Tour Guide Sinan Tortum's Brochure About Turkey - Part I( Turkey As I Conceive It)
TURKEY AS I CONCEIVE IT
“If there is something I know, it is is that I do not know anything.” Socrates
AGRICULTURE
Since we lack a good overview and reliable registration system, it is difficult to say exactly how many people are living in agricultural araes or what percent of the people are dependent on the revenues from agriculture. An estimation may be 35-40 %. Because of the low efficiency and similar problems in the turkish agriculture, the household revenues in the rural areas are quite low. The problem is deepened by the fact that the households in the rural araes are bigger in size than in the urban areas. We see a reflection in the rural areas of the problems in the whole country: The problems of planning, organization and marketing. Subsidies are much less than before and there are quotas for some products as is the case with tobacco. In my opinion, there is an incraesing poverty and cash problems in the rural araes.
I can estimate that if the situation continues like this, there will be increased urbanization. Urbanization is not a solution either. People move from the rural araes to the urban araes with great expectations, which people could get realized in 60s , 70s and 80s to some extent. If there will be a wide wave of immigration, the integration problems will seemingly be much bigger now than in the past.
There are 1.2 million tractors used in Turkey. One third of these are over the age of 20. Most farmers, because of financing difficulties, should be content with the tractors with 50-60 horse power. It is, on the other hand, predicted that every year 40.000 tractors shall be sold.
Tobacco is sown in the Aegean Region ( amongst others in Akhisar, the old Tyatira), in the Western Black Sea region, The Eastern Turkey and the South Eastern Turkey. Tobacco demands mild climate, but also much rain in the winter. Tobacco merchants and the representatives of the Turkish Monopoly inspects the tobacco from september to december. Because of the quotas for tobacco etc., the tobacco has become an unpopular product to invest in. A problem with tobacco is that it takes some months between the time the produce is delievered and the time the farmers get their payments. in the spring months and manuel harvesting is most usual.
Olive is a popular produce with increasing domestic and international demand. Olive trees follow a cycle of the year and non-year ( little produce in the non-year). The main cause of this is that in harvesting shaking-method is used with sticks in use. Then the olive tree needs a time for a rest. In the late spring, you can see mainly women from the villages- transported by lorries and led by a man- working with harvesting of olive. There are tens of millions of olive trees mainly in the Aegean and Marmara regions. Old type olive oil factories are easily visible with their tall chimneys. However, turkish olive oil industry still has marketing problems. Some of the turkish olive oil is known to be sold with foreign brands. TARIS- a cooperative based company- has opened its own shops amongst others in the USA.
Turkey is the biggest exporter of hasslenuts. But, the producers are not content with their earnings. Perhaps, there should be attempts to concentrate on marketing hasslenuts as a processed goods.
In the late spring, summer and early fall, the so-called seasonal workers are easily visible with their tents. We can also call them “tent villagers”. Turkey’s agriculture still forms an important part of its economy and and throughout each year many workers live nomadic lifestyles travelling from whereever they call home ( most of them from southeastern provinces) to the orchards, plantations or fields whereever their labour is needed ( Aegean provinces, Cukurova around Adana-province etc.). They form small tent villages without the infrastructure. Workers travel with their families and set up their primitive tents on the edges of fields, living in deeply unsanitary conditions without basic necessities like toilets, baths or kitchens. Except for the summer, it may be cold in the eveneings and nights; there is the risk of getting ill any moment. Since they are not insured in the social security system, medical expenses may be a big problem. Usually they are surviving on ( dry) bread, tea, herbs and plants they gather. No electricity, no running water. They have gas light. From their small daily earnings, they usually give a percentage to the mediators, who find and organize the workforce on the fields.
ALPHABET AND A LITTLE DICTIONARY
The turkish written language uses the Latin letters. But some letters are not found in English or are spelled differently. Turkish belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family and has some sort of affinity with hungarian language and finnish. The language spoken in Azarbeidjan is understandable by the people in Turkey. Turkish is widely spoken in different parts of the Asia.
Some Useful Words and Expressions:
Good Morning:Günaydın
Good Evening(s) :İyi akşamlar
Good Night : İyi geceler
How are you? : Nasılsın?
