DAILY GREETINGS AND COMMON EXPRESSIONS

Turks love to celebrate or empathise and common expressions apply to many daily
or special events and occasions. Should a friend fall ill, the response should be
“Gecmis Olsun” meaning get well soon. Enter into a shop and you may hear the
saying of “Hos Geldiniz” which means welcome. The list goes on and on but the
good news for foreigners is that Turks are quite relaxed if you are visiting the
country. Learning a few sayings earns you great respect, but do not sweat the
small stuff, because to the Turks, you are a welcome guest in their country.

PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND CHILDREN: WHEN A BABY IS BORN

Likewise, when a baby is born, friends and family will often give it an evil eye for
protection. Turks adore children. The children also increase family size, so
represent a symbol of increased strength. Pregnancy is the next natural thing to do
after marriage and anybody shunning parenthood, or unable to conceive can
become the target of gossip, or socially questioned in some regions.

CIRCUMCISION
Circumcision is still a religious requirement in many parts of the country but
thankfully, practises have improved during the last century. In history, it was not
unheard of for a local elder to perform the ritual on the kitchen table but especially
in the western parts of the country, more people are opting for hospital procedures.

THE TURKISH HAMAM (CUSTOM)

This tradition stemming from the Roman public bathhouses and modified by the
Ottomans, has split into two. Certain Turkish baths are touristic orientated because
westerners prefer to wear swimming costumes while others cater for the local
community in the tradition way and this is seen in the weekly practise of women
only day.
People enter naked or wear a swimming costume, to sit in the sauna while dosing
down with cold water. A scrub down with a lofar and plenty of soapsuds is good
exfoliation of dead skin and the optional choice of a body massage is usually
offered in the touristic bathhouses.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage.Turks expect adults to marry and have children, and the vast majority do.
Because men should not lower their wives' standard of living, they are not
supposed to marry women of a higher economic class. People generally marry
within their own religious sect and ethnic group, although interethnic marriages
among Sunni Muslims are not uncommon. In traditional Turkish society, the
selection of spouses and the marriage ceremony were controlled by kin groups.
During the premarital process, the individuals to be married played minor roles.
The rituals, especially the imam marriage ceremony, were essential for a morally
and socially acceptable marriage.
Even though divorce is not considered an Islamic sin, it occurs infrequently.
Divorcees, especially men with children, quickly remarry, usually to divorced
women. The new code eliminated a husband's Islamic prerogative of verbal and
unilateral divorce and prescribed a court proceeding. The law recognizes only six
grounds for divorce: adultery; plot against life, grave assaults, and insults; crime or
a dishonorable life; desertion; mental infirmity; and incompatibility. The evidentiary
requirements are so substantial that establishing one of these grounds has proved
difficult. A couple cannot divorce by mutual consent.

Vestimenta de la mujer turca

El hombre viste pantalones anchos en la zona media que luego se abuchean en los
extremos inferiores, es decir, en la parte de los tobillos. En la parte superior viste
una camisa colorida y muchas veces se coloca una por debajo de ésta. Las mismas
están muy decoradas con detalles que remiten a la cultura que maneja la nación de
Turquía. También utilizan una faja que separa las dos prendas (inferior y superior).
La misma es colorida. En la cabeza el hombre coloca muchos apliques que
conforman uno muy colorido del cual también cuelga un amistoso pañuelo. Las
mangas de la camisa suelen ser un tanto amplias.
La mujer por su parte, tiene el traje mucho más cargado. Utiliza un pantalón que se
asemeja al estilo del que utiliza el hombre. Sobre él coloca un delantal que no pasa
las rodillas, éste está muy bien decorado de manera muy sutil. En la parte superior
podemos observar que la mujer viste una camisa que es prácticamente invisible ya
que sobre ella se pone una chaqueta a tono con el resto de la vestimenta. Sobre su
cabeza, coloca un pañuelo que luego cubre con un manto largo.
Alrededor del 69% de las turcas se cubren el pelo. Aquellas mujeres que,
siguiendo los preceptos islámicos, se cubren la cabeza de una manera u otra no
pueden entrar en los centros educativos o ejercer en la Administración pública. Por
este motivo, a las puertas de las universidades, se pueden ver grupos de jóvenes
colocándose una peluca sobre el velo para poder ir a clase. En los casos más
extremos entran incluso con el cabello rapado.

LA LEY Además de la enmienda constitucional aprobada ayer, el Gobierno

pretende añadir a la ley de educación superior un pasaje que especifique que "el
modo de vestir en la universidad es libre", pero las mujeres veladas deberán ir
"con la cara descubierta" y el velo "deberá atarse por debajo de la barbilla" lo que,
según el portavoz gubernamental, Cemil Çiçek, impedirá la entrada de estudiantes
con türban y çarsaf.
https://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Turkey.html