Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby nerdnerdnerd » Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:04 pm

I have no idea, to be honest.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby Farhan222 » Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:19 pm

I think there is democracy.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby pickledlightshow » Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:53 pm

I really hope this doesn't come off as offensive but here goes
Is it true that Muslim women have to stay home during menstruation because they're "unclean"? If so, how do they go about their daily lives if they cant leave the house a week out of the month? Like school or jobs or etc.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby nerdnerdnerd » Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:30 pm

Farhan222 wrote:I think there is democracy.

Yes. Look at post #4.

pickledlightshow wrote:I really hope this doesn't come off as offensive but here goes
Is it true that Muslim women have to stay home during menstruation because they're "unclean"? If so, how do they go about their daily lives if they cant leave the house a week out of the month? Like school or jobs or etc.

It's true that women are considered "unclean" when they are menstruating, but this doesn't affect their everyday life. They are exempt from prayers and Ramadan fasting while menstruating, and they are supposed to have "ghusl" (ritual bath) after it's over. That's it.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby 52xMax » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:02 pm

Why is Istanbul not Constantinople?

I mean, I know it's nobody's business but the Turks', but why they changed it I can't say. Did people just like it better that way?
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby LaChaise » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:10 am

wikipedia wrote: Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and Kostantiniyye (Ottoman Turkish قسطنطينيه) was the primary name used by the Ottomans during their rule. Nevertheless, the use of Constantinople to refer to the city during the Ottoman period (from the mid-15th century) is now considered politically incorrect, even if not historically inaccurate, by Turks.

By the 19th century, the city had acquired a number of other names used by either foreigners or Turks. Europeans used Constantinople to refer to the whole of the city, but used the name Stamboul—as the Turks also did—to describe the walled peninsula between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Pera (from the Greek word for "across") was used to describe the area between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, but Turks also used the name Beyoğlu (today the official name for one of the city's constituent districts). Islambol (meaning either "City of Islam" or "Full of Islam") was sometimes colloquially used to refer to the city, and was even engraved on some Ottoman coins, but the belief that it was the precursor to the present name, İstanbul, is belied by the fact that the latter existed well before the former and even predates the Ottoman and Muslim conquest of the city.

Etymologically, the name İstanbul (Turkish pronunciation: [isˈtanbuɫ], colloquially [ɯsˈtambuɫ]) derives from the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" (pronounced [is tim ˈbolin]), which means "to the city". This reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity, much in the same way people today often colloquially refer to their nearby urban centers as "the City". An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from the name Constantinople, with the first and third syllables dropped.


Basically, as with many naming stories, there are different versions. I think the Medieval Greek hypothesis is the most widely accepted though.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby 52xMax » Thu Jul 25, 2013 6:22 pm

LaChaise wrote:Basically, as with many naming stories, there are different versions. I think the Medieval Greek hypothesis is the most widely accepted though.


Well, Mumbai was once Bombay, Beijing was once Peking, Ho Chi Minh was Saigon, and even old New York was once New Amsterdam.


At least Istanbul still has turkish delight, on a moonlight night.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby electricflamingo » Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:34 pm

My question is a lame pop-culture question but I'm asking it anyway.

Is it true Gulsen Bayraktar is a Chveneburi? I heard it somewhere and I was kind of curious.

Are any Georgians popular in Turkey? I'm a little (*extremely*) obsessed with Turkish pop culture so part of me hopes it goes both ways, lol.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby blehblah » Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:38 pm

I'm going to ask questions that probably have really complicated answer; I'm sorry. The thing is, it's hard to find straightforward analysis about such things over here (Canada). That's partly because it doesn't "sell", and partly because everyone here has an agenda about things over there.

Okay, here goes. Again, sorry.

What's the general mood in Turkey when it comes to the goings-on in Syria? What I have seen in the odd story is that there is plenty of tension along the border (a border of pretty substantial size). That has led to some errant shots being traded, with the implication being that Turkey is showing restraint (but I don't exactly know why that restraint is). Is it tension with Assad regime, the rebels, or concern about things spilling-over in general? Maybe there's a historical aspect that I don't know about...okay, let me change that... there is a historical aspect that I'm ignorant of.

Anyhow, I'm really most curious about the mood. Does it occupy headlines and chatter daily, or is it more of a concern that is maybe just a nuisance for now?

I could find the answers online, but I'd have to sort through Internet-sized piles of garbage, sort it by trying to figure-out who's agenda any bit of information serves (or doesn't), etc. Sooooo... I'm glad that you put yourself out there for Canada-tards like me to take advantage of. *grin*
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby nerdnerdnerd » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:44 pm

Sorry for the late answers, I had forgotten about this topic :(

52xMax wrote:At least Istanbul still has turkish delight, on a moonlight night.