Thanks : Teşekkürler
Please : Lütfen
Welcome : Hoş geldiniz. The response is hoş bulduk
Bye bye : Allahaısmarladık, says the one who leaves
and güle güle, answers the one who stays
Excuse me : Affedersiniz or pardon
O.K.: : Tamam
Yes : Evet
No : Hayır
Coffee : Kahve
Tea : Çay
Here you are : Buyurun
Cheers : Şerefe
Food : Yemek
Water : Su
Is there? : Var mı?
The response woould be var(there is) or yok (there is no)
ATATÜRK ( THE FATHER OF THE TURKS)
Ataturk was born in Thessaloniki ( at that time the ottoman territory) in 1881. He studied at the military high school and military academy, served and joined the wars in such places as Trablus in Libia, Damascus in Syria and Gallipoli. In 1916 he bacame general at the age of 35. Until the end of the WW1 he was an officer of the Ottoman Army. By landing on the Black Sea town of Samsun, he started the national independence war. He organized congresses in Erzurum and Sivas as a first step to organize the war. He convened the Grand National Assembly on 23.April, 1920 ( 23.April is now celebrated as The Children’s day), abolished the sultanate in 1922 and declared the Turkish Republic on 29.October, 1923 ( 29.October is now celebrated as the Republic Day).
Big reforms were realized: introduction of the Latin alphabet, abolition of poligamy, Sunday made the official holiday, women’s suffrage, separation of state and mosque. All these would lead Turkey closer to the modern world.
Ataturk was buried in 1953 at his Mousaleum in Ankara, after his corps was maintained temporarily at the Ethnographical Museum in Ankara.
Mousaleum of Atatürk
His birth name was Mustafa; he was given the middle name Kemal by his teacher and in 1934 he was given the surname ATATÜRK, which means The Father of the Turks. He died at Dolmabahce Palace in İstanbul on 10 th November, 1938. Though he may be criticized for some of his actions, there is a wide spread agreement on that without his reforms, Turkey would not be much different from many of the islamic countries, developing countries and Middle Eastern countries..
He founded the Republican People’s Party (CHP)- still one of the most important actors of the turkish political system. Ataturkism based on his ideas is no doubt one of the main ideological pillars of the Turkish Republic.
THE AVERAGE TURK
Turks are generally speaking kind, helpful and honest people. Here there is a strong emphasis on forms of kindness. A couple of words in Turkish will often open the doors.One gives hand when one meets an other. This is a custom that the one who offers tea pays for it. Modesty and respect should be the natural attitude at a visit at a mosque(cami).
Turkish society is also under a comprehensive change and how an average turk will behave in the future is an open question. The tradition-based turkish society, through such processes as urbanization, westernization and globalization, has been going through a process of alienation and becoming more materialistic. The traditions binding the society together are on the way to die out. I think that the Turkish society is becoming a cold society.
Perhaps because it is a Mediterranean society, under the influence of a warmer climate and lack of organizational traditions, Turks resemble more the Mediterranean societies than the North European and North American societies. “Alla maniana” ( To tomorrow) is a latent life philosophy. Turks are not as much loyal to appointment times as the Westerners: To come with a delay of a quarter or half an hour may be acceptable. I can observe everywhere ( political parties, associations etc.) the low degree of democracy and discussion culture. Leadership is desired or accepted by the people.
Appearance of Turks vary from dark skin and black eyes to blond hair and green/ blue eyes. Remember that Turks are ethnically heteregenous. For example, Turkey has received a considerable number of immigrants from Balkanic countries. Even some thousands of Turkish-origined people from Afganistan were settled.
BANKS
We have both publicly-owned ( Ziraat, Vakif, Halk, Is…) and private banks ( Yapi Kredi, Finansbank, Garanti…) . In the recent time the foreign shares of the banks have been increasing ( HSBC, Fortis…). The turkish banking system fell into a deep crisis with an estimated number of 40.000 people who lost their jobs after the big crisis in 2001. Now, there is a betterment visible in the banking sector.
Opening hours are usually Monday-Friday 09.00 -12.30 and 13.30- 17.00. Garanti Bank has halfday opening on Saturdays too. To exchange travel cheques you must show passport. You find ATMs everywhere. I would advise you deny kindly any offer of assistance by the people you do not before.
BARBER/ COIFFEUR
It is cheap to visit barber/coiffeur. Women can also try manicure and pedicure. Men are advised a shave at the local barber. At the old-fashioned barber shops for men run by the experienced barbers, they have two methods for taking away the hair from the face and the ears: The first method is to burn it with a lighter/ a piece of cotton with fire on it; the second method is to wrap a thin rope around one tooth and place the rope around the hair and take it away ( quite painful).
