FOLK DANCES

Each region in Turkey has its own special folk dances and costumes. 

Horon
This Black Sea dance is performed by men only. The dancers, dressed in black with silver trimmings, link arms and quiver to the vibrations of the “kemence” (a primitive kind of violin).

Kasik Oyunu
The Spoon Dance is performed from Konya to Silifke. Gaily dressed male and female dancers ‘click’ out the dance rhythm with a pair of wooden spoons in each hand.

Kilic Kalkan
The Sword and Shield Dance of Bursa represents the Ottoman conquest of the city and is performed by men only. Clothed in Ottoman battle-dress, they dance to the sound of clashing swords and shields, without music.

Zeybek
In this Aegean dance colourful male dancers, called “efe”, symbolize  courage and heroism.

FOLK MUSIC

Lively Turkish folk music, which originated on the steppes of Central Asia, marks a complete contrast to the refined Turkish classical music of the Ottoman court. Until quite recently folk music was not usually written down, instead the traditions have been kept alive for generations by “asiklar” (troubadours and storyteller poets).

Distinct from folk music is the old Ottoman military music, now performed by the “mehter takimi’’ (Janissary Band) in Istanbul. This military music, which beats out the rhythm of war, is played with kettle drums, clarinets, cymbals, and bells.

The mystical music of the Whirling Dervishes (“Mevleviler”) is dominated by the haunting reed pipe or “ney” and can be heard in Konya during the Mevlana Festival in December.

TURKISH FOLK HEROES

Nasrettin Hoca
Was a 13th century humorist and sage from Aksehir. His witticisms are known throughout Turkey and are often used to make a point.

Karagoz
Here we have another jester who is said to have lived in Bursa in the 14th century and is now immortalized as a shadow puppet. Karagoz was a rough man of the people, who used his ribald wit to get the better of his pompous friend, Hacivat. The puppets are made from gaily painted, translucent animal skin, held on sticks, and projected onto a white screen.

Yunus Emre
The 13th century philosopher poet is one of Turkey’s national treasures. His basic theme was universal love, friendship, brotherliness and divine Justice. His simplistic and pure writings are still celebrated today.

Koroglu
Koroglu was a 15th century folk poet and a role model for his contemporaries, a hero of his time. His adventures have been recounted for centuries with prestige and vigour and perhaps now with more interest than ever. Koroglu was one of the first people to pioneer the ideal of unconditional help for the poor and down trodden. He was also a great warrior against autocratic government control and harassment.

The culture of Turkey varies depending on the region and the ethnic background of its inhabitants.

In the larger towns and cities the culture is very similar to Europe. It is part of the culture of Turkey for both men and women to work and the clothes worn by people in these parts of Turkey reflect western culture.

Turkish people living along the coastal towns who belong to the middle class look to Europe for their cultural ideals and foreign visitors will easily feel at home here.

Ataturk (founder of the Republic of Turkey) took great measures to modernize the culture of Turkey, changing laws, dress codes and the educational system all of which had a great bearing on the culture of Turkey.

The culture of Turkish people living in rural areas, especially in the east of Turkey is a lot more traditional. These Turkish people belong mainly to the farming classes and their religion plays a greater part in their culture. Aspects of traditional Turkish culture shows in the clothes, housing and lifestyles of rural Turkish people whose culture is generally more conservative than those living in the city.

Hospitality plays a great part in Turkish culture and traces its roots to the nomadic origins of Turkish people. In those days it was very important to be kind to strangers and offer them food and shelter because often their survival would depend on it. This aspect of Turkish culture is seen today across Turkey where it is not unusual for visitors to be offered food and beverages from shop owners in the bazaar, or even to be offered shelter in the homes of rural Turkish villagers.

The family plays a big part in the culture of Turkey, although this is changing due to modern lifestyle demands. The traditional extended family in Turkish culture consists of 3 generations living together but this is becoming rarer in the cities where families live in similar arrangements to western families. Turkish culture dictates that families should work together and all members should contribute somehow to the family. The father is the breadwinner, while the mother either works or looks after the children, who according to their culture are supposed to do household chores. Traditionally Turkish families sit down together three times a day to eat,  however due to hectic daily schedules this is not always possible.