- by Melih Cilga -
In the 90-year history of the modern Turkish Republic, Turkey has acquired a wide range of Western values and practices. However, it is worth mentioning that 99% of the population is Muslim and that religion has still a fundamental influence on all facets of life. Physical bridge between the European and the Asian continent, its culture is extremely diverse and varies according to the region and the ethnic background of its inhabitants. In the larger towns and cosmopolitan coastal cities of Turkey the culture is rather secular and similar to Europe in many ways whilst in the rest of the country the cultural traits remain fairly similar to that of the small towns of neighbouring Middle Eastern countries. As a matter of fact, the culture of Turkish people living in rural areas and especially in the east is a lot more traditional. People mainly belong to the farming classes and religion plays a greater part in their culture. The conservative aspects of Turkish culture reveal in the clothes, housing and lifestyle of rural people.
Family values play a big part in the culture of Turkey as a whole. The traditional extended family consists of 3 generations living together, however this is becoming rarer in the cities where families live in similar arrangements to Western nuclear families. Turkish culture dictates that families should work together and all members should contribute somehow to the family. For instance, the father will often be the breadwinner, while the mother stays at home and looks after the children. This can actually explain the low female participation in the workforce. In fact, against all expectations, the percentage of Turkish women in the workforce has dropped from 34.1% in 1990 to 21.6% in 2010.
