GTurkiye

Author: tur

  • Youth in Turkey

    The young population is the most dynamic and sensitive group in Turkey. The number of youth in the 12-24 age group constitutes 31 percent of the population in Turkey, which has a rather young population. Today, problems related to youth are among the important subjects dwelled upon on the agenda of Turkey. The expectations for the future of youth has been increasing gradually. The State engages in activities with the cooperation of national and international institutions, organizations and universities in order to determine the problems of the youth and to find solutions to these problems, within the framework of the economic, social and cultural structure. Significant progress has started to be made in recent years on the subject of the organization of youth by means of foundations, associations and youth organizations in the social and cultural fields.

    The State and Youth
    The services on subjects, such as education, health, working life, social security, employment, cultural life, utilization of free time and protection from harmful habits of the youth are provided by different ministries. Close to 14 ministries are directly involved with these subjects and other ministries, institutions and organizations are indirectly involved. It is planned to establish a Higher Council of Youth, formed by the representatives of public institutions and organizations and private organizations engaged in providing services for youth because these services and activities are multi-faceted and involve many institutions and organizations.

    Thus, it is projected that youth services will be carried out in a more effective manner and their productivity will be increased. The utilization of the free time of youth is carried out by the General Directorate of Youth and Sports. The General Directorate besides providing sports services and activities, also provides services to youth and coordination of activities such as youth camps, youth centers, youth clubs and international organizations. The Youth Centers are cultural institutions that provide the opportunity and prepare the environment for utilizing the free time of youth in social, cultural and sports activities connected to the Provincial Directorates of Youth and Sports.

    These centers organize activities to increase the knowledge and capabilities of the youth in various fields, such as art, science, sports, cartoon and handicrafts, and awards youth in these fields. The Youth Centers which also provide guidance and consultation services to assist in the solution of youth problems, organize various activities which provide the opportunity for youth to exhibit what they have done throughout the year. Furthermore, they inform the youth to protect them from harmful habits through conferences, panel discussions, symposia, competitions and other activities.

    Positive results have been obtained from the activities made to increase the functions of the youth centers, and to have more youth become members of these centers. A total of 104 youth centers with 22,000 members are active in Turkey’s provincial and county centers as of 2000. The youth in the country is also provided with guidance services through 52 Youth Information and Guidance Bureaus. The celebration ceremonies of the “19 May Youth and Sports Holiday” that was presented to youth by Ataturk. Central and Regional Youth Camps organized by the General Directorate of Youth and Sports in the summer, provide the opportunity for the utilization of the free time of the youth outside of their fields of education and work.

    In 1999, 6,293 young people attended the youth camps numbering 14. The week, including the “19 May Commemoration of Ataturk, and Youth and Sports Holiday”, has been celebrated as “Youth Week” in Turkey since 1983. Youth Week helps young people between 12-24 years of age living in the cities, towns and villages to get together every year and engage in cultural, artistic and sports activities in an atmosphere of fraternity and friendship and to become acquainted with each other. Youth Week have been celebrated at an international level since 1998.

    The General Directorate of the Institution of Higher Education Loans and Dormitories was established in 1962 to solve the loan and housing problems and give assistance for the education of the youth in higher education. Student Information Offices have been established in large cities, in order to provide the various needs of youth who are attending schools. Dormitories and student boarding houses give services to solve the housing needs of the students receiving higher education.

  • Sunnet (Circumcision) in Turkey

    Circumcision is an operation in which the foreskin of the penis is removed. It is a practice of great religious significance among certain religious groups, notably the Jews and the Moslems. Circumcision is known to have been practiced in ancient Egypt even before it was introduced to the Jews as part of God’s covenant with Prophet Abraham. In Islam, however, the authority for circumcision came not from the Koran but from the example of the Prophet Mohammed.

    In Islam, whatever the prophet does or says is called sunnet; therefore this word stands for circumcision in modern Turkish. Urologists claim that circumcised males have far fewer urinary tract infections and are less at risk for catching sexually transmitted diseases than are uncircumcised males. On the other side, pediatricians say that the medical risks attendant upon the surgery far outweigh the possible future consequences of foregoing the operation.

    As an Islamic country, in Turkey all Moslem boys are circumcised between the ages 2-14 by licensed circumcising surgeons. From the social point of view, the most prominent feature of circumcision is the introduction of a child to his religious society as a new member. This explains the reason for circumcision of people who convert into Moslems as a first step. It is impressed on a boy at a very early age that circumcision is a step for transition to manhood.

    As long as they are accepted as very important events in people’s lives, circumcisions are generally made with big ceremonies in festive atmosphere. If a family has more than one boy, they wait for an appropriate time to perform it altogether. In this case the younger child might be less than 4. In some rural areas, villagers sometimes share expenses of a circumcision feast like they do with the work. Wealthy people may take poor boys or orphans together with their children for circumcision.

    Charity organizations make collective ceremonies for poor boys and orphans. Considering school periods of children, circumcisions are held in summer months while the children are on vacation, from June through September at weekends.

  • Types of Families in Turkiye

    Families are divided into several types according to social, economic and local conditions. The traditional extended and nuclear families are the two common types of families in Turkey. The traditional extended family, generally means that three generations live together: grandfather, adult sons and sons’ sons, their wives and their unmarried daughters a married daughter becomes a member of her husband’s family and lives there. There is a unity of production and consumption together with common property.

    This type of family is becoming more and more rare today. The nuclear family, parallel to industrialization and urbanization, replaces traditional families. The nuclear family consists of a husband, wife and unmarried children and is more suitable to modern Turkish social life today.

    There are some economic, traditional and emotional conditions that form the duties and responsibilities of the modern nuclear family member. As for the economic conditions, each individual is supposed to play a part in supporting the continuation of the family. The father is usually responsible for making the basic income, the mother may perhaps contribute by working and if not, will assume full time take care of the home. Grandparents may also supply help with incomes from their pension or returns from owned property and rents.

    Younger children help with the housework (re-pairing, painting, cleaning) and when older contribute by usually covering at least their own expenses. Tradition places the father as the head of the family, but the mother has equal rights. The father is the representative and protector of the family whereas the mother takes care of all the day to day things.

  • Turkey Neighbors

    Turkey is located on the Southeast corner of the European and Midwest border of the Asian continents .The European and Asian sides are divided by the Istanbul Bogazi (The Bosphorus), the Sea of Marmara, and the Canakkale Bogazi (Dardanelle). Turkey’s land mass is 814,578 sq km. To give a general idea that makes 32 times the Netherlands.

    The Country is surrounded by the Black Sea on the north, Mediterranean sea on the south and the Aegean Sea on the west. The coastline of Turkey’s seas is about 8,300 km long..Turkey’s neighbor countries are: Northwest: Greece and Bulgaria, Northeast: Georgia and Armenia, East: Iran, Southeast: Iraq and Syria.

  • The Highlands Wildlife in the Mountains of Turkey

    The wildlife in these mountains presents the same diversity as that of the rich plant cover. Taurus Mountains are home for birds such as pigeons, blackbirds, francolins, partridges, quail, turtledoves, woodcock as well as for eagles, sturnidaes, falcons, chaffinches and orioles. Animals that can be observed here in their natural habitat are deer, fallow deer, bezoar goat, boar, lynx, roe deer, fox, wolf, jackals, martens, rabbits and hyena. The Taurus highlands are found within the provinces of Gaziantep, Hatay (Antioch), Adana, Icel, Antalya and Mugla.