Trudy, there is not a simple answer to your question(s). We should start by remembering that there is not just one type of person. If elaborate on this, we could conculde there is not just one type of society either.

What makes this world a colorful place to live in is the fact that there are indeed myriad of colors some of which don´t appeal to us and some just the other way around.

There is a certain mistake which is quite easy to make: trying to find the ultimate answer to the question although it surely does not exist. We must understand that there are people in this world who willingly have chosen to believe in either God or Allah no matter how irrational this may seem to be. Just like we mustn´t criticize those who feel they are a part of the nude camp community we musn´t criticize those who are more religious than us.

As long as we can let everyone share their lives freely, there is nothing to be afraid of. I therefore have no problems with Buddhists, Muslims, Pagans or you name who as long as they do not decide on the limits of my own freedom.

As far as I know, one out of every 20 persons has a predisposition to developing lung cancer. These people need not become smokers; even being exposed to the faint smell of tobacco over prolonged periods  significantly increases the risk for them. 

 Dutch treat, probably.

Aren´t we supposed to be free to criticize religions and belief systems?

These jackals are everywhere. I have been attacked by knife 4 times in the last 25 years. The whole thing develops so fast, the cops are of no help. They just take the aggressor in custody and ask if you are planning to sue. Last time it happened I looked at the face of the 17 year old boy and said to myself forget about it. I don´t know if it was the right decision whether I let him kill the next person or just gave him a good lesson...

Rest in peace Gregor you´ve lost your life  so young, so unexpectedly...

Many of Hodja´s jokes are about the daily life in the 15th century Akþehir a town in central Anatolia. In Hodja´s time, Anatolia was under the invasion of the Timurid Empire led by Tamerlane (The Limpy)  who was of  Turko-Mongolian ancestry. Tamerlane is recognized as one of the mightiest emperors in history. He put an end to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire capturing Sultan Yildirim Bayezid who had himself been at the height of his achievements. As a result of Tamerlane´s invasion of Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire would go through a period marked by the lack of central authority that gave way to the formation of landlords each controlling a part of the Anatolian territory.

Tamerlane had many elephants in his army. Since elephants consume big amounts of food, they were a big liability for the army. He had ordered the animals to be distributed to villages and towns to be fed by the locals. One of the elephants had been sent to Hodja´s village. The appetite of the animal appalled the villagers who could barely feed themselves.  When the problem became intolerable, they gathered together to see Hodja asking them to find a solution to the problem.

- Hodja, you know about the problems we are having with this elephant. It is eating up all our harvest.

- Sure I do.

- You are the most educated person in the village who surely knows how to speak eloquently. You can tell Tamerlane about our big complaint and ask him to take away this damn elephant.

-Sure I can but you should come with me too. Don´t expect me to confront him on my own. When he asks whether you really want it to be taken away, you must be there to back me.

Everyone agrees, so they hit the road. On the way to Tamerlane´s palace Hodja turns back and sees that most of the volunteers had departed in fear of their lives. The more they go, the more of them leave and since the word of their visit had gone to Tamerlane there would be no cancelling. In the end, an angry Hodja enters the palace of Temurlane alone. Tamerlane asks:

- Hodja, you´ve come to see me about the elephant. Is there a problem? Is the animal sick or dead? You know this would no go unpunished.

"On the contrary sire!" says Hodja. In fact, we feel so honored by this gift of yours that  I have just come to ask for another one. 

There are five conditions at the fulfillment of which one is considered a Muslim. They are called the five pillars of Islam: 

1-) Shadat 

Esh´hadu anla ilahe ill´Allah, Wa esh´adhu an´na Mohammed´en abduhu wa Rasuluhu.

 I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, I bear witness that Mohammed is his slave and messenger.
This is the prerequisite of all other conditions. You start by uttering this sentence which is called Kelime-i Shadat.

2-) Prayer

 You must pray five times a day.

3-) Zekat

If you are wealthy enough to feed your family and if you have surplus after having spent for your basic needs, you must grant 1/40 of all your wealth to poor people.

4-) Fasting

You must fast during the month of Ramadan if you are in good health.

5-) Haj (Pilgrimage)

If you are wealthy enough to feed your family and if you have surplus after having spent for your basic needs, you must travel to Makkah for pilgrimage.

When you fulfill these conditions you are a Muslim. It doesn´t matter if you are in hijab or a strip tease dancer.  There are references indicating that only God knows who is a better believer.  When you read the first sentence, you will note that Mohammad is clearly introduced as both the messenger and a slave of God.  There is a clearly no clergy in Islam according to the book. Nevertheless, with all those hodjas, mullahs and princes around, we can´t say this applies to the practice of Islam.

Good. It is indeed difficult to talk without making generalizations...

 It is of course your own experience but that experience does not comply with my own. I took the liberty of placing myself as someone who has a more intimate knowledge about Turkish people. I am aware of the conservative attitude of some girls but again there are tons of others who are not like that. I sometimes consider myself a lot more conservative than a typical teenage girl. I see with much surprize that many of the taboos of yesterday have long been left behind by new generation. Maybe I shouldn´t have used the word prejudice. I am not trying to bash anyone.

Well, Delikizin, I am 42 years old. We can´t be belonging to the same age group can we? Can you be considered in the same generation with your father or uncle?

Furthermore big cities are full of people coming from small towns. It is quite difficult to understand the complexities of big cities like Istanbul or Izmir. If  you (literal) draw a conclusion based on your limited personal experience, you may be astounded at learning about the presence of other groups of people with totally different lives.

I apoligize if I hurt you in anyway. I did not mean to...

Turkey is not officially calling Kurds as mountain Turks anymore. This was a political mistake that is left behind inthe 80´s and 90´s.  Even then this notion was advocated what we can call as ultranationalist groups based on the present conjecture. True, many restrictions existed in the past that made it impossible for the Kurds in the country to express themselves.  It is usually not easy to have a correct judgement about these kinds of matters. On one hand we have a community of tens of millions of people a considerable portion of which is either directly or indirectly involved in an armed conflict.  I remember very well that back in the 80´s that these people were putting up a mutiny as a protest for the torture at the hands of law enforcers and soldiers. They were  calling for greater freedom and recognition of the Kurdish identity.  Turkey though extremely slowly has addressed a great number of these problems many of which were stemming from the  mindset of the people in charge. The terrorist organization has also hampered efforts to develop the region economically which would upon its realization would automatically solve some of the profound problems in South East Turkey.  Today, they are pointing their fingers at the hatred that has accumulated over the years within society. The armed conflict has converted the ordinary Turk into a Kurd hater and vice versa. In cities like Izmir, businessmen don´t hire Kurdish people. On the Internet,  there are flame wars everywhere with Kurds calling Turks names and again vice versa. Kurds readily associate with anyone (eg Armenian and Greek extremists) hating Turkey or Turks.  This is no longer a war for justice. They just want a part of a sovereign country.