If you are looking for a day outing, Tekirdağ province has some places of interest to visit. Tekirdağ is the provincial capital of the province, and in the nearby area you can find ruins around Çerkezköy, Çorlu, Hayrabolu, M.Ereğli, Malkara, Muratlı, Saray and Şarköy.In Marmara Ereğlisi, which is also known as M.Ereğli, you can visit the Perinthos-Herakleia city ruins. As we drove slowly through the town and stopped here and there to see a few ruins, I got the impression not too many foreign tourists visit here as we seemed to stand out. The residents seemed friendly to visitors, though.
Probably during the winter months before the influx of local tourists in the summer, everybody basically knows everyone. It seemed that way as we drove through the narrow back streets and even along the main road.
The town has a nice little antique harbor, a cemetery and vaults and some ruins of the city walls. On the hilltop is supposed to be the acropolis, but we did not actually see it. We were too fascinated with the small-town life -- the shops, the people in the gardens and on the street. It seemed a neighborly place.
If you stop and think about the population of the entire province, which is only about 500,000 (1990 census), M. Ereğlisi has only about 25,000 people according to the population sign posted on the road as you drive into town. Other places, in size, are insignificant.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in such a small place? Would they be accepting of outsiders?
An Australian told me about an elderly American woman who chose to move to a small town in southern Turkey. She lived on her own in an apartment building. Because she was a friendly old lady a young man took advantage of this and followed her home one day and attacked her before she could enter her apartment.
Often Westerners choosing to live in Turkey are not understood by the local people. People can be suspicious of your motives for being here. When the police came to investigate the attack they told the woman’s friend who had reported the attack that this women had brought shame on their community and in the building as he now would have to interrogate every neighbor to solve the crime. It was as though the policeman was suggesting that because this woman lived alone she caused the problem.
Turkey has always had a reputation of being a friendly and hospitable place to visitors. Is this changing?
Do you know your neighbors?
How well do you know them?
How important is it to know who lives near you?
Turkey is still considered a friendly and hospitable place; however, if you have been continually visiting Turkey over the years you may think it is changing.
Talking with a few young professional Turkish friends about this, they all said that things are changing here, and knowing your neighbor is not like it used to be. They pointed out that in the past if someone was in trouble in a public place, you would stop and help, but these days you think twice about getting involved or offering a hand of assistance.
In nicer neighborhoods, newly built houses and satellite towns have fences two meters tall. They are built to deliberately separate you from your neighbors and the outside world.
The practice of being a “good” neighbor in the West has been changing for the past decade or so. For whatever reason, being antisocial is a new trend.
In most places you can still find some older people who are likely to chat with their neighbors and trust them to look after deliveries in their absence, but it is not as common as it used to be.
What is your experience in Turkey? Can you chat with your neighbors and trust them to look after any deliveries in your absence?
If not, why? Does it have to do with our lives becoming too busy? Are we becoming more and more suspicious and afraid of others?
What do you think?
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
