fill his spirit with love of God. Bodies are only tools for the main purpose. So discriminating between men and women or classifying people according to their social status or race is a huge mistake. Man or woman, all of mankind are equal. Haji Bektashi Veli’s views are still alive today and celebrated with excitement every year on the 15-17th August in the Haji Bektash region of the province of Nevsehir.

Another institution that contributes to Anatolian culture unity is ahilik. (rules, manners, attitudes of people sharing same profession) Ahi, who came to Anatolia with the Yesevi dervishes, preferred cities to rural areas because they had professions. Ahilik (being an Ahi), is not only a professional organization but also a sacred institution with its own rules, traditions, conformities and secrets. Ahi Evran Veli was a holy man from Khorasan, like Haji Bektashi Veli, who united Anatolian Ahis and made them an organized force. Ahi Evran’s wife, Sister Fatima (known as Woman Mother) set up the first woman’s organization in the world, “Baciyan-i Rum”. Ahis gathered in Ankara and Kirsehir under the sheik of Evran in the 13th century and spread to all Seljuk cities. Ahis played an important role in the formation of the Ottoman state, and to some researchers they even counted Osman Gazi, who founded the Ottoman state, his son Orhan Gazi and Sultan Murad and among their followers.

Equality between members is the first Ahi rule. All members are brothers. On the other hand, the institution has many internal rules, and beginners have a great respect for their elders. To become a member, one must be invited by an Ahi, and people with bad reputations or who have dubious jobs would never being accepted. For example, murderers, people who kill animals (butchers) or people who have committed adultery are not allowed to be members. As with Bektashism, becoming a member is celebrated with a special ritual. In this ritual, the Ahi candidate wears a special belt (Sed) and members instruct him, to treat everyone equally and honestly. Absolute affiliation and eternal obedience is expected from all members. Atheists and religious fanatics are not allowed to join. As with Bektashism, the Ahi goes through many stages in which he learns patience, purification of the soul, loyalty, friendship and tolerance.

In addition to these qualifications mentioned above, there are six important principles:

Open your hand (be generous to everyone),
Share your food,
Open the door of your house when somebody needs shelter,
Close your eyes (don’t be led astray by the artificial beauties of the world),
Control your waist (Don’t be a victim of your sexual impulses),
Control your tongue.
He who comes with patience and God,
Stands by our side.
He who works with morality and wisdom and passes us,
And stands our side.

There are many degrees in Ahism. In these, the student learns professional skills, sufism and religion, reading and writing, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, music, mathematics and the Constitution of Ahi “Futuvvetname”
The nine degrees of the Ahi are:

• Young fellow
• Assistant
• Apprentice
• Experienced Apprentice
• Master
• Ahi
• Caliph
• Sheik
• Grand Sheik

Although the Ahi institution has now weakend, it is still officially celebrated every year on the second Monday in October.
Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi is another Anatolian holy man who gave hope and inspiration to humanity. Mevlana was born in 1207 in Khorasan, and died in 1273 in Konya. He took his first lessons from his father Bahaeddin Veled, who was known as “sultan of scholars”. While he was studying Sufism he met Ahi Sems Tebrizi, and after this meeting his own ideas began to emerge. It is his poems about Sufism, however, for which he is chiefly remembered, respected and admired today.

The branch of love comes from ancient times, and its root from immortality,
That greatness is too much for this mind and morals,
Fade away, pass through your existence. Your existence is murder.
Love is nothing other than finding the truth.

According to Mevlana, love is the only thing necessary to attain God. A plant or an animal may also love, but it is only man who has the capacity to love with his body, mind, thoughts and memory. Mevlana exalts the state of being in love with a woman because if someone loves someone else, he also loves himself, humanity, the universe and God. The most beautiful love, “Love of Truth,” begins when someone reaches this level of wisdom. Followers of Mevlana (Mevlevi) spin around and around in a ritual called “sema.” This ritual symbolizes a world united in love and keeping step with the world’s universal rotation. While one of their hands points to the sky, the other hand points to the ground meaning “ Love from God spreads to the earth”. The spirit bursts forth from God and is immortal. The sound of the nay (a reed flute) tells of man’s longing to return to his initial source.

He means that the universe is an endless place within the existence of God, and as a small part of the whole, man keeps that divine essence inside him by saying, “You who search for God, it’s you that you’re searching for....”

Come, no matter what you are,
Whether atheist or sun worshipper.
Whether you’ve backslid a thousand times,
Come, no matter what you are.

As we see, all mankind are brothers, and differences between religions do not square well with the divine presence. Mevlana attaches great importance to women and maintains that men and women are equal, saying, “The more you insist women should cover themselves up, the more you incite people’s desire to see them.

Like a man, if a woman’s heart is good, she will chose the path of goodness independent of your prohibitory actions. If her heart is bad, you can’t influence whatever you do.” Mevlana’s students were called Kitap-el Esrar (Clerks of the Secret). There were Muslims, Christians, Jews, Iranians, Armenians, Rums and Turks among them. His students from different cultures and religions collected his poems and gave them as a gift to later generations.

Family

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In rural areas especially, traditional family values prevail, and the father is the undisputed leader of the family. Members of large Turkish families, often living as an extended family , are loyal to the family unit. It is rare for a person to live alone, mostly for economic reasons, however particularly young generation prefers to do so. Polygamy , though banned in 1920s, may be illegally available in rural areas. Women gained the right to vote in 1927 and the right to divorce in 1934, when civil codes were introduced. Many women in urban areas work outside the home in the fields. An estimated 38 per cent of labor force (1995) is female. In rural areas, families usually decide on whom a person will marry, but in urban areas the choice is generally that of the couple. A marriage is not permitted for women before the age of 15, and men before the age of 17. In cities, many wait until their education, and sometimes military service, have been completed before getting married. The average age for marriage is 24 for women and 26 for men. Most Turks expect to marry and have children. Traditional wedding celebrations, although increasingly rare, last three days. They begin with the henna evening usually on Friday, called "kina gecesi" , which is an event for women only. The women decorate the hands and fingers of the bride with henna-leaf dye, and dance and sing together. On the second day, both sets of parents serve lunch and dinner to their guests. On the third day, the bride is taken to the groom's home on a horse after folk dances are performed

Greetings and Gestures

2007-12-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

When greeting friends or strangers, one shakes hands and says " Nasilsiniz " ( How are you? ) or "Merhaba" ( Hello ). A typical response to Nasilsiniz is " Iyiyim ", " tesekkur ederim "( Fine, thank you ). Among friends, greetings are followed by polite inquiries about one's health, family, and work. Among close friends of the same (and sometimes the opposite) gender, Turks clasp hands and kiss on both cheeks when greeting. To show respect, an older person's hands may be kissed and brought to touch the greeter's forehead. The young often greet each other with " Selam " ( salute ). Someone entering a room, office, or tea house might say " Gunaydin " ( Good morning ) or " Iyi gunler " ( Have a nice day ). When parting, it is customary to wish for blessings from Allah "Allahaismarladik", to which the response is " Gule gule " ( Be on your way with a smile ). Upon joining a small group, one greets each person individually. When addressing others formally, professional titles are used. Among peers or with younger persons, the title "Hanim" is used for women and " Bey " for men. These titles follow the given name for example, Leyla Hanim or Ismail Bey. With older people, one uses " Abla " for women (Fatma Abla) or " Agabey " (Ahmet Agabey) for men. These terms mean sister and brother . If there is a great difference of age, the terms aunt and uncle are used, again after the first name: " Teyze "(Fatma Teyze) for women and " Amca " (Ahmet Amca) for men. Turks generally use their hands a great deal during conversation, forming gestures that add meaning as well as emphasis. Social courtesies are valued in Turkey, and Islamic conventions are observed by many. For example, it is offensive to point the sole of the foot toward another person, and it can be seen as an insult to pass an item with the left hand; it is best to use both hands or just the right one. Deference towards older people, or those with higher status, is customary, and it is considered disrespectful for young men and women to cross their legs in front of an older or more senior person. Public displays of affection are not acceptable. The word No can be expressed by either shaking the head or lifting it up once quickly.