BEVERAGES
TURKISH TEA
Almost all the turks are fond of turkish tea. Turkish tea is a good start point for starting a conversation. Tea is harvested only in the Eastern Black Sea Region.
For making turkish tea, water in the lower teapot must be cooked ,while there is tea in the upper teapot. When the water is cooked, it is poured onto the tea in the upper teapot; and then one must wait for around 10 minutes before tea is ready for serving. You first put the tea cooked in the upper pot and the the water in the lower pot on it. The best is to taste turkish tea in a tea-glass.
APPLE TEA
Apple tea drinking is not usual among the turks. Apple tea is something which the tourists get served in shops or at the hotels.
TURKISH COFFEE
There is a turkish saying : “A cup of coffee is remembered for 40 years”. Nothing can compete with a cup of turkish coffee after a good meal. It can be ordered as sade ( without sugar ), az şekerli (with little sugar), orta şekerli (medium) and şekerli (with much sugar). A glass of water goes well with a cup of coffee.
BEER
The national drink is rakı, but the youth prefer beer. The most well-known brands are Efes (turkish), and Tuborg (produced on license from Denmark).
RAKI
Rakı, which is called lion milk by the people, is the national drink. Rakı drinking is not widespread among women. Rakı resembles in taste the greek “ouzo”. It is drunk as either “sek”(without water) or with water added onto it. The last-named method is advised. When you add water, the colour of water is changed to white. After the ending of Turkish Tekel company’s monopoly over rakı-production, with the new companies founded, new brands are now in the market: Anadolu, Çilingir.
WINE
Wine comes as the third in consumption after beer and rakı. The turkish brands are Doluca, Yakut, Kavaklıdere, Pamukkale, Sevilen and Kalecik Karası.
Formerly it was the Turkish state-owned company Tekel who had the monopoly of producing most of the alcoholic drinks. Tekel’s shares for alcoholic drinks were transferred to the american Texas Pacific Group ( TPG) for 900 million USD.
BLUE BEAD(Mavi Boncuk)
This has nothing to do with Islam but is a superstition. It is found in different sizes. Similiar beliefs exist in other Mediterranean countries. To keep evil away these fascinating blue glass eyes are placed on the clothing of newly born babies, at the entrance to the newly bought house and inside the newly bought car.The horseshoe has a similar function in other countries.
Blue bead ovens are very simply constructed by the clay. Amongst others in the villages of Kurudere in the district of Kemalpasa and Görece in the district of Menderes outside Izmir as well as outside the site of Artemis Temple of Sardis, you find blue bead ovens.
BUS TRANSPORT NETWORK, TRAIN AND FLIGHTS
Turkey has a well-developed bus transport network. Busses are the most common means of transport for passanger traffic between the cities. Because of the sharp competition, the bus-companies need to renew their busses every second-third year. This competition also makes the prices reasonable. Varan, Ulusoy and Boss are the well-known and leading bus-companies with higher prices. Varan has a “bistro” bus service operating between Ankara and İstanbul . In the first floor of Bistro-bus there is the cafeteria section and in the second floor the seats. Busses leave from the bus terminals in the cities and from the main square in villages and small places. Busses suffer from competition by the air companies. Sometimes they started campaigns as it was done once by Kamil Koc offering the rearest four seats for 1 YTL.
Trains are only a transport possibility if one wishes some nostalgic feelings. Turkish rail system needs to be renovated. The speed train projects are under implementation between İstanbul and Ankara and between Ankara and Konya. Turkish railways need to be rehabilitated.
Due to the liberalization in the air, the airfares have fallen down much, which made it possible for many to take the domestic flighs. After the end of the monopoly by Turkish Airlines, such private companies as Atlas Jet, Izair and Onur Air operate in the domestic market.
CLIMATE
Turkey has big variations in climate ranging from the snow dominating heavily in the eastern part to the very mild winters on the Aegean coast. Global warming has become an issue of concern in Turkey too. As of the end of March, 2007, we have had spring-like winter. Global warming has also had some effect on different things. For example, sale of boots and winter shoes has fallen down by 35%. Bursagaz- the company providing nature gas to the city of Bursa insured itself against the fall in consumption because of high temperatures.
CRIME
When one is in Turkey, one should not have a naive conception that everybody is reliable. One shall follow the advise, which is valid for all the big cities in the world. It can be claimed that the crime level in Turkey is lower than in many European countries; but with the influence of traditions decreasing, urbanisation and some causes, the crime rate is increasing. Especially old people and women are more frequently exposed to situations where their bags are taken away by the criminals.
