Heart to Heart

I had an interesting conversation with a student about her time as an Erasmus exchange student in the Czech Republic two years ago. She talked about how she and her peers were treated by other Europeans during her time there, and I have to say that the picture wasn't very flattering. Many of the Europeans asked why some Turkish girls didn't wear scarves while others did, they didn't understand why the girls drank alcohol when the Koran forbade it, and they expressed surprise in general at the girls' overall modernity.

But the questions weren't the difficult part, it was the assumptions: that Turks ride camels (come on!), a serious belief that Turkey had no skyscrapers (haven't they ever seen a picture of Istanbul?), and a general misunderstanding about how strictly Turks follow the Koran. The girls were ostracized quite a bit, and generally only hung out with each other, even though their English was pretty strong. Some of my other students who lived in Belgium for some time had teachers that treated them like second-class citizens because of their nationality, and made comments about camels and skyscrapers as well. More than anything, all of my Turkish students have been shocked at how little people know about their country, and the level of cultural prejudice people have for their nation.

A lot of Turks really think that Americans don't like them either. I went to meet some local high school students the other day to give a presentation about my trip to Egypt. At the end of the presentation, after several questions about whether I was married and what people like to eat in the United States, etc., a young girl raised her hand and said, "Do Americans hate Turkey?"

I was flabbergasted.

It surprises and saddens me, because it highlights the misinformed perceptions so many people have about Islamic nations, and Turkey in particular. My student mentioned something her Prime Minister had said about Turkey, something to the effect that Turkey is the far east of the West, and the far West of the East, a variation of the often used comment that Turkey is between the East and the West. Though it may be cliché, I do find it to be true. And I suppose this makes both sides wonder where exactly Turkey stands on certain issues, even while many Turks struggle to create a solid identity for itself out of this dichotomy.

Regardless, I'm really disappointed that so many Europeans are so uneducated about Turkey. Despite its tenuous leanings sometimes this way, sometimes that way, Turkey is a part of Europe geographically, and it's time Europeans learned a bit more about their culturally rich and diverse neighbor, whether they're part of the EU or not.