Folk Literature

2007-12-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

THE HEART OF THE TURKISH TALE

A long, long time ago, when the sieve was inside the straw, when the donkey was the town crier and the camel was the barber. . . Once there was; once there wasn't. God's creatures were as plentiful as grains and talking too much was a sin. . . A great many traditional Turkish tales were, and still are, introduced with this tekerleme (a formulaic jingle with numerous variants). In these lilting overtures, one finds the spirit and some of the essential features of the story: The vivid imagination, irreconcilable paradoxes, rhythmic structure (with built-in syllabic meters and internal rhymes), a comic sense bordering on the absurd, a sense of the mutability of the world, the aesthetic urge to avoid loquaciousness, the continuing presence of the past, and the predilection of the narrative to maintain freedom from time and place.

Turkish tales are nothing if they are not fanciful. Most of them have leaps of the imagination into the realm of phantasmagoria. Even in realistic and moralistic stories, there is usually an element of whimsy. Bizarre transformations abound. There are abrupt turns of events, inexplicable changes of identity. Even the anecdotes of Nasreddin Hoca, the thirteenth-century wit who came to embody much of popular Turkish humor, have a way of forcing the boundaries of logic although Hoca is the ultimate rationalize. It would not be incorrect to say, "The heart of the Turkish tale is fantasy."

The tales so ably collected in this volume by Dr. Barbara K. Walker come from the time-honored typology of Turkish oral narratives-wisdom stories, fables, heroic and historical narratives, love stories, legends, accounts of miraculous occurrences, humorous and satirical anecdotes.

The tradition goes back to the dawn of Turkish history in Central Asia more than fifteen centuries ago. In the early epochs of sedentary as well as nomadic culture, the "weightless genres" became paramount-poetry, music, dance, and the oral narrative. In later centuries, with the Turks migrating into Asia Minor and then holding sway in far-flung territories, a great synthesis of oral literature evolved (much of it was to be transcribed later). The synthesis comprised the autochthonous legacy of the Turks and the rich material they amassed from the Asian (mainly Chinese and Indian) tradition, from the Islamic lore, from the Middle East, Byzantium, the Balkans, and the rest of Europe.

That is why the Turkish repertoire is so vast and the diversity of tales so encompassing. Their shamans had, from the outset relied on mesmerizing verses and instructive tales in shaping the spiritual life of the tribes. Tales were then talismans and thaumaturgical potions. During the process of conversion to Islam, missionaries and proselytizers used the legends and the historical accounts of the new faith to good advantage. Tales became tantalizing evangelical tools. Seljuk Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire nurtured storytelling as a prevalent form of entertainment and enlightenment: Professional storytellers, preachers and teachers and comedians kept the tradition alive, developed new versions, and contributed fresh material. Mothers not only sang lullabies, but they also recounted familiar and unfamiliar bedtime stories. Everyday conversation was peppered with anecdotes, funny or instructive, religious or profane.

In a society where the rate of literacy remained below ten percent until the mid-1920s, oral narratives played a major role in cultural transmission. Hence the vast corpus of narrative material and the preponderance and success of the short story genre in recent decades. The study of traditional Turkish culture will have to rely heavily on an analysis of oral literature to determine communal values and aspirations, to deal with aesthetic preferences, to establish sui generis characteristics. It is of course only one of the major components that will figure in a comprehensive survey. Oral literature, however, offers some significant prospects in the richness of its imaginative resources, its metaphorical systems, and its ethical precepts. It has also contributed in an important way to keeping folk culture alive and in preserving many aspects of pre-Islamic Turkic values during the Ottoman centuries that remained under Islamic and Arabo-Persian influences.

It is regrettable that, until now, very little work has been done on the substance and functions of Turkish tales in their cultural context. Aside from some pioneering work, mainly in the form of short articles, we have no meaningful study of their aesthetic strategies, narrative structures and devices, poetic elements, linguistic features, mythmaking processes, moral concepts, class relations, socioeconomic interactions, and so forth. Just as there has been no systematic analysis of the Turkish epics, the immense body of tales remains uncharted. Scholarship has not given us even a basic understanding of the themes and functions. We have yet to learn about the philosophical context, the cultural determinants, the mythological origins, the sense of good and evil, the aspirations and dream-fulfillment, the spirit of opposition and rebellion, and other features. We have no appreciation of how folktales are shaped by and how they reflect aspects of Turkish culture.

Impressive work has been done in the past few decades in collecting, recording, transcribing, and classifying a large number of tales. In a thirty-year period, Dr. Barbara K. Walker and her husband, Professor Warren Walker, have recorded some three thousand tales that are preserved at the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative (Lubbock, Texas), of which they are the Curator and Director, respectively. In Turkey, too, many well-trained specialists have been quite energetic in collecting material from the oral tradition, and publication activity has gained momentum. It is conceivable that we now have the transcriptions of no fewer than five thousand tales and stories and that more than half of these have been published.

English translations, including both volumes of Barbara K. Walker's The Art of the Turkish Tale, have made several hundred of the best specimens accessible to the English-speaking world. The material in the present volume is remarkable for its enchantment's: The originals display a vivid imagination and the translations are equal to the varieties of storytelling style. Dr. Walker's fidelity to authenticity is admirable: She does not adapt, recast, or anglicize the tales; she renders them into readable, enjoyable English without tampering with the original versions as recorded by experienced Turkish storytellers. The diversity of the tales in this vo1ume (as in the previous one) is quite impressive. Some have elaborate storylines and many layers of meaning; some are so streamlined as to seem puristic. A goodly number possess outright or subtle political criticism, whereas a few are straight love stories. The action varies from galloping to tame. There are cliffhangers here as well as pussycats. Fatalism alternates with a defiant, almost revolutionary, spirit. Many belong to the pure "masal" (tale) genre told for pleasure while some are "mesel" (parables with a moral). Here are dragons, giants, witches, villains, weird creatures-but also innocent children, lovable characters, romantic lovers, and guardian angels. Many tales strike the reader as complete in themselves, commanding quintessential power, but some might well be fragments of an epic or parts of a cycle. The demands on the reader's mind may be like the suspense of an Agatha Christie thriller, but often they can require you to suspend belief. The vision can change from perfect clarity to trompe l'oeil. Frequently one gets the impression that these are stories generated by a static society, but then one finds a dizzyingly dynamic tale of quest that reflects a nomadic culture and its disquietude. The collection oscillates between realism and surrealism. It is a panoply of the collective imagination that strives for both survival and sublimation-or perhaps survival through sublimation.

Brought together in a coherent fashion, these tales have started giving us new perceptions and perspectives for a better understanding of Turkish culture. In them, we find both a Realpolitik, with depictions of cynical oppression and the need to make compromises, and an idealpolitik, with virtually utopian dreams of justice, equality, and prosperity. The tales constitute a vivid psychodrama. Being both mnemosyne and numinosum, they unfurl a lively panorama of cultural history. It would be fascinating, for example, to do a volume entitled Ottoman Society and Culture as Revealed through Tales or a major article entitled "Metamorphoses of the Hero in Turkish Tales" or "Paganism and Islam in Turkish Legends and Stories.'

It is my sincere hope that the Walkers might undertake such studies. If not, other scholars, I hope, will produce substantive studies on the interaction between the lore of tales and Turkish culture. We now stand midway in the collection and classification of the tales: We have established most of the texts. The next stage should be a systematic analysis within the broad cultural context. This should include critical scrutiny and comparison with the oral narratives of other nations.

This collection should be read, first and foremost, for its inherent pleasure. Like all literary arts, the art of the tale is primarily a genre of joy. Traditional stories, modern storytelling, and the Walker versions cohere in giving us the pleasures of real life and imaginary events. These stories are full of delight. Although many of them go back several centuries, some perhaps more than a millennium, they sound fresh, almost contemporary. They should be savored for their optimism, because virtually every tale resolves a dilemma or saves the good person from a terrible plight. No wonder most of the tales culminate in the celebratory couplet:

"They have had their wish fulfilled;
Let's go up to their bedstead."

Reference: Talat Sait Halman / Ministry of Culture / Republic of Turkey

Turkish Language and Literature

2007-12-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Turkish belongs to the Altay branch of the Uralo-Altay linguistic family. Through the span of history, Turks have spread over a wide geographical area, taking their language with them. Turkish speaking people have lived in a wide area stretching from today's Mongolia to the north coast of the Black Sea, the Balkans, East Europe, Anatolia, Iraq and a wide area of northern Africa. Due to the distances involved, various dialects and accents have emerged. The history of the language is divided into three main groups, old Turkish (from the 7th to the 13th centuries), mid-Turkish (from the 13th to the 20th) and new Turkish from the 20th century onwards. During the Ottoman Empire period Arabic and Persian words invaded the Turkish language and it consequently became mixed with three different languages. During the Ottoman period which spanned five centuries, the natural development of Turkish was severely hampered.

Then there was the "new language" movement. In 1928, five years after the proclamation of the Republic, the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin one, which in turn speeded up the movement to rid the language of foreign words. The Turkish Language Institute was established in 1932 to carry out linguistic research and contribute to the natural development of the language. As a consequence of these efforts, modern Turkish is a literary and cultural language developing naturally and free of foreign influences.

The history of Turkish Literature may be divided into three periods, reflecting the history of Turkish civilization as follows: the period up to the adoption of Islam, the Islamic period and the period under western influence.

Turkish Literature Prior to the Adoption of Islam

Turkish literature was the joint product of the Turkish clans and was mostly oral. The oldest known examples of Turkish writings are on obelisks dating from the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The Orhun monumental inscriptions written in 720 for Tonyukuk, in 732 for Kültigin and in 735 for Bilge Kagan are masterpieces of Turkish literature with their subject matter and perfect style. Turkish epics dating from those times include the Yaratilis , Saka, Oguz-Kagan, Göktürk, Uygur and Manas.

The "Book of Dede Korkut", put down in writing in the 14th century, is an extremely valuable work that preserves the memory of that epic era in beautiful language.

Turkish Literature After the Adoption of Islam

Following Turkish migrations into Anatolia in the wake of the Malazgirt victory in 1071, the establishment of various Beyliks in Anatolia and the eventual founding of the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires set the scene for Turkish literature to develop along two distinct lines, with "divan" or classical literature drawing its inspiration from the Arabic and Persian languages and Turkish folk literature still remaining deeply rooted in Central Asian traditions.

Divan poets did not have independent philosophies, they were content to express the same ideas in different ways. The magnificence of the poet came from his artistry in finding original and beautiful forms of expression. The most famous of the Divan poets were Baki, Fuzuli, Nedim and Nef'i.

Initially based on two foreign literary traditions, Arab and Persian, literature gradually stopped being merely imitative and took on Ottoman national characteristics.

To a certain extent, the Turkish folk literature which has survived till our day, reflects the influence of Islam and the new life style and form of the traditional literature of Central Asia after the adoption of Islam. Turkish folk literature comprised anonymous works of bard poems and Tekke (mystical religious retreats) literature. Yunus Emre who lived in the second half of the 13th and early 14th centuries was an epoch making poet and sufi (mystical philosopher) expert in all three areas of folk literature as well as divan poetry. Important figures of poetic literature were Karacaoglan, Atik Ömer, Erzurumlu Emrah and Kayserili Seyrani.

Influence of Western Literature on Turkish Literature

Turkish Literature was influenced by the Western Literature. Changes in social, economic and political life were reflected in the literature of the time and the quest for change continued till the proclamation of the Republic. The distinguishing characteristic of the era in literature was the concern with intellectual content rather than esthetic values or perfection of style. The latest period in literature, which is known as the Turkish Literature of the Republican period, came to be influenced by the following literary schools after Divan literary styles had been abandoned: Tanzimat (reforms), Servet-i Fünun (scientific wealth), Fecr-i Ati (dawn of the new age) and Ulusal Edebiyat (national literature).

Leading figures in the first period (1860-1880) in Tanzimat literature were Sinasi, Ziya Pasa, Namik Kemal, and Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Leading figures during the second period (1880-1896) were Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Abdülhak Hamit, Sami Pasazade Sezai, and Nabizade Nazim.

Tevfik Fikret, Cenap Sahabettin, Süleyman Nazif, Halit Ziya Usakligil, Mehmet Rauf, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçin and Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoglu are the important representatives of this trend. Others who adopted the western approach, but who were outside the group, were Ahmet Rasim and Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpinar who supported the new Turkish literature.

The most interesting Fecr-i Ati poet was Ahmet Hasim. Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu and Refik Halit Karay who initially were in the Fecr-i Ati at the start of their careers, attained their true literary identities later in the National Literature Movement.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy and Yahya Kemal Beyatli initially followed independent courses and later joined the National Literature movement. The Tanzimat, Servet-i Fünun and Fecr-i Ati groups who came together to create a modern Turkish literature made great strides towards this aim, but their works stopped short of being a national literature with distinctive characteristics. In spirit, it was French-oriented, in language and style it was traditional and Ottoman.

National Literature was created between the years 1911 and 1923. The leading literary figures of the period were Ziya Gokalp, Ömer Seyfettin, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Yusuf Ziya Ortaç, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel, Enis Behiç Koryürek, Kemalletin Kamu, Aka Gündüz, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu, Halide Edip Adivar, Halit Karay, Resat Nuri Güntekin, Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoglu, Necip Fazil Kisakürek, Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Sükufe Nihal, Peyami Safa, and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar.

The Republic later encompassed practically all national literary figures in the fields of culture, ideology and literature. The first decade of the Republic bore the stamp of the National Literature movement, wherein the simple clear language, poetic forms and syllabic metre of folk literature and topics from Turkey were favoured.

The topics, written in simple language, were taken from real life and mirrored the conditions of the country. A unity was created in which all artists: Islamic, Ottoman, traditionalist and individualist could be a part, because the issue was not the concept of the trend of national literature, but the period itself of national literature.