The police organisation complains about the looser laws- a result of the Europeanization process with more rights given to the suspected.
“DOLMUŞ”
Dolmuş means full. “Dolmuş”es have either programmed departure times or they do not start from the departure place before they are filled up. To stop a dolmuş on the way one must wave. Dolmuş is a cheap means of transport in the big city traffic and between the small towns and villages. They have 10 to 18 seats.
I advise that you sit on the rearest seats . Because the passengers send the money to the driver through the the ones sitting in front , who also send the change back.
DRINKING WATER
Water from the tap is not a drinking water, which the European stomachs can tolerate, since it has a higher bacteria and chlore composition than in Europe.Water in bottle can be bought everywhere. Most of the turkish households ( if they can afford it) buy water in the bottle. Because of the global warming felt also in Turkey, the people and authorities are worried about the water shortages in the future.
EARTHQUAKE
Turkey is located on an earthquake belt. In 1939, the eartquake in Erzincan caused over 30.000 people to die. In 199l, at the big earthquake in the area South of İstanbul ( and partially in İstanbul), ca. 20.000 people lost their lives. After the earthquake in 1999, the authorities passed the new regulations requring stricter standards of construction. But, some buildings contructed before these new regulations may be exposed to big damages if a violent eartquake happens. Most İstanbulites are warned against a big earthquake in İstanbul in the near future.
According to the new regulations, there is an obligatory “earthquake insurance” for the buildings; but many neglect to or cannot afford to have it. The regulations require that for selling apartment/ house, this tax needs to have been paid. If this tax is paid, then one is eligible for indemnity by the authorieties.
ECONOMY
The turkish economy was a closed one, based on beeing as much self-sufficient as possible. Starting from the early-80s with the liberalization of the economy, the economy started to open itself up to the world. Export revenues, which were at a low level of only some hundred millions USD, have started to increase and it is estimated that in the near future it will reach a level of 100 billion USD.
Though some criticize the Turkish economy as stil state-dominated ( some, til recently, called it the last socialist economy) has gone through a very comprehensive transformation. Privatization has gained acceleration in the recent time. The share of the foreign capital has also increased. Through the good contacts with the sources of the Arabic capital, arabic investors have also started with investments. The stock market has an important share of foreigners.
Turkey has signed many stand-by agreements with International Monetary Fund. Domestic and foreign debt are stil a problem. Turkey has been exposed to deep crises-the last one in 2001. Since then Turkish economy has been in a rehabilitation period. Inflation which reached as high level as 100% in 90s, was brought down to ca. 10 %. The result has been some sort of recession. The ordinary people do not feel the consequenses of low inflation. Many complain about hidden inflation.
Black money and unregistered money are a big problem for the turkish economy. This causes a lower level of taxation than there should be.
Foreign currencies have been convertible since early 80s.
EDUCATION
From 1997 on, the obligatory schooling was increased from 5 to 8 years ( Basic school). High school was increased from three to four years. In addition to the public schools, which cost small amounts for parents, there are also private schools which offer higher standards of education and facilities. This is the same with the universities. To send a child to a private school / university may cost as much as 5.000 USD and more per year for tuition. Private universities offer scholarships for the students with high grades. The state-given scholarship is far away from beeing sufficient.
In the past, there were three languages which were taught at the basic and high schools : English, french and german. Now, priority is given to english. The pupils start with english at the 4th class of the basic school.
To enter into university has become more and more difficult in the last 10 years. Ca. one and a half million pupils strive to be admitted by the universities. It is usual for the high school pupils to get a supplementary education at the private courses for preparation for the university entrance exam at own cost.
There are american, french, german, austrian, italian high schools in Turkey. There are some universities having english, french and german as language of instruction. There are day and evening
( after 6-7 pm) programs at some universities. The students should pay a tuition fee varying according to what they study. The central authority coordinating the activity of the universities is called YÖK ( Higher Education Institution). There is some criticism against the existing laws and regulations regulating the universities in Turkey and the above-named YÖK for lack of autonomy. The senates of the universities choose three candidates as president and it is the President of Turkey who chooses one of these three as the president of the university. Though he generally chooses the one who got most of the votes, this practice is a subject of criticisim.
Generally a university education is 4 years, veterinary faculty 5 years, dentistry faculty 5 years and medical faculty 6 years.