Image

One of my friends actually took this photo. I think it looks pretty beautiful. Also, Chaise's answer is right, except the Constantinople -> Istanbul evolution hypothesis is the more accepted one.

electricflamingo wrote:My question is a lame pop-culture question but I'm asking it anyway.

Is it true Gulsen Bayraktar is a Chveneburi? I heard it somewhere and I was kind of curious.

Are any Georgians popular in Turkey? I'm a little (*extremely*) obsessed with Turkish pop culture so part of me hopes it goes both ways, lol.


I didn't even remember who she was before Googling her :D I don't know my pop culture well. She could be, I don't know. According to some reports there are about a million people of Georgian descent in Turkey, about %1,3 of the population. The current PM Erdoğan is of partially Georgian/Chveneburi descent. Most of them have been assimilated though, the number of Georgian speakers is probably around 60k-100k.

Except Erdoğan and possibly Gülşen, I don't know any famous Georgians/Chveneburi. And no, Georgian culture or music isn't well known or popular here :(
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby nerdnerdnerd » Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:35 pm

blehblah wrote:I'm going to ask questions that probably have really complicated answer; I'm sorry. The thing is, it's hard to find straightforward analysis about such things over here (Canada). That's partly because it doesn't "sell", and partly because everyone here has an agenda about things over there.

Okay, here goes. Again, sorry.

What's the general mood in Turkey when it comes to the goings-on in Syria? What I have seen in the odd story is that there is plenty of tension along the border (a border of pretty substantial size). That has led to some errant shots being traded, with the implication being that Turkey is showing restraint (but I don't exactly know why that restraint is). Is it tension with Assad regime, the rebels, or concern about things spilling-over in general? Maybe there's a historical aspect that I don't know about...okay, let me change that... there is a historical aspect that I'm ignorant of.

Anyhow, I'm really most curious about the mood. Does it occupy headlines and chatter daily, or is it more of a concern that is maybe just a nuisance for now?

I could find the answers online, but I'd have to sort through Internet-sized piles of garbage, sort it by trying to figure-out who's agenda any bit of information serves (or doesn't), etc. Sooooo... I'm glad that you put yourself out there for Canada-tards like me to take advantage of. *grin*


Turkey is a member of NATO, so our government can't just declare war willy-nilly. While the current government would like get involved in the war and topple Assad, pretty much no NATO country wants to get involved, so that's why we are forced to show restraint. Our army returns fire when clashes affect the border, and it's an unspoken fact that we are "secretly" arming and training FSA rebels, and that's all our government can do.

The whole thing... is complicated. The government wants the Assad regime to fall and be superseded by a civillian regime. The thing is, there are at least 3 different opposition factions: the moderate FSA rebels (who are also allied to the al-Qaeda related Mujahideen and Al-Nusra), the Kurdish DBK/YPG who want autonomy and possibly independence, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/Syria who split off from al-Qaeda recently. These 3 are both fighting the Assad regime and fighting among themselves.

The latter two are security threats to Turkey as well- the Kurdish insurgency in our southeast has recently ended and the government is afraid an independent/autonomous Kurdish state could have land claims in Turkey and re-start an insurgency. The security situation in Iraq and Syria is pretty unstable, so we'd have trouble dealing with such an insurgency. The ISIS has also conducted attacks on Turkey. Now, the government is supporting the more moderate Free Syrian Army, but the FSA is also allied with the al-Qaeda-related factions who have committed massacres on Shia and Alawite civillian populations in Syria and are also responsible for previous attacks on Turkey... So the whole thing is a depressing clusterfuck. And oh, there's the issue with Syrian Turkmens who number about 1,5 to 3,5 million who've been oppressed and persecuted during the Assad regime (just like Kurds have been). They mostly support the FSA and FSA has Turkmen brigades, and our government wants to help them gain some sort of autonomy as well.

I'm not getting into the refugee issue which is another can of worms- the official number is about 700 thousand but the actual number is likely to be over a million. About 600k are living in camps near the border, about 200k have migrated to Istanbul and possibly 200-300k have migrated to other cities. Turkey already has its own issues with urban planning and and unemployment so you can guess how things are. :(

So yes, there is both tension with the Assad regime, problems with both Kurdish, al-Qaeda-related and ISIS rebels and fear of things spilling over and a historical aspect with Turkmens.

As for the mood, yes, the government's Syria policy is a big thing in our politics. CHP, the second biggest party with %25-30 popular support opposes the government policy and they want a more neutral stance, while the Kurds who want autonomy within Turkey are also by extension supportive of Syrian Kurds. News about Syria also make the news every day and we're all just hoping the war to end.
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Last edited by nerdnerdnerd on Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby blehblah » Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:34 pm

Nerd, there is a lot of information there.. can you break it up a bit? I'm sorry, but it's too much in one paragraph... just, a bit of break-up... please.

EDIT: I trying to help, so please read it as-such. I'm very interested.. and I'm glad that you got back to this thread.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby nerdnerdnerd » Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:51 pm

blehblah wrote:Nerd, there is a lot of information there.. can you break it up a bit? I'm sorry, but it's too much in one paragraph... just, a bit of break-up... please.

EDIT: I trying to help, so please read it as-such. I'm very interested.. and I'm glad that you got back to this thread.


No, it's okay, I'm sorry :) Does it look better now?
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby cmsellers » Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:20 am

I haven't lived in Turkey for over a year, but I lived in both Izmir and Gaziantep, so I'm well familiar with the cultural divide between supporters on the CHP and supporters of the AKP, and I wasn't really surprised when RTE's ham-handed tactics in Gezi Park had far more of an effect on Turkey's perception in the rest of the world than it did on RTE's popularity in Turkey.

However I do have a few (well, a lot of) questions for you:

  1. Would you say that the attitude of AKP supporters to the treatment of the Gezi Park protesters was essentially "those uppity know-it-all elitists had it coming"? Or was it more "too bad for them, but nobody else is offering a coherent program"?

  2. What do you think about allegations of vote-rigging in Ankara? The best analysis I've seen suggests that if there was vote-rigging, it was very subtle and "subtle" is not a word that I associate with your prime minister. On the other hand, "honest" is also not a word I associate with Mister Erdoğan, and given his majoritarianism I tend to expect the worst of him.

  3. I was surprised when the corruption scandals didn't seem to make a dent in his popularity, considering that he used similar scandals to put away a lot of the generals and judges who were trying to undermine his rule. Given AKP's reputation as the "clean" party, why do you think his supporters didn't care about the AKP's corruption.

  4. I was shocked when the Soma disaster didn't effect his popularity. I haven't been to Soma, but I have been to three other towns in Manisa Province and the people in small-town Western Turkey seem more conservative than people in Gaziantep. Also, Manisa tends to vote more like Kars than Izmir. Is Soma's location in the west enough for the AKP's supporters to say "Oh, they're just a bunch of damn westerners," or is there something else going on there?

  5. How's the economy doing over there? I know the value of the lira has plummeted every time RTE does something which looks dictatorial to foreign observers but I've also seen suggestions that he only did so well in the last elections because you're still seeing growth at home.

  6. How much influence does Fethullah Gulen really have? I never heard anybody mention his name once while I was in Turkey, but a lot of Western media acts like he can singlehandedly destroy RTE.

  7. Are the Bosphorus ferries still running after the completion of Marmaray?

  8. Can you find Sivas köfte in Istanbul? I'm told you can find anything in Istanbul, but I was in Istanbul for a combined total of less than two weeks after I went to Sivas (you can also get it in Kayseri), so I didn't get a much of chance to look.
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Re: Questions about Islam and Turkey answered!

Postby Delta Jim » Mon Jun 16, 2014 5:41 am

LaChaise wrote:
wikipedia wrote: Constantinople remained the most common name for the city in the West until the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and Kostantiniyye (Ottoman Turkish قسطنطينيه) was the primary name used by the Ottomans during their rule. Nevertheless, the use of Constantinople to refer to the city during the Ottoman period (from the mid-15th century) is now considered politically incorrect, even if not historically inaccurate, by Turks.

By the 19th century, the city had acquired a number of other names used by either foreigners or Turks. Europeans used Constantinople to refer to the whole of the city, but used the name Stamboul—as the Turks also did—to describe the walled peninsula between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara. Pera (from the Greek word for "across") was used to describe the area between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, but Turks also used the name Beyoğlu (today the official name for one of the city's constituent districts). Islambol (meaning either "City of Islam" or "Full of Islam") was sometimes colloquially used to refer to the city, and was even engraved on some Ottoman coins, but the belief that it was the precursor to the present name, İstanbul, is belied by the fact that the latter existed well before the former and even predates the Ottoman and Muslim conquest of the city.

Etymologically, the name İstanbul (Turkish pronunciation: [isˈtanbuɫ], colloquially [ɯsˈtambuɫ]) derives from the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" (pronounced [is tim ˈbolin]), which means "to the city". This reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity, much in the same way people today often colloquially refer to their nearby urban centers as "the City". An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from the name Constantinople, with the first and third syllables dropped.


Basically, as with many naming stories, there are different versions. I think the Medieval Greek hypothesis is the most widely accepted though.


So that's why Constantinople got the works?
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