Yahya Kemal Beyatli made his debut in 1912 and won fame during the War of Independence. Until the day he died he did not tire in his quest for pure poetry.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy, often considered an Islamic poet, made a great impact on both intellectuals and the masses with his book of poetry "Safahat" (stages) in which he treats the poverty and underdevelopment of various cities (primarily Istanbul) and countries and the alien aims of the intellectuals.

The first poets of the Republic used simple language and the syllabic metre. The advocates of the syllabic metre who won fame during the Truce Years were Orhan Seyfi Orhon, Yusuf Ziya Ortac, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel and Kemalettin Kamu, all poets who stressed themes from Anatolia and the lives of ordinary people in their poems.

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar wrote intensely profound poems full of hidden meaning, adapting Paul Valery's poetic notions to the Turkish language. Ahmet Kutsi Tecer was inspired in his work by folk sources, while Necip Fazil Kisakürek expressed the mystic tendencies of the Anatolian people in his poems and plays, using the Turkish language skillfully in an original and modern style reflecting his colorful character. Nazim Hikmet Ran, who went to Russia when he was young and returned with Marxist-materialist convictions, wrote revolutionary poems using the esthetic qualities of Turkish in a new way which bore the influence of Myakovsky. These poems were the beginning of a socialist trend which became common in Turkish literature in the 1960's. By contrast, Ahmet Muhip Dranas' poems reflected esthetic considerations only. Arif Nihat Asya was original in the richness of spirit and style of his poems.

Ömer Seyfettin, the founder and most successful representative of the short story tradition in Turkish literature became the most widely-read author in the country when the 144th edition of his books was published. The writings of Sait Faik Abasiyanik and Sabahattin Ali started two widely different trends. Sait Faik Abasiyanik picked on happenings in Istanbul with intense poetical feeling based on his own experiences. Sabahattin Ali, on the other hand, had a materialistic philosophy and specialized in objective description of simple events. With these two writers, daily life and events, opinions and expectations began to be reflected in literature, a trend that was to intensify in the 1960's.

Orhan Veli Kanik published his poems in a book entitled "Garip" in 1941, and two others who shared his style, Melih Cevdet Anday and Oktay Rifat, created a new poetic movement called "Garipciler", based on the elimination of such formal restrictions as metre, rhyme and analogy hitherto considered to be essential in poetry. They wanted poetry to become a simple expression of feelings. Orhan Veli's successful poems in free verse greatly influenced those who came after him. Cahit Sitki Taranci achieved the same simplicity through the use of metre and rhyme. Free verse spread rapidly.Asaf Halet Çelebi, Fazil Hüsnü Daglarca and Behçet Necatigil were some of the successful representatives of this style.

The most well-known and widely-read writers of the 1950-1990 period can be listed as follows: Tarik Dursun K., Atilla lhan, Yasar Kemal, Orhan Kemal, Kemal Tahir, Tarik Bugra, Aziz Nesin, Mustafa Necati Sepetçioglu, Firuzan, Adalet Agaoglu, Sevgi Soysal, Tomris Uyar, Selim Ileri, Cevat Sakir (Halikarnas Balikçisi), Necati Cumali, Haldun Taner. Prominent poets in this period are: Behçet Kemal Çaglar, Necati Cumali , Oktay Rifat, Melih Cevdet Anday, Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever, Özdemir Ince, Ataol Behramoglu, Ismet Özel, Ece Ayhan, Turgut Uyar, Sezai Karakoç, Bahaettin Karakoç, Ümit Yasar Oguzcan, Orhan Pamuk .

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

Supersititions

2007-11-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

There are certain amount of unreasoning beliefs among people living in a community, arising sometimes from fear, sometimes from helplessness, and sometimes from coincidences. They are called as “superstitions”. These beliefs have been existing since the creation of first human being. Great number of them are not related with any scientific basis, reason, contemporariness and religious faith. Although they have noting to do with wisdom and reason, unfortunately they could not be removed and eliminated from heart, brain, conscience of human being. In emerging of such kind of beliefs both natural structure of persons and illiterate words of elderly persons, as well as of some religious officials have been effective. Even if beliefs have shown variation from person to person they have also some common aspects. Superstitions which we were able to collate are listed hereunder:

One cannot eat meal by putting his one foot over another, it means disrespect to the table and it is considered as the sign of famine.
A mirror which is broken may bring bad luck; it is said, house where mirror was broken cannot get well for a period of seven years.
Thirteenth day of a Month is considered as ill-omen; nothing is done on this day.
One cannot pass in front of a car.
It is considered as ill-omen that a rabbit may pass in front of a car.
To put on trousers by standing up is the sign for poverty.
Milk cannot be given to nobody in the darkness of night, it is said that if it is given then cow does not produce milk any more.
Whenever quince is abundant it is said that winter will pass heavy.
Any child who plays with fire makes wet his/her bed.
It is considered as the sign of dead when owl sings at heaves of a house.
It is said that if you say something in forty times it is achieved.
It is improper to call someone as pig; whoever says such word, it is believed, has no appetite for forty days.
When giving a milk to somebody, a small piece of coal or a green leaf is put into milk; otherwise it is believed that animal will no more produce milk.
That crows fly around a house is not considered as a good luck.
One should not set out at the time of Friday Praying.
No work is done between “Sala” and “Ezan” (call to prayer) on Friday.
Laundry is not done on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
Child cannot be let alone, if it becomes necessary then a broom is put beside the child.
Laundry vessel is not let to remain on fire for along time, otherwise it is said that somebody dies in that house.
“Nazar Boncuğu” ( bead worn to avert the evil eye) is attached to children to avert evil eyes.
When cones of pine tree are too many, it is the sign that the winter in that year will pass hard.
Whoever covers quilt on Wednesday gets ill.
It is forbidden to jump over a child, otherwise the child remains short.
That clothes of child remain outside until the sunset causes the child bewitched.
No sweeping work is done at nights which are considered holly by religion.
It is considered improper to make visits at night for a women given birth a child.
It is believed that anybody who finds clover with four leaves will bring luck to him/her.
It is considered that when a dog howls during “Ezan” is herald of death.
If a baby creeps, a guest will come home.
Hands should not be bound together, if so that person becomes unsuccessful.
Finger nail and toe-nail are not cut together, if so it is believed that that person would face with one sorrowful act and one joyful event.
While yawning mouth is to be closed, otherwise it is considered that the person who yawns without closing his/her mouth cites “Ezan” to the Devil.
Scissor cannot be passed from hand to hand, because scissor is considered as enemy.
Yeast for bread is not given to neighbour after “Ezan”.
The first hair cut from a boy is put in pocket of father believing that it will increase fortune.
Pieces of bread are not disposed of, if they are picked up and eaten, it is said that home would have much fortune and fertility.
It is said that whoever folds his/her hands has become non-fertile and unlucky, his/her mother dies.
Nails cannot be cut at nights
One should not look at mirror at nights
Water is poured after the wedding car for bride may return to her mother’s home, turning the water vessel upside down one sits on it.
Gum is not chewed at nights, it is said that whoever chews gum at nights he/she eats flesh of dead body.
It is believed that whoever plays with his/her foot at night, his/her father or mother will die.
It cannot be whistled at nights, for the person who whistles it said that he/she is calling the Devil.
To take spider at night is considered as a sin.
It is said that to count stars at night is not good.
Ash cannot be thrown outside at night, hot ash cannot be poured over water; it is believed that those who perform such act will come across with curse of genie.
Quilt is not covered at nigh.
No passage is made over a place where laundry is washed at night, it cannot be stepped on laundry water.
One cannot sit behind a door at night, if so, it is thought that this person would face with slander.
Names of girls are written under shoe of bride;, it is believed that the girl whose name was not erased after the ceremony will marry.
Nobody should pass in front of wedding car.
It is considered ill-omen when a cock crows before the night
It is believed that anybody who could pass under rainbow would change his/her sex.
When somebody has the hiccups, it is said “someone mentioned your name”, and then this phrase is uttered: “he/she is a friend let him/her mention my name, if he/she is hostile, let him/her burst out.
It is said that if a prisoner wears ring of a dead person, he/she may discharge from prison soon.
Lead is poured for patients.
Wedding ceremony is not made between the two Bairams.
No handiwork is made following afternoon Prayer.
Underwear of baby cannot be hanged following afternoon Prayer.
Cloth on anybody cannot be sewn.
Ash cannot be disposed of anywhere following afternoon Prayer.
When a black cat passes in front of a man, it is considered as ill-omen.
Spider cannot be taken following the afternoon prayer
It is said that if someone does not finish his/her work, then his/her dead would be hard.
Two babies cannot be let alone in a room without completing their 40th day; otherwise, it is believed that one will become tall and the other will become short, which is called “kırk basan”.
A marriage cannot be solemnised between the two Bairams.
If oleaster shoot, stork excrement and blue bead are tied together and placed under the armpit, that person will not be affected by the evil eye.
Two brides are not brought into the same house.
It is not proper to pass in front of a man going to his job.
A man who passes through two women cannot make his wife obeyed.
It is bad luck to hear bark of a dog; when heard it is said “ It may bark to its owner”.
If girls eat something between two meals, their luck to find a husband becomes impossible.
Handiwork is not made in the course of first three days of “Kurban” Bairam.
Stepping on ash is not good, which act may cause the person to be paralysed.
One cannot pass through a dark place, if it becomes necessary then the Turkish word “destur” (with your permission) must be cited.
Do not step on threshold of door which stands for being subjected to slander.
When excrement of a bird falls on the head, it means that the person is lucky and will earn money.
Ringing of ears are accounted for ill-omen.
A bird’s knocking on the window with its beak is the sign of news to be received.
Nail which is cut cannot be dropped on the ground, and cannot be stepped on.
To sit on threshold is not good; anybody who sits thereon will not be lucky.
To see a black cat means ill-omen.
Flight of a shooting star stands for dead.
A baby who has not completed its 40th day is not removed from home, is not passed by graveyard; otherwise it is said in Turkish “kırk basar”.
A boy who drinks coffee do not have moustaches, he becomes beardless.
If a baby clenches its fingers firmly, it becomes stingy in future.
When a baby is kissed under its foot, it is believed to walk early, when kissed on lips early to speak early, when kissed on back of the neck to be obstinate.
If a small child looks through the space between his/her legs, it means that a guest will come home
To enter a room with right leg stands for good luck.
That a cat turns towards South (direction to Mecca) and scratches its head with its fore legs is accounted for rain.
In order that a person suffered accident should not experience a new accident, salt or coin is circulated around his/her head.
Whoever sees stork flying passes the year by travelling continuously, whoever sees it on a land stays in his/her home.
Waste water cannot be poured in sewer, whoever pours it will be paralysed.
It is not considered good that lying-in woman (woman who gave birth a child) may leave her home for a period of forty days.
It is believed that if a scissor remains open in a home, a fight will start.
To pass under a ladder is considered as ill-omen.
It is believed that Angel stays on the right hand side of shoulder, and Satan on the left hand side of shoulder.
When somebody dies among people of the district, water vessels which are full are discharged.
No finger is directed toward Grave and Graveyard; if it is directed, the finger must be bitten and put under the foot.
Blue bead prevents effects of evil eye.
Whenever scissor is left open, it means that mouth of enemy may open.
Candle is lighted for seven nights at place where corpse is washed.
Do not look at nails while dead body is carried to Cemetery.
To catch spider leads poverty.
If eyes of dead person are open, it is believed that shortly after another person will die.
To crack the joints of the fingers is accounted for telling beads to the Satan.
At a market place, money for price of goods bought first of all from the Seller should be thrown on the kiosk; this action brings good luck.
Anybody who cracks the joints of his/her fingers invites Satan.
To see minaret in a dream is a joyful news; death brings alive, green is desire, to see having been hung is the sign that may be obtained assistance from great personalities.
To see eggs in a dream implies bad words and gossip.
To see white sheep in a dream construed as winter and snow
A relative of a woman who sees penis in her dream will die.
A person who sees a human excrement in his/her dream receives money.
A person who sees a girl child in his/her dream receives bad news.
A person who sees a boy in his/her dream receives joyful news.
Anybody who holds gold in his/her hand in a dream earns money.
Anybody who sees white horse in a dream accomplishes his/her desire.
A twitch in right eye implies health, in left eye implies wealth.
Hair in comb after combing is not thrown to street; if it is thrown, it may entangle in a leg of chicken, so you may have headache continuously.
If your left palm is scratched you will receive money, if your right palm is scratched then you will spend money.
Any work started on Tuesday is suspended, therefore do not start working on Tuesday.
Soap is given to somebody on top of hand.
Anybody who remains under eaves is got paralysed.
Anybody who sews his/her dress worn would sew his/her wisdom.
Thorn which is hung behind the main gate protects family from ill effects of evil eye, if ear is hung it brings wealth.
Left hand is put on the head while drinking water.
Do not set out on Tuesday.
Woman does not pass in front of man who goes to work in the morning, if she passes that man’s business does not go well.
It is ill-omen to boil water without purpose.
Laundry is not washed on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Firstly old men sit on the table of meal, otherwise the meal loses its productivity.
If wood burn in a stove or oven by emitting sound, it is believed that gossip has been made about the resident.
Red dress is not worn while lightning flashes.
Slippers and shoes being upside down are not good.
Do not speak in WC, it brings ill-omen.
Cackle of hen implies to bring a bad-luck.
It is believed that to knock at a wood three times will ward off all evils.
If slippers and shoes are upside down, someone will die in home.
A sheep is sacrificed in foundation of a newly built house.
Water is poured behind a person who sets out.
If anybody washes laundry on Saturdays in the course of seven weeks, then someone will die in the home.
Do not sleep in the bed with your stocking.
Do not burn outer coat of onion and shell of egg.
Do not lay your face down, if so, you would be like a non-Muslim.
Wherever umbilical cord of a baby is thrown, it is said that baby would choose that profession exercised in that place. Therefore, it might be necessary to throw it on top of tiles for getting higher ranks at its profession.
The first person who is come across with the traveller would bring either good luck or bad luck.
A boy baby is placed on lap of a new bride.
A pencil is caused to be attached in hands of a new born baby for the purpose of its being in good humour and study well.
It is not considered proper to wear ring on the left hand.
In the first entrance of a newly married husband after marriage ceremony, it is considered a good luck for him to break a glass.
A new born baby cannot be washed on Friday.
If someone blows to the mouth of a new born baby, it is believed that this baby would be cordial.
If water is poured out of a glass, it means that guest will come home.
A bread is circulated around the head of a person who perjured himself in order to release the perjury, and then it is given to a dog.
If a person rises his right leg at the time of taking oath, then his oath becomes unacceptable.
If bread is circulated over a wound and thrown into graveyard before the morning “Ezan”, and then if the person throwing it into the graveyard returns home without looking back, it is believed that wound will get better.
It is said that anybody who sleeps in bed stretching out widely will earn too much money, on the contrary anybody who sleeps in bed by shrinking will have less revenue.
Bread or sugar is turned around a wound, and if it is given to a dog before the morning “Ezan”, wound will heal.