The minorities as agreed upon by the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 and safeguarded by the turkish laws- Armenians, Greeks and Jews- have their basic schools and high schools in İstanbul. Jews had previously a 5 year-primary school in Izmir. The minority schools have a vice-director appointed by the Ministry of Education.
ELECTRICITY
Turkey has 220 Volt current as in Europe. I remember till 80s some parts of İstanbul had 110 Volt current. The electricity is installed at Dolmabahce Palace in İstanbul in 1912. In the 70s I remember that, because of electricity shortage, in the evenings we had to light candles.
EXCHANGING
Foreign Money can be exchanged at the hotels, banks and exchange offices. The hotels usually operate with lower exchange rate. The best place to exchange foreign currency is the “döviz bürosu”
( Exchange Office). ATMs are available everywhere. As of March, 2007 1 USD is equal to ca.1,4 YTL and 1 Euro equal to ca.1,85 YTL.
FOOD
Restaurants are available everywhere and they serve reasonable and delicious Turkish food and also international courses of all sorts. Some restaurants are open 24 hours. These restaurants are popular amongst those who have been out at night clubs and discoteques; they like to eat “işkembe-stomach soup” –good after taking in much alcohol.
A traditional turkish meal starts with “MEZE”. After eating these MEZEs, you can enjoy the traditional turkish main courses. After the main course, fruit or “Tatlı”( a very sweet turkish dessert in different sorts) is served.
Börek Pastry, filled with vegetables, cheese or meat. Available in many different
types.
Dolma Green pepper, grape leaves, tomatoes, onions or eggplant filled with rice and meat.
Döner Lambmeat or chicken, stacked on a large upright skewer and roasted.
Fish is expensive in Turkey. Fish is grilled or fried. Squids, shrimps and
lobsters are also on the menu. One pays in relation to weight and quality.
Meze Such cold dishes as tsaziki, filled pepper, bean salad etc.
Pide resembles pizza, available in various sorts, for example with vegetables,
cheese, egg or meat.
Şiş kebap Grilled cubes of skewered meat. Found in various sorts.
We have a dish with a strange name “woman-thigh” made of sliced meat and rice. “Iskembe corbasi” made of the stomach of the lamb or cow, is liked by many turks. The head section of the lamb with brain, tongue, eyes etc. is also eaten. “Kokorec” is made of the intestines of the lamb and tasty with spices.
Kokorec
FOREIGN POLICY
In the Turkish Liberation War, The Turkish government had a friendship agreement with the Bolshevic Regime; this seems to be a tactical alliance. Gradually, Turkey chose which side it was to ally itself with: The western world. Membership in NATO and European Union process. Turkey has a long history of European Union membership application. This process started in early 60s; in 2005, Turkey started negotiations with European Union. Turkey is considered to be too large a bite to swallow. There is also concern about Turkey as too large a country which shall have a considerable share in the European decision processes.
When Turkey started with negotiations, the opinion polls showed that ca. 70% of turks were in favour of European Union-membership. The support now is fluctuating, depending on the statements-negative and positive-about Turkey’s membership. Even within the same country, different attitudes are existing. For example, while the German social democrats are strong adherents of Turkey, the Christian democrats are reluctant to support.
What Turkey desires and sees as reasonable is the membership starting in around 2014.
Turkey has had a pro-Israel foreign policy. The new thesis is that The Turkish Sabbataians had a very important role in the foundation of the Turkish Republic and Turkey was founded as a reserve jewish state.
Turkish foreign policy has been concentrated much on the the Turkish-Greek relations with such conflict issues as Cyprus-problem and continental shelf.
Relations with Russia-previously called the Russian Bear, which Turks thought were aiming at reaching the warm waters, are getting better with over one million Russian tourists to Turkey, the Turkish constructors active in Russia and common strategical interests.
Turkey is certainly an important country strategically mainly because of its strategical location.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Turkey is a country in a democratization process. I can claim that Turkey, despite its crises and problems, is the most democratic country amongst the countries with a muslim majority. It has been member of NATO since early 50s. Turkey’s alliance has mainly been with the western world.
The Turkish Parliament consists of 550 Parliamentarians, who are according to the constitution elected for a period of 5 years; though an early election after 4 years is usual. There is a very low percentage of women in the Parliament as a reflection of the man-dominated turkish society. If a party wants to enter into the parliament, it needs to get at least 10 % of the votes, a measure taken by the constitution of 1982 to secure that there will not be too many parties in the Parliament and then not a coalition government. The independent candidates, however, can enter into the parliament from their constituencies by obtaining the required percentage of the votes.
