To my mind, Turkish is a very interesting language to learn and its culture is really fascinating. Even though my country Bosnia and Herzegovina shares some common characteristics with Turkey, there are still various aspects in which these two countries differ.
As I already wrote a little bit about nonverbal communication in my previous journal entry, here I will write more broadly about body language in Turkey.
There are several nonverbal communications that are very common in Turkey. For example, when Turkish people want to say "no", they do not necessarily need to say no, but they use body language instead. They click their tongue and accompany this gesture by a quick upwards tilt of the head and raise their eyebrows. This is a very common gesture among Turkish people. I have seen it so many times when I was in Turkey, so at that time I asked my friend the meaning of such gesture, which she explained to me.
Turks may also express their confusion by using body language. For example, when they are confused they shake their head. This means that they are confused.
What I also found interesting is that it is very common to see two man walking with their arms around each other, and sometimes even holding their hands. This gesture does not indicate anything about their sexuality, but implies that they are close friends.
I also found it interesting that it is normal in Turkish culture to stare at someone. This might be particularly awkward or even scary for foreigners in whose cultures it is rude to stare. However, when I was in Turkey, I did not notice that many people stare at each other. This might be a stereotype.
When your palm is up, and you bring your fingers towards thumb it means that something is good, for example food, new item or even that a woman is attractive.
When it comes to kissing, it is very common to kiss one another on cheeks, regardless of whether it is man to man, woman to woman or man to woman. Kissing implies that they are close friends. For example, close friends kiss each other on cheeks when they meet. If, however, two people are not very close, they might only shake their hands. Man's handshake with a woman is usually very soft. Also, if somebody is very religious then, there would be no hand shaking or kissing. Also, younger people kiss hands of older people to show respect.
Gestures that should be avoided because they are considered rude include:
- OK hand gesture (which means that you are accusing someone of being a homosexual)
- blowing your nose loudly is considered very rude in Turkish culture
- pointing your finger at someone
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