Childhood

2007-11-28T12:26:00.001-08:00

A series of rules, customs, ceremonies, processes and practices are exist which, covers the development of the child after birth and which regularize his/her relations with parents, other members of the family and social surroundings. The child has to be protected as he/she passing through the stages, taken care of, and gradually adapt to the forms and values, in other words the model adopted by the group or cultural environment of which he/she is a part. These process and practices, customs and ceremonies are sometimes flexible and sometimes strict in accordance with the importance attached to them.

Naming the baby;

The first thing is to give a name to the baby. People do not feel comfortable without naming a person, a thing, a situation or an event, and thus without referring to them by a symbol and describing them by means of an adjective. In any event, situation or object without a name causes unease.
In traditional sections of society, the baby is usually given a name with a religious ceremony. This still applies in many places although it is gradually loses influence.

Since naming the baby is no ordinary matter, it is carried out by a celebration and blessing, although this is not overstated. The name, which has been selected beforehand, is given at a meeting held for the purpose. A clergyman or a respected devout individual gives the call to prayer and whispers the name of the baby into its ear three times. If no imam is present, the name is given by the father or grandfather of the child in the same way.

Giving a middle (umbilical) name to the child is also common. The name given to the child while the umbilical cord is being cut off, is called its “umbilical name”.

The umbilical name is given to children in Anatolia because;

- It is believed that the child will be called by his/her umbilical name in the grave,
- He/she will be called by his/her umbilical name,
- He/she will be called by his/her umbilical name as the imam reads the a final repentance and forgiveness prayer for him/her as he/she is lowered into the grave.

Apart from the main name of the person, another name is frequently given and used, especially by close relatives and members of the group of which he/she is a part. This is called the “nickname” and is mostly seen in traditional parts of society, especially in villages.

Giving milk;

Modern medicine and traditional culture agree that mother’s milk is the healthiest nutrition for the baby.
In traditional culture, the first milk is given to the child after three calls to prayer. With this, people believe that the child will have patience in the future. The mother’s first milk is called “ağız” (mouth) and is duly given to the child. It is believed that a child who does not have mouth milk will be thin and weak in the future.

In traditional culture, boys are suckled more than girls. The reason here is that people want their sons to be very strong and powerful.

Teeth wheat;

When the baby teethes, one of the most significant signs of a child’s biological development, Turkish people usually mark the occasion with a ceremony. Behind this ceremony and festivity which are held to mark the appearance of the teeth, which are essential for chewing, are the desires to bless food, increase the child’s chances of earning his/her daily bread, increases in plenty, and so on. In this ceremony, a number of traditional practices also take place to ensure the child has strong and even teeth.

The most common name for this ceremony and festivity, which has different names in different regions, is “teeth wheat”. In different regions, it is called “diş aşı” (teeth meal), “diş bulguru” (teeth bulgur), and “diş buğdayı” (teeth wheat).

Starting to walk; It is a another biological stage for the childhood when, the child starts to walk around. In the past, a number of practices were resorted to for children who, failed to walk in the expected time, who were late to start walking, or who continuously fell down when doing so.
Some of the practices are following;

- Spreading egg on the child’s heels,

- Washing the child in water to which walnut leave and salt has been added,

- Taking the child to places of pilgrimage.

Cutting the fingernails of the child;

Customs and practices related to the first fingernail cutting are also very common in Anatolia. The most common practice is for the baby’s hands to be put in a sack full of money after his/her fingernails have been cut for the first time. If the baby is a boy, the money he takes from the sac is used for the capital of the business he will later set up. If it is a girl, the money she takes is kept as money for her dowry.

Traditions on Birth

2007-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Birth, the first turning points in the life, is almost regarded as a happy event in Turkey as in the rest of the world. Every child that comes into the world is a source of happiness not just for its mother and father, but also for relatives, friends and neighbors. That is because every birth increases the number of family members, and increased numbers have always meant increased strength. Families belonging to small communities and ethnic groups are in particular feel safer and stronger as their population increases. The common expression ‘children make the family’s kettle whistle’ is a clear emphasis of the importance attached to the matter.

On the other hand, birth also increases respect for women, and ensures their place in the family group. Infertile women experience social and psychological problems, as men do, who are unable to have children since they have difficulties in taking their rightful place in the male community, no matter how much those close to them underplay the problem. The father has confidence in the future as a man with a child and gains respect among relatives and friends. In the same way that a childless woman is scorned, a man feels much the same social and psychological embarrassment because he is not regarded as man, creating a pressure imposed by his relatives and friends.

Birth, that gives to the mother an identity and completes her, as well as giving confidence to the father and strength to the family, is attributed almost importance by the couple and their relatives. Some transition customs and ceremonies accompany birth and the phases connected to it.
One of the most important transition phases in birth, the origin of life, is tradition and custom.

Since birth is a turning point, belief and custom obliges women to abide by certain traditions, starting from the very desire to have children in the first place. In this way, beginning with the desire to become pregnant, the mother is encouraged to abide by hundreds of processes imposed by belief, custom and religion.

Thus, the process of birth is governed by hundreds of customs, beliefs, and religious and magical rituals, starting from the woman’s wish to conceive.
The customs, beliefs and traditions related to birth in Anatolia can be examined under three main features;

- Pre-Birth

- Birth

- After Birth.

Pre-Birth

The measures related to pre-birth customs, traditions, and beliefs mainly focus on avoiding infertility, conception, cravings, pregnancy, predetermining the child’s sex, and things pregnant women are expected to avoid.

Conception and avoiding infertility;

In Turkish society, it was usually the woman who was blamed when a couple failed to have a child, and the measures taken and practices followed mainly focused on her.

These customary measures in the past generally consisted of;

- Practices with a religious or magical aspect,

- Practices of popular medicine,

- Methods of medical treatment.

Today, men and women are equally regarded as the possible cause of any infertility, and both will undergo medical treatment. Although traditional treatment methods are still existing today, where modern medical treatments generally prevail in both rural and urban areas.

Cravings (during pregnancy);

When a woman reaches this particular “craving” phase, she may avoid doing certain things. In particular, she may avoid touching particular objects and eating certain foods, or else she may feel a particular craving for certain foodstuffs. These are considered physiologically necessary to meet the lack of various substances in her body.

Such women generally avoid hot, bitter or spicy foods, or are forced to do so by those around them. That attitude is very prevalent, and can clearly be seen in the expression ‘Eat bitter food and give birth to a girl.’ Eating sweet food and consuming sweet liquids is believed to encourage the chances of having a boy. This is reflected in another saying, ‘Eat sweet things and give birth to a cavalryman.’
Pregnancy;

Pregnant women, or those who have just had children, are regarded in some sense as unwell, and treated accordingly. To put it another way, the cultural values of the pregnant woman’s peer group and the community in which she lives, inspire them to regard her in that way. As a result of these values, they then expect her to behave in line with those expectations and to play a particular role.
The pregnant woman may be described as “yüklü” (loaded), “iki canlı” (with twin lives), “ağır ayak” (slow-footed), “koynu dolu” (full-bosomed), “boğru dolu” (full-breasted) or “guzlacı”.