Between 1961 and 1980, Turkey had the senate as the second chamber but this was abolished in 1980.
The President is elected for 7 years by the Turkish Parliament and has relatively symbolic powers . Therefore, we do not have a presidential system. The Prime Minister has in practice the main executive power.
There are many points of criticism against the political system of Turkey-amongst others the low representation of the women in the political life and the political parties with lack of internal democracy. So far we have had one female prime minister (Mrs.Ciller) and in the cabinets few female ministers.
Turkey has a centralized system with 80 provinces as the main administrative unit.
A Governor is the government- appointed head of a Province. The main critics against the centralized system is that sometimes even the small investments in the provinces are decided upon in the capital Ankara by the bureaucrats sitting in their offices far away from where the investments will be.
Decentralization of the country is represented by the elected organs and persons such as the provincial assembly, municipal assembly and the village committee, as well as the village chiefs and mayors.
The central system descends from the provinces ( with the centrally-appointed governors) to the districts
( with the centrally-appointed district governors) .
The National Security Council, where the military side composed of the chief of staff, commanders for land forces, marine force, air force and gendermarie ( military police) is practically speaking equally represented together with the government, has been an important actor in the system- one of the main criticisms by the European Union. Though now the secretary of this organ is a civilian, this is not conceived as satisfactory. The main argumentation is that not so much has changed and the National Security Council is stil the most influential organ in the system as the biggest obstruction to the democraticization of the country.
FORTUNE- TELLING BY COFFEE ( “KAHVE FALI”)
When the women come together, it is possible that one of them tells a fortune by inspecting the grounds remaining in the coffee cup. After one has drunk coffee, one turns the coffee cup on the coffee plate. The residues from the coffee cup flows down on the coffee plate. After waiting some time, the coffee cup is turned and what is left in the cup is interpreted. Whether what the fortune-teller tells is a sign of reality or a story is uncertain. We have a turkish saying “Do not believe in fortune-telling , do not either be without fortune-telling.”
FUNERAL
Since in the past, there were no such facilities as morgue, burial the same day was a custom, as can be understood, of practical reasons. In the villages, they usually continue with this tradition. In the urban areas, where there is the possibility to maintain the corpse in the morgue, in order to wait for close relatives residing in an other part of the country or abroad, the funeral may be delayed for some days. But as early as possible, this should happen.
The corpse is washed up by the imam at the mosque/ the municipal section for funerals and a white cloth is wrapped around it covering it totally. Then the corpse is placed in a wooden coffin. There is a funeral pray at the mosque. If there is short distance from the mosque to the graveyard, then the coffin is carried on the shoulders; if there is too long a distance, then it is transported to the graveyard. At the graveyard, the corpse is taken out of the coffin and it is placed in the grave-place with the face turned in the direction of Mecca and soil is placed on it. Cremation is not allowed by the laws at the moment.
I remember from the childhood that when a close relative died, ususally certain number of days
( 7 days…) , we did not watch TV due to respect for the deceased person. But such practices are about to be changed. In the first weeks after the death, the close relatives , friends and neighbours bring food to the house.
Sinan Tortum is the team leader of FELLOW GUIDES- a group of Turkish private tour guides with tour guide services in Izmir, Selcuk, Ephesus, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Cesme, Foca, Karaburun, Sigacik, Teos, Dikili, Pergamon, Ayvalik, Akcay, Pamukkale, Cappadocia ( Urgup, Goreme, Avanos), Antalya, Kemer, Side, Alanya, Bodrum, Marmaris, Didim and Urla in Turkey in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Polish.
We cooperate with the local agencies for tours in Izmir, Selcuk, Ephesus, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Cesme, Foca, Karaburun, Sigacik, Teos, Dikili, Pergamon, Ayvalik, Akcay, Pamukkale, Cappadocia ( Urgup, Goreme, Avanos), Antalya, Kemer, Side, Alanya, Bodrum, Marmaris, Didim and Urla. We offer private and group tours in Turkey.
Sinan Tortum is also team member of www.izmirtourism.com which is a modern, friendly and comprehensive website about Izmir ( Smyrna), Turkey.
Representative for Sun Dental Clinic in Balcova, Izmir, Turkey- Dental Treatment Services in Izmir Turkey