Agva is quite close to  downtown Istanbul. I never stayed in a hotel there but I´ve heard, hotels there tend to be a bit pricey though I don´t know exactly what the rates are.

Secondly, the Black Sea can be very rough. It is not the safest sea to swim in. Unless, you are very good at swimming or unless you are taking a sea bath at one of those calm coves there, it may prove very dangerous. Be especially careful of your children. When the sea is rough, the large waves hitting the shore cause whirlpools sucking the sand underneath and causing you to find yourself in the middle of the sea fighting with the waves. This phenemenon is caused by the unique angle of the seabed.

Again this does not apply to well protected coves in the Agva region.

 It is unlikely. Teþekkür itself is a loan word from Arabic. Its root is shukr which is also used in Turkish as þükür.

Basically, there are two channels through which the two languages influenced each other.

1. A possible common protolanguage in the distant past. It is not easy to prove this. There are many common misconceptions about history beyond 1000 years in the past. For example,  Turks had long settled in Anatolia erecting monuments, building towns of various sizes before 1071 which is widely regarded as the date Turks entered Anatolia. New archeological finds demonstrated how limited our knowledge about past events is.

2. Hungary becoming a part of the Ottoman Empire.  As far as I know, the main importance of Hungary and Poland for the Ottoman rulers was gaining allies against Austrians and the big powers of the day supporting it. I guess the influence of the Ottoman culture must therefore be quite limited compared to that in the Balkans.

Consequently, we are looking into a few remnants of the long past today. 

Istanbul: The big apple of Turkey. Many Turks consider Istanbul as the most beautiful city in the world. The city is quite enermous in size extending about 40 kms on the Asian side thus merging with the town of Gebze originally in the provincial borders of Kocaeli and more 60 kilometer on the European side and is probably beginning to stretch into the borders of Silivri about 67 kilometers from the town center. It has a population of nearly 13 million (as of 2007). Most of this population came to the city during the migration frenzy that took  place roughly between 50´s and 90´s. This effectively inflated the city´s population and placed high demands on the infrastructure designed for much fewer people. Today many of the city´s problems can be linked to this rapid urbanization period (which is still continueing) that has spoiled the natural environment of the city. Istanbul is very beautiful today but most say (including foreign observers), it was a dream city only a century ago.

If you like sightseeing you will never have a chance to get bored in Istanbul because it takes ages to see all the places worth seeing. Topkapi and Dolmabahce palaces, Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque as well as Istanbul Archeological Museum must not be missed.

Ankara: Very cold in the winter, hot and dry in the summer. Isolated from the sea by mountains surrounding the city. It has little to offer in terms of natural beauty. Before the establishment of the Republic Ankara was a small town. It has become a big city mostly populated by bureaucrats and civil servants who prefer to live in a tidy and orderly city. Ankara may sometimes surprize you with its dynamic young population, social activities and theaters some of which are very good indeed. There is a rivalry between the new generations of both cities.  Although most of them admit, Istanbul is the nicer city, they criticize its chaotic life and the notorious traffic. 

Ýzmir: Ýzmir is a city on the Aegean coast. It has a large port and a dynamic economic life. In some regards, Izmir is the Seattle of Turkey- broad minded people, a rich social life, a healthy cuisine and a nice city. Izmir is very hot in the summer but luckily all the top holiday centers are just a quick drive away. If you like history, this town is your heaven. There are excellent museums in the region.  

Bursa: Ottoman baths, Uludag (Mt. Olympus historically), winter sports, textile, industry... Bursa has recently become one of the fastest developing cities in the country. There are many mosques to be seen the most notable one being Ulucami. You should also visit the Green Tomb which iss famous for its tiles.

Bursa is located on the Western end of the Silver Road. It has a vivid business life and lots of shopping centers. After seeing the city, you should take the cable car to Mt. Uludag.

Adana: Adana was the fourth largest city in Turkey until recently. It shrunk but gave out its population to other big cities like Istanbul. That is why there is a Adana culture everywhere. TV´s are full of shows featuring the imaginary lives of feudal but rich families of Adana.

Adana is also home for many of the kebab varieties and therefore the biggest influence on the eating habits of entire Turkey with Adana kebab always in high demand. It is therefore quite difficult to find a decent restaurant offering vegetable dishes in Istanbul.

Those above just five largest cities in Turkey. There are many others some of which are a lot more interesting some of the cities on the list.  

 In the Ottoman times Poles were called Lehler (Lehs) and the country Lehistan. Today we call them Polonyali and the country Polonya.

I have a good and working relationship with my father who happens to be a lot more patriotic than I am. He also speaks English and I have never ever heard him say "Turkia" when he refers to our country in English. Maybe you will want to say: like the son, like the father but don´t worry;  it is not like I have very high expectations of you anyway.

Well I think I cannot quite pronounce  "Magyarország". Thinking of all the worlds languages some of which have some very exotic vowels and some no wovels at all, it will be the best to continue call them with names registered in our language. Nevertheless, we call you Macar (pronounced Muh-jar) and I feel it is close enough to the native version. The most common association would be with "Macar salamý"

meaning Hungarian salamy. It happens to be one of my favourites. I´ve always heard of Gulas but never had a chance to taste it. Many Turks believe Hungarians and Turks are distant relatives (not taking into account the mix up with other Europeans that occured at a later time).   What do you think?

Let me start with a clarification: There is no country on the face of Earth known as Turkia. It just wrongly exists in some prescriptive minds. The name of our country is Turkey. If an Indian

person asked me to call their country Hindustan on account that Hindistan may also mean   "country of  turkeys", I would just laugh at him and draw his attention to the existence of homonyms in many languages. Please don´t ever wrongfully pick up these make-believe words.

As for the matter at hand, it takes a personality of a certain kind for such an incident to repeat. There are good guys and bad guys everywhere. I understand a divorce would prove much more catastrophic if the spouses prefer to live in their own coutries. Usually, either party considers the child to be  only in their own possession disregarding the rights of the other spouse. Unless, you are willing to find a comprimise, it doesn´t matter where you are.

If I had a child in Hungary who is supposed to live there, I would either also live or frequently fly there.

 Maybe news of foreign men marrying Turkish women can´t make it to your region. Incidentally, I have four  friends who are married to foreign men, one with a German, another with an American and the other two with  British guys. I can say with much confidence that all of those marriages are quite happy ones. The one in Germany is getting a bit bored of the small German town (bride), the American guy happens to be one of my best buddies and he enjoys life in Istanbul. He knows certain parts of Istanbul better than me having lived here more than ten years.

In all relationships there is a potential for being fooled or making a wrong choice. As long as you believe that you have made the right choice, all the rest will clear up by itself in the course of time. The culture shock is only temporary, after a couple of years, what should be left behind for two of you is the world that you set up together with your spouse. It is difficult to find a soul mate but it may unfortunately be at least possible to lose him/her through lack of tolerance or mistakes or other kinds.

I agree but only for a few minutes (still enough time for a few pictures). 

Who can wear it for more than a couple of minutes on a sunny day?