The sex of the child;

One matter for considerable speculation during pregnancy is the sex of the child.

In Anatolia, estimates made by taking into consideration are follows;

- The physical appearance of the woman,

- The food the woman has consumed,

- The attitude of the woman,

- The length of time the child moves in the womb,

- The form of birth pains.

Nowadays, families are mostly resort to modern medical methods rather than traditional ones in matters related to the sex of the child.
Things pregnant women are expected to avoid or do;

It has been scientifically proved, that the unborn child is influenced by all its mother’s actions, from the moment of entry into the womb; in this respect, a system of beliefs applies across of the Turkey, where traditions are still prevailed.

This system of beliefs are lead on the pregnant woman to avoid certain forms of behavior or to engage in others.
Some forms of behavior that the pregnant woman is expected to avoid during her pregnancy are:
- Not looking at bears, monkeys, and camels,

- Not eating fish, rabbit, trotters or sheeps’ heads, and not chewing gum,

- Not attend funerals or looking at the deceased,

- Not secretly taking and eating anything.

There are various other measures taken apart from those listed above; these are forms of behavior with a positive inclination that share the same origin.
Some forms of behavior for a pregnant woman is expected to engage in are;

- Looking at the moon,

- Looking at beautiful people,

- Smelling roses,

- Eating quinces, apples, green plums and grapes.

Childbirth:

Triditionally, in most parts of Anatolia, women used to give birth at home in their villages with the help of midwives, and the majority of practices carried out during childbirth were believed to make the whole process easier.

Some of these practices were;

- Unfastening the woman’s hair,

- Opening locked doors, chests and windows,

- Feeding birds,

- A woman who had earlier had an easy labor would rub the back of the pregnant woman,

- Shooting in the air,

- Putting the woman on someone’s back and shaking her,

- Making the woman jump down from a high place,

- Making the woman lie down on a piece of cloth and rocking her.

Nowadays, childbirth takes place in hospitals and with the help of qualified midwives in remote and mountainous villages.)

After birth:

Practices after birth can be grouped as regarding;

- The child’s umbilical cord and placenta,

- Accouchement,

- The idea of the mother-snatcher or baby-snatcher,

- The forty-day threshold,

- The forty-day precautions.

Child’s Umbilical Cord;

In the same way, there is a belief that the food and drink a pregnant woman consumes, and the people, animals and things she looked at all affects the child and the same belief applies to the relation between the child and the umbilical cord and placenta.

That is why the child’s umbilical cord cannot be thrown away haphazardly without, it is believed, influencing the infant’s future, employment and life.
In the light of this belief, the umbilical cord;

- is buried in the courtyard of a mosque. (For the child to be a devout person)

- is thrown over a wall or into a school garden. (For the child to be an educated person)

- is buried in a stable. (For the child to be an animal lover)

- is thrown into water. (For the child to search for his/her destiny elsewhere)

The placenta is described as the end, friend, or comrade of the child. Since the placenta is regarded as part of the child, and even as the child itself, it is wrapped up and buried in a clean place in a clean piece of cloth after birth.

Since women give birth in hospitals today, practices related to the placenta have totally vanished, although customs and beliefs regarding the umbilical cord are still common.

Accouchement;

Women who have just given birth are referred to as “loğusa”, “lohsa”, “emzikli”, “loğsa”, “nevse”, or “kırklı”. The length of time a woman who has just had a baby will stay confined to bed depends on her own physiological condition, the question of whether the birth was a difficult or an easy one, climate, environmental considerations and how much the woman is loved by her family.

It is a common belief in Anatolia that women are under the influence of various supernatural forces during accouchement. “The grave of woman in accouchement is open for forty days” (the accouchement period is believed to last forty days), is a saying commonly used in traditional areas that supports this belief.

The idea of the “mother-snatcher” or “baby-snatcher”;

The mother or baby-snatcher is conceived of as disturbing women and newborn babies during accouchement and sometimes even killing them, and may be referred to as “al”, “cazı”, “cadı”, “al anası”, “al kızı”, “al karası”, “koncoloz”, “goncoloz”, and “kara koncoloz”.

People in Anatolia resort to a number of practices, to protect against the mother or baby-snatcher, who is believed to live in stables, haylofts, mills, deserted ruins, wells, water sources and places where women in accouchement and newborn babies are left alone. Some of these practices are;

- Hanging brooms, Koran, onion, garlic, and blue beads believed to protect against the evil eye in the room where the woman and newborn baby lie,

- Inserting a needle or packing needle under the pillow of the woman or newborn baby,

- Placing sharp tools such as daggers, sickles, knives etc. under the pillow,

- Putting breadcrumbs and water in the room.

Practices related to the mother or baby-snatcher are still to be found, although much less frequently than in the past.

The forty-day threshold belief;

People in Anatolia call any sickness experienced by the mother or the baby and any failure to regain health within 40 days of giving birth as “the falling forties” or some similar name such as name; “kırk basması”, “kırk düşmesi”, “kırk karışması”, “loğusa basması”, and “aydaş”. It is a common belief that a number of living things and objects will harm mother and newborn baby in the forty-day period after birth. Practices and measures to prevent the ‘falling forties’ are very common.

In order to prevent the ‘falling forties’;

- Mother and baby are not allowed out for forty days,

- Care is taken not to bring together women and newborn babies who have not passed through this forty-day period.

The falling forties in a baby used to be related to poor development and weight loss. Various religious and magical practices were considered to be a remedy to prevent the falling forties.’ Nowadays, such practices are almost extinct.

Forty-day precautions;

Washing the mother and child within 40 days of birth to prevent them falling ill within that period is known as “making the forties”. It is commonly referred to as “kırklama”, or “kırk dökme” and “kırk çıkarma”.

The practice is commonly carried out on the 40th day after birth. This period differs according to region, however, and may be carried out on the 7th, 20th, 30th, 37th, 39th or 41st day. Although there may be some differences in procedure in different regions, the aim is the same.
“Making the forties” is still a common practice today as in the past among those customs and practices related to birth.

Wedding Customs

2007-11-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

Marriage, another turning points of the life, is both individual since it brings together the lives of a man and a woman, and social, since it establishes family and kinship ties. The wedding ceremony takes place as a “festival”, especially in small village communities, since it is an activity covering the whole village. While some of the ceremonies held during different stages of the wedding can be considered as a feast and entertainment, others resemble an “elegy”.
The stages of customs and ceremonies covering the whole wedding procedure can be listed as following:

A. Before the wedding

I. Matchmaking and asking for the hand of a daughter

II. a. Verbal agreement to betrothal

b. Sherbet

c. Engagement

III. Koran-accompanied wedding gift announcement

IV. Sending and exhibiting the trousseau

V. Bridal bath

B. Wedding

I. Henna night

a. Bride henna

b. Groom henna

II. Receiving the bride

III. Marriage

IV. Bridal Chamber

V. After the Bridal Chamber

C. Practices after the wedding

After the decision that a young man is to marry has been taken, the journey begins with looking for a potential bride. In traditional parts of society in particular, families which wanted to marry off a son used to take a leading role in the search for a bride. It may be observed that this situation has started to change recently. Young people themselves choose the people whom they will marry after dating them, or the decision is taken together with the family.
In the form of marriage that is initiated by “viewing visits”, the mother of the boy and women close to the family visit the home of the girl and inspect her. If they like the girl, she is then shown to the groom. If he also likes her, the family decides to officially ask her family for her hand.

