OK, The kilim story reminds me of one of favorite memories in Istanbul, an incident when I first moved here almost 5 years ago.

I wasn't shopping for them, but I was just looking through carpet shops in Sultan Ahmet, which is without a doubt, the worst place to ever by a carpet (cok pahalı.
One shop, when I told the vendor I left my credit cards at work, 2 hours away in sakarya, he offered to drive me there with the carpet. That should tell you something about the markup.
But at another place, we walked into a fairly nice store a little down the hill, right on the metro line. I'm looking at some nice carpets and was asking about a particular pattern but with more green. The guy told me to follow him. We went to the far side of the store and honestly, behind some hanging carpets, they had what I can only call a secret elevator. As soon as we got to the top level, they had tea, water and sweets waiting for us. They were all dressed in dark suits and had radio ear pieces. They looked like the secret police. Within minutes, thy had about 10 green carpets layed out for us. At this point, I'm not think carpets, I'm thinking escape. Without trying to look uncomfortable, I was literally looking for the escape route. I saw no stairs, and we are there with nearly ten of these guys, two in front of the elevator. Talk about your hard sell...
Anyway, after about fifteen minutes of looking at the carpets and plotting my thoughts in my tea, I finally thought of a plan. You are saying "Keith, you could have just asked to leave", but trust me, my instincts were completely correct and they were not going to let us out without a credit card transaction (Russian Mafia, i dont know). I told them that my hotel was down the street and I had some pictures of my house in some photos there that I wanted to match color. I told them we would go get the photos and bring them back. They said they would send someone to go get them for us, immediately wanting the hotel name so they could call and arrange with the hotel. I told them this wasn't necessary, that we could go get it ourselves. The whole time this negotiation was going on, several of the senior "managers" there were whispering to each other about the situation and talking to people downstairs on their radios. Finally, I agreed that they were free to escort us to the hotel (which of course I wasnt staying at). The two suited guys that walked with us to the hotel, came into the lobby also, not even willing to wait outside. Me and my GF at the time (turkish mind you) took the elevator up a few floors and immediately "escaped" down a set of back stairs and out the back door. I didnt ever feel in danger, but didnt want any more confrontation either. My curiosity wouldnt let me just leave either. The girl and I looped around back to the front of the hotel acrossed the street and went into the second floor of a coffee shop by the window so we could see the hotel front. Within minutes, the guys came out of the hotel and were talking on the radios. Within literally two minutes, three more guys from the carpet place "the older ones" were in front of the hotel and they were obviously discussing the situation. One of the guys that just came went into the hotel alone. I assume he went into talk to the hotel frontdesk people to inquire about us. After about 5 minutes he came out. The 5 of them argued in front of the hotel for about a minute and then headed back to their carpet place.
Again, rather than ever being scared or angry, I enjoyed the game and we laughed about it the rest of the day. It was so unreal!!!
About one week later, I was alone and found myself in Sultan Ahmet again. I couldnt help myself. I walked passed the carpet shop very slowly, slow enough to be seen. I made eye contact with several of the guys from the week before. I couldnt help it but i got a big smile on my face. To this day, I still go by the carpet place whenever I'm over there, which is only when I get hungry for SultanAhemt kofte (the original, not the fake). And still, there are several of the same guys there and when they see me coming by, they laugh too...
I honestly could write a book on all the great and hilarious experiences I have had since I've been here.