Turkey: It’s Not Europe, But It’s Not the Middle East

Last week, I spent seven days in Istanbul, Turkey with my dad.  For a moment, I thought I was in Western Europe, and I was literally on the European continental side most of the time while I was there.  Yet, the tall, winding minarets of the mosques reminiscent from the Ottoman Empire and its magnanimity reminded me that this place – Turkey – was different from Western Europe, most assuredly because of it’s dominant religion – Islam. 

We met Muslim Turks that drank wine as well who prayed daily.  This behavior can also be found in other Islamic culture states, but it seemed to be more accepted in this state.  Turkey is 98% Muslim, but they are also very nationalist and proud of their Ottoman history and former President Ataturk's achievements in secularizing the nation.

This new culture wasn't Middle Eastern culture but not Western culture either.  That's the beauty of engaging and encountering a new culture – it changes your entire perception of what the world is like and ignorance is left to cower in a corner.  I loved Istanbul and the Turkish culture, language, and people from the moment I stepped foot onto the pavement.  There was that familiar type of calling that happens when one truly seeks to understand a culture, and so he will be welcomed.  That is why so many anthropologists are accepted into a community and society before others who only seek to extract something from that culture. 

Being in Turkey helped me to gain another view of the separation of church and state in Western states than in Islamic states.  Even though Turkey is the most secular country of Islamic states, it is still very apparent to all that Islam is a way of life and the dominant guiding tool for all Muslims in the country – not the government per se.  A country like France regards its ancient cathedrals like the Notre Dame as more of an historical artifact more than a religious symbol because most of the French over the last century and this century too has become non-religious.  Yet, in Turkey, the ancient mosques that were built in the 14^th or 15^th centuries are still prominent places for Muslims to pray in and Muslims from abroad still come there to visit them. 

Islam is not only a religion in the Middle East or in Turkey – it is a way of life.  Compared to the West where religion is separate from public life, Islam, mosques and mentions of Islam are all around you because it is how Muslims live their lives.  It cannot be separated from public life and at times not even from the government either.  In Turkey, not every woman wears the hijab and some Muslims drink alcohol; yet, they always claim to foreigners that the foundation of their being in Islam.  That is one of the fundamental differences between Islamic and Western culture.