This could become quite the historical argument but the Osmans kept the Aremenians, Kurds and Arabs under rule by force. To suggest that these groups coexisted with each other (much less with turks) at any point in history without authoritarian control would not be correct.

10% is outrageous too....

I transfer money from US Banks to Turkish banks all the time. I've never have had a problem and never have known anyone to have a problem. The problem with Western Union is they charge a percentage of the amount sent. Bank to bank is cheaper. It takes one to two business days.
I use Yapi Kredi which was just bought by Koç Bank. Garanti is also a good bank.

You women are very scarey...

I know this will attract criticism but large cities are no place for dogs (in general).
There is so little green to begin with so where are these animals supposed to go and excercise?
For every 10 "good owners" who clean after their dogs, there is always the bad owner that leaves the animals crap wherever it happens to go. In winter, its bad enough walking up and down the hills in snow without having to worry about these "gifts" left behind by stupid pet owners.
And these animals bark when the owner works. So the people in the building are left to deal with barking animals while again, the stupid owner is out for the day.

(How many friends have I lost today?)

Is it possible to copy someones picture off of msn messenger? I just tried and could not find the function.

In some neighborhoods, the dogs are really bad. I know many women that are afraid to walk at night because of these dog packs. Especially after dark, its not uncommon for these dogs to follow people and bark. I have never heard of anyone actually being bitten. In Fulya where I live, we have a couple of different groups of dogs. And the same dogs have been here for years. I dont know why the government lets them stay in the city. It would be easy to catch them and move them outside the city. Even stranger is that there has been the same dog that sleeps in front of the Marmara Hotel in Taksim for years. Welcome to our modern city!!!

Didnt we just have this post? There are good roads but it is slower because of the mountains. Also, lots of trucks and buses clog up the road.

http://www.adiyamanli.org/MapofTurkey/turk_map.htm

This link is as good of road map as you will find on line.