I am right now in Türkiye since 10 days now. The delay for sharing my edit for this month is caused by that fact. I traveled from Zurich to Istanbul and stayed for one evening/night at the Swissôtel The Bosphorus very close to Dolmabahce Sarayi. It was not planned but when I received the message in the plane that my connected trip to Gönen, Balikesir was cancelled - I had to postpone that trip to the next day. I decided to swing by Istanbul after more than 2.5 years. We visited Beymen at Zorlu center, had a nice dinner and enjoyed the Bosphorus view from our room at day and night. The next day after 6 hours we arrived at Gönen, where my mother's family is from. My father is from Bandirma, which is the coastal city at Marmara Sea right "down under" Istanbul, I am officially a citizen of Bandirma.
Since arriving at Türkiye, I was enjoying the food especially the fruits, vegetables, etc. as well meeting my grandmother and aunt.
Did you know that Turks are not Arabs nor Persian? Turks are Turkic people, which means Turks/Turkish people are originally from central Asia. Therefore, we still do practice shamanistic rituals and superstitious things from our ancestors such as using red ribbons for "good luck and fortune" in general but also at engagements, which I believe it has its rooted in the East Asian belief "the red thread of fate" in China, Korea and Japan originating from Chinese mythology, as well as wishing trees with scraps of cloths, "nazar", and many more. The Turkish yurts and kilims which every tourist while visiting Turkey sees everywhere do share the motifs and symbols in their weaving design with the Native American rugs and weavings. Many Turkic countries and regions are still located in central Asia such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, as well as the regions where Tatars, Uyghurs, Tuvans, Altaians, Soyots, Yakuts, etc. do live.
In Turkey "bohça" is the traditional wrapping cloth. Bohça are typically square and can be made from a variety of materials, though silk or ramie are common. They have many uses, including as gift wrapping, in weddings or just to carry something. The word "bohça" is derived from the old Turkish word "bog" (meaning bundle) with the suffix +ça. The Old Turkic word is synonymous with the Old Turkic boχtay "boğum-lu" (meaning with knuckle/knot) