I hear most of Europe and U.S.A. people do not know Türkiye ( Turkey).

I hear they think Türkiye as an Arabic country in the Middle East.

Is it true?

If so, they are not interested in the World History and Geography.

However they are well-educated and cultured people usually.

Well you heard wrong then

Where exactly did you hear this?  I don´t know anyone personally who is not aware of the location of Turkey

I think you could be right about that! 

I once over heard a conversation between three women, one of which said she was going on holiday and the others said "don´t they sell women for camels"?  and also I have said to friends about going hiking in the mountains and they thought we would be kidnapped.  Yes I have also heard people say they think Turkey is full of Arabs!!!

But those people are not really interested in anything much apart from the next new car ..............

ohhhh my god . i´m sorry yilgun but this really made me laugh, do people actually think this is true ?

I don´t know many people who do not know the location of turkey it is pretty basic geography

Can´t speak for others, maybe that´s true. But, Yilgun, weren´t you the one that thought my country is the same as Holland? Does that mean you are not interested in World History as well (my country is famous for it´s rich history in trading in the 17/18th century, also notorious for slavery in Africa/Surinam - no ´e´ Libra!! - and more). What do you know about France, Sweden, Finland, The Civil War in the States and much more? Isn´t it a little short-sighted to call people ´not interested in World History´ just because they don´t know YOUR country well? Maybe these people do know a lot about Australia, Peru, South-East-Asia etc.

 EVERYONE knows there is "Cloggland" and "The Cloggerlands"

Thank you for your kind interests.

You are right.

But some friends who study in Europe, England and USA tell us so?

I have been unhappy for that.

 Exactly! Like everyone knows there are 4 parts in the UK: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and erm..... can´t find the other name right now.......

 Blingland

or is it EvilBritland?

the same boring annoying questions "is it true that westerners are fat and eat turkey for dinner?"

For example, I know and read World History and Geography very much.

History of England-Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, Spain, Italy, USA, India, Egypt,Canada, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Africa, Asia, etc. 

- how do you know that they dont sell women for camels?

- how do you know that they dont kidnap?

- so did you feel smarter than those women?

 la la lala blah blah blah

 The Channel Islands, Isle of Man are part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain but not of Great Britain 

 Actually...The Channel Islands are separate yes, but the Isle of Man is part of England

 The latter! How could I forget that?

I will argue for the "e" as it has an "e" in my atlas and in nearly every map you can find on the internet

World is divided into three section according to the World Bank datas=

1-Developed-industrialised countries= England, USA, France, Italy, Japan, China, Russia, Canada, etc

2-Fastly developing countries.

3-Underdeveloped countries.

 Well there are MANY ways you can section the world, this is ONE of them - economically.  I would not say China was particularlly "developed" but it has economic wealth.  You can also divide them climatically, by continent, by language, by religion......

 Still wrong. Suriname is the Dutch word and in that country most people speak Dutch up till now. If you use the local lingo for international names, can I call the UK here than also ´Verenigd Koninkrijk´?

 Turkey is a country?! You mean this is NOT a cooking website? I´ve wasted all this time!! 

arrgghh no! I will not comment on it

Aren´t you being a little hard on the poor chap? He only asked if people know of Turkey was....not if then knew the history. Perhaps his English is not that polished.

Actually if one is interested in history, Turkey is one of the more important areas to study as evidence of the oldest human habitations, temples and such are from there. Hmmm...let me see Göbekli Tepe,  Çatalhöyük,  Ephesus....and others....

Here is what he asked:

I hear most of Europe and U.S.A. people do not know Türkiye ( Turkey).
I hear they think Türkiye as an Arabic country in the Middle East.

Is it true?

If so, they are not interested in the World History and Geography.

 I hear a lot of Americans think Scotland is part of England!  

Mmmmm.... let me check what it is part of then..

 It´s the other way around isn´t it?

I can assure you, that is definitely true.

for the Americans; you are middle eastern, arab, islamic, terrorist

                                  you live in a desert, ride camel, marry four women

I can also assure you that not all of them are well educated or "cultured". the great majority of them are  ignorant and primitive minded. and that`s nothing unique to them. it`s the same in Turkey or anywhere else in the world.

Only four? What a disappointment....

.........sigh...so true....

By DuDu factor.......

 Lady in Red you be  taunting meee  now!!!

 It all comes together.  http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_36466

Yes I ran into that kind of people personally. I had received some business e-mails from USA that they thought we speak Arabic in Turkey and use Arabic alphabet when we were working on a customisation of a software package for Turkish language. I needed to let them know that that was not the case at all. They apologized but anyway there should be many likes of that kind of people in USA.

I live in US and am half Turkish. People ask me: if I am a Muslim, if I was "supposed to" marry a Turk, isn´t Turkey in the Middle East, am I proud of a heritage of "harems", why don´t I cover myself if I am Muslim, do I speak the same language as the people in Iraq,why did "Mohammed" marry a young girl and have so many wives, etc., etc., etc.  

But then some of them think I live on an island too! (I live in Alaska.)

what is wrong with these questions? at least you have a chance to share your knowledge about turkey, of course, if you yourself know much enough.

