Turkey

Recycling in Turkey

When PocketCultures contributor Nargiza was in Istanbul airport recently, she snapped this photo of separated bins for recycling waste.

Sights like this are quite new in Turkey. But in comparison to other European countries Turkey recycles many more things in an ‘informal’ manner.

In Turkey, if something can be re-used, chances are it will be: the eskici passes in front of my house at least once per week to collect unwanted furniture, broken electronic goods and anything else that isn’t needed any more; another man patiently combs through rubbish bins to salvage empty plastic bottles; a neighbour takes away all my empty glass jars to fill with home-made pickles and sauces.

The overall volume of rubbish that actually gets sent to landfills is much lower than in many other countries in which I’ve lived.

The eskici passes regularly to collect unwanted goods

Official figures confirm this observation. In 2008 (the latest year for which measurements are available) Turkey produced 428kg municipal waste per inhabitant per year, which is lower than every country in the EU-15.

For comparison, Sweden produced 515kg per capita, UK produced 565kg per capita, and Spain produced 575kg per capita. The ‘winner’ is Denmark, which produced 802kg of waste per person. (Source: European Environment Agency)

Maybe the most interesting answer is one I received from the local council in the town where I live.

According to them, the local government does not need an official recycling programme. Instead private companies compete for permission to collect waste for recycling, because it is so profitable.

 

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Turkey: a view from the East

We often talk about Turkey as a bridge between East and West, but many times the comparisons are looking from the West. Today have a chance to see Turkey from another perspective, thanks to Ahmad Reshad Noori, a student from Afghanistan.

Reshad was part of a group of Afghan students studying Turkish in the same school when I first arrived in Turkey. These smart, enthusiastic and lively students put me to shame with their ability to learn Turkish at lightening speed! Four years later, Reshad has just graduated from a civil and environmental engineering degree at the University of Cukurova, Adana (Turkey) and is now studying for a Master’s degree. In this interview he talks about his impressions of Turkey, the rapid changes in today’s Afghanistan and his dreams for the future.

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Always evolving: some languages of the world and where they come from

This month’s collaborative post was inspired by a conversation between some of our contributors about languages and how much they ‘borrow’ words from one another. Malay has words from English, Turkish has words from French, English has words from Hindi, Spanish has words from Arabic. Not to mention the massive way in which European languages have influenced each other.

So here’s a look at the history and foreign influences of some of the languages spoken by PocketCultures contributors around the world.

It’s a long article, so if you’re interested in a particular country use these links: India, UK, France, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Argentina, Costa Rica, Portugal, Malaysia.

India: Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi and many more!

Languages in India are as varied and complex as the country itself. The 2001 census estimated that there were 29 languages spoken by more than a million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000!

We have 22 ‘official’ regional languages spoken across the country, but no ‘national language’. Hindi is often mistakenly referred to as the ‘national language’, but the constitution lists it as our ‘principal official language’. Where does Hindi come from? Well, it’s a language which evolved from a dialect spoken in northern India during the Mughal period, was influenced by Persian, and is closest to Urdu – the language today identified with Islam!

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Picture Postcards: Turkish lunch

A Turkish lunch of pideli köfte – meatballs (these ones were lightly flavoured with cumin) on cubes of pide bread. Accompanied by a drink rarely seen outside Turkey, Uludağ gazoz.

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Cultural expertise quiz will be back soon

In last week’s quiz we asked how to greet older relatives in Turkey.

The answer is: true. Sinan wrote:

“It is a Turkish tradition and is also applicable to any elderly person of either sex.”

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How do Turkish people greet older relatives?

This week’s cultural expertise quiz question comes from Sinan, our contributor in Turkey.

You’re a young Turk and you visit your grandfather. When you first see him you bow toward him, hold his hand lightly with his palm facing downward, kiss it and then touch your forehead on his hand as a sign of respect.

True or false?

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