Family is an essential part of the Turkish culture. Turkish people usually spend a lot of time together. Even if they are busy with their work, they will always find some time during the day to spend with their family. Turkey is a collectivism culture, not individualistic. Family is valued, relationship between family members is highly important and spending time with each other is one of the crucial aspects of this culture. When I was in Turkey, I stayed at my friend's house and I can say that they spend a lot of time together. Even though her parents are working, and the children go to school, they still meet at least during the evenings and especially for dinner and spend some time together. Very often they would attend events together, or go to the theater/cinema together! Especially during weekends, they would spend a lot of time together. And this is not only one case that I have experienced, almost all of the Turkish people that I know are so connected to their families. For example, my former Turkish roommate would spend several hours a day skyping with her family. I asked my Turkish friends how important their families are to them and they all said that their families are one of the most important things in their lives. When I asked why, one of them answered that family is the only unit that will always want the best for you. For them, family is someone who they can trust completely.
According to my research on this topic, there are two types of families in Turkey:
- a big family where in one house you can find several generations living together, for example grandparents, parents, children (married) and their wives and grandchildren all living together. However, such families are less common now days and they are usually found in rural areas. Father of such extended families is considered the leader and holds the utmost authority.
- a small family is another type of families in Turkey where in one house you can find only parents and children. When children want to get married they form their own family and live separately from their parents. This is the most common type of families in Turkey! When sons get married they usually get their part of inheritance to be able to start a new home with their new family, and live separately from their parents. Usually, the youngest son gets the family house.
Respect in the family is extremely important. Father is recognized as the head of the family just as in majority of the cultures in the world. Elderly family members are always respected, and are never interrupted by younger family members. All in all, family is very valued in the Turkish culture, and family members usually love to spend as much time with each other as possible.
I personally value family a lot and think that family is one of the most important things one can have in their life. Therefore, I like how family is such an important part of the Turkish culture and how family members are so attached to each other and trust each other.
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