- are you then not a muslim? i suspect your father is a turk.

- well, most turkish women are supposed to marry turks or at least muslims ( the reason is understandable, but unacceptable to me)

- turkey is neighbouring with middle east. so is this a wrong question?

- are you not proud of harems? some turks are proud of them. they say that many non-turkish girls dreamed of getting in harems.

- if you are a muslim (this question makes it clear that you admitted that you are a muslim) why dont you cover yourself?

- it is possible that you could speak the languages of neighbouring countries. is this a wrong question?

- yes, why did mohammad marry a little girl? why? doesnt this question kill you? would you love to get married at age of 6?

- why did he marry so many wives? doesnt it sound to you weird?

i suppose you yourself cant answer most of the questions, then why complain about those who ask them?

btw, thanks to internet many people have an access to info that in the past would be located only in libraries or universities or simply were hidden. and the reason of them asking you such question makes it clear that they have read it somewhere in the internet before they asked you. and possibly they were rather trying to find a confirmation to their sources.

if i met you i would be asking almost the same questions although i know bits and pieces, but thats how i start a contact.

do turks know everything about other countries? im 100% sure if i conduct a similar survey in turkey i would get pretty the same result or even worse.

I have no idea why people from other countries should know Turkish history? It is not a world-power country, it´s just a nice holiday location with delicious cuisine. Of course I knew where Turkey was before I went there (geography at school taught me that) but the only thing I knew about its history was the history of Constantinople and the battle of Vienna. Also we had some basic info about the Ottoman Empire in primary school but I hardly remembered it. I had no idea who Ataturk was - why should I? I doubt Turks know Polish leaders (aprat from the international ones - Maria Sklodowaska-Curie, Copernicus or Lech Walesa).

and dobrowski, of course

yeap, whoever that was The only Wikipedia entry for Dobrowski goes:

Jody Dobrowski (27 July 1981 - October 14 2005) was a 24-year old assistant bar manager who was murdered on Clapham Common in south London. On October 14, at around midnight, he was beaten to death with punches and kicks by two men who perceived him to be gay. Tests carried out at St. George´s Hospital in Tooting, South London revealed Dobrowski had a swollen brain, broken nose and extensive bruising to his neck, spine and groin. His family were unable to identify him due to his face being so badly disfigured and he had to be identified by fingerprints.

Turkey IS in the Middle East (sorry for the link, I couldn´t copy the map).

i think this is a big faux pas now

here´s another one:

Roman Dąbrowski

Wow, I didn´t know that, cheers Si++ Apparently that guy comes from my region of Poland

(we´ve got some more famous Dąbrowskis - but Tami used another surname- Dobrawski )

common ancestry maybe? it seems like dobrowskis reproduce at an immense rate.

shhhhhh tami knows it best. he knows everything about everything because he is a turk

what is dobrawski for him when he has a huge support of knowledge from his "all-knowing" aunt alameda

I`m glad you saw the light at last.

btw, are you now back in middle east? you must have been indulging yourself with turkish cuisine after torturing all mcdonald chickens.

yeah and I`m enjoying a camel ride!

nope unfortunately. Were he my uncle I´d be spending all holidays in Turkey

awwwwww

how romantic!

How come he is still a student - he already knows everything ...

Perhaps it is like that teenage syndrome - they always think they are right too

 I hate to be the one to tell you this yilgun.....but ignorant people are everywhere....not just in Europe and the US.  Perhaps there are some learking in the dark corners of your country!

stop insulting!

With or without your four women?

wives walk in front of a camel

you should know it by now

 Sorry, being an uneducated European I didn´t have this knowledge...

well, you still have that chance to enlighten yourself. first of all we need of course, links.

 Ignorance is no excuse....now you will have to walk behind the camel...and you know what that means!

 Walking in front of the camel is not much better than behind......camels spit you know! 

 No? Tell me.... I´m all ears.....

look, how ignorant you are!

when they spit on you it prevents your skin from drying off. it works as a sun protection cream.

Camels are what is called ´retromingent´ which means they urinate backwards!  So take your pick from spit or urine!!  (Maybe better to walk beside them )

you are predictably knowledgable today

I suppose I needed to express the tone of my post. I guess that is what we have the emotion faces for, right?    

I was not complaining about people’s questions. I’m glad for questions and even for controversy. My intention was to show that the same group of people that ask me legitimate questions about Turkey ( a country they have had little exposure to ) ask me surprising questions about Alaska ( a state in the country they live in). The point being that some people are interested in various facts about geography and ethnography - and some are not. 

Femmous, I believe you are the best at caustic wit on this site. If you want to offer classes, I’m ready to sign up! 

lalalala tra lalala

nay, dont believe this.

but im letting you go this time

cynic is good at teaching humour and whatever. he knows it all. call alameda to sign up for his priceless courses, she also organises the courses of good manners and politness conducted also by cynic the professor. he´s got already lots of lady students in his weekly sessions. so hurry up.

alameda can advise you on how to file complaints and when how to sue effectively.

Good luck!