Visiting the home of the girl and asking her father for her hand is called “dünürlük” (task of father and mother-in-law), “dünürlüğe gitme” (visiting as father and mother-in-law), and “elçiliğe gitme” (visiting as an envoy) and similar names. The prominent women and men from the family visit the girl’s family to ask for her hand according to the command of God and the word of the Prophet at a previously determined sacred date (Thursdays and Sundays are generally considered days of good omen). Yet since the girl’s home is expected to be a place of modesty, the girl’s family does not give its consent on the first visit. A few visits to ask for the girl’s hand are made, giving the family of the girl enough time to think about it. If the family gives its consent, a verbal agreement to betrothal is made. In accordance with the request of the two sides, the bride and groom may put on their engagement rings on the same day, and this is sometimes done at an engagement ceremony held separately. After verbal agreement to betrothal has been made, the guests and the hosts drink sherbet to provide a sweet harmony between the families, which is a widespread custom. Drinking sherbet means that the family of the girl consents to the marriage and that it will go ahead. The families also discuss issues such as the dates of the engagement and wedding ceremonies, the household goods to be purchased or the amount of bride price as they make their verbal agreement to the betrothal.

After both sides have completed their preparations, an engagement ceremony is held at the girl’s home, generally with the women in attendance. The man’s family hands over the jewelry and other gifts purchased for the girl; in return, her family also gives presents. The ceremony can include an engagement feast if the sides so wish. This joyous event is at the same time celebrated with entertainments. Engagement means both take a step towards to the marriage and starting period determined for the wedding and an opportunity for the both sides to get to know each other and maintain a harmonious relationship. In the event of disagreement between the sides, the engagement can be broken down, although this is almost always a last resort.

The next stage after the engagement is the wedding. First of all, the people around should be invited to the wedding. Another custom that is fading nowadays is distributing “recited” food or gifts to the people in the village. (The Koran is recited as the gifts or food to be distributed are prepared, hence the name.) In one sense, a wedding invitation can even be “recited”. One individual is charged with distributing the ‘recited’ gifts to the village. These can be a piece of cloth, a handkerchief, a hand-painted kerchief, or food such as sugar and pastries. As these are distributed the guests are also invited to the wedding.

Although fairy tales mention wedding ceremonies lasting forty days and forty nights, they generally last for three days in Anatolia. Currently, two-day ceremonies held on the weekends are preferred for economic and social purpose.

The wedding ceremony, the basis of marriage, consists of two main parts:

a. Henna night
b. Receiving the bride

The ceremony held one day before the wedding in the home of bride and groom is called the henna night. It generally takes place at the girl’s home and among the women, although either side can elect to host it.

A flag is planted on the roof of the man’s home at an early hour on the day henna night will be held. This is done by a specially chosen standard-bearer in the company of a large crowd, who celebrate the occasion amid great festivities. In some places, a meal called flag bread is handed out to the crowd. Flag-planting means the wedding has officially started.

On the day of henna night is to be held, or a few days earlier, the trousseau is taken from the girl’s home and brought to the man’s, and the bridal chamber is prepared. The trousseau is sometimes exhibited to the guests for a few days in the girl’s home before the wedding, and in the man’s home during and after it. It is a widespread tradition that someone sits on the trousseau chest, asking for a tip as it is taken from the girl’s home. In addition, in the early hours of the day the henna night is to be held, a group of women from the bridegroom’s family take the henna that will be placed on the bride’s hands and feet, her clothes and the food that will be offered to the guests to the girl’s home, again to the accompaniment of great festivities. The women who gather in the girl’s home on the henna night have fun for a while, but later try to make her cry by singing sad songs. Henna that has earlier kneaded with water is brought in on a tray surrounded by candles and placed in the middle of the room. In some places, the henna is first put on the hands of the bride and then distributed to the guests; the other areas the henna is first distributed to the guests, and only after everybody has left it is placed on the bride’s hands. If the woman so wishes, henna can also be placed on her feet apply to the hair. Considerable attention is paid to charging a woman with a happy marriage, called the “başı bütün” (meaning “whose head is complete”, In a sense, this describes her as someone who has a complete family with husband and children and whose marriage is whole, not separated by divorce) to knead and distribute the henna and apply it to the girl’s hand. The woman places the henna on one of the bride’s hands, and a young girl places it on the other. Before the henna is applied, coins or gold are also placed in her hands.

The day after the henna night is the day for receiving the bride and of the main wedding ceremony. Both sides to the wedding offer food to the guests, usually entertaining them to the accompaniment of drums and reeds. In the early hours of the morning, ceremonies known as the bridegroom shave, preparing the bridegroom and such are held at the man’s home. The bride is readied in her own parent’s home. Professional women who work at all wedding ceremonies and prepare the wedding feasts are generally employed for this. On that day, the guests in the man’s home go to the girl’s house to receive the bride. As the bride leaves her father’s home, a red belt, also called a belt of perseverance, is tied around her waist by her brother or uncle. After the bride has said farewell to her family, she is taken out of her father’s home to the accompaniment of prayers, sometimes to hymns, and sometimes with festivities accompanied by reed and drum. As the bride leaves her home, she does things at home so that her single friends may also marry. These include unraveling an unfinished stocking before she leaves so that her friends can marry one after the other in rapid succession, like the unraveled stocking. Some religious and magical rites are performed to provide the couple with happiness, for a smooth marriage as the bride is leaving her father’s home and as she steps into the man’s home. These include a mirror being held behind the bride as she leaves her father’s home, expressing the wish for her to have a bright life. In the same way, as she is passing through the threshold of the man’s home, butter, honey and similar things are spread on the threshold and the door jamb with the aim of providing a sweet harmony between the bride and the people in her new home.

People throw out the sweets, coins, dried fruits and nuts over the head of the bride, as an expression of a wish for abundance.

The night of the wedding, a small feast is given to the remaining few guests in the house of the groom’s family, and then a religious ceremony is held to marry the couple, presided over by the imam. In earlier times, the official wedding could be held any time after the ceremony; but recently, great care has been taken that the official wedding should be held before the wedding ceremony. The official wedding is usually held when the families of the bride and groom come together to go shopping for the ceremony.

After the religious ceremony, the couple come together in their own room. Meanwhile, a series of religious rites and spells are performed to provide a harmonious relationship between bride and groom. These include thrusting a knife into the door of the room, or opening a lock in front of the door. In addition, the people there are asked not to cross their hands and arms. Food specially prepared earlier for that night by the bride and placed in her trousseau chest, together with a food tray with other meals, are left in the room. In some places, a single spoon, a single fork and a single glass are put on the tray to oblige the bride and groom to share them. It is believed that they will get used to each other much quicker that way. Then follows the custom of inspecting the bed sheet that is the symbol of the bride’s innocence and chastity. The aunt or cook who is responsible for organizing the wedding is informed of the situation of the bride, and then conveys this news back to the families. Sometimes, if the bride proves not to be a virgin, she may be sent back to her father’s home.

The day after the wedding, other festivities called the bridal veil day, face revealing or head covering are held. These are much simpler than what has gone before and involve only the women. In earlier times, the bride would be taken to the village fountain and asked to fetch water during these festivities. The bride also used to knead dough and cook pastry. This was the result of a belief that such things would bring abundance to the new home. These things have all been forgotten, however. Bridal veil day festivities are not held in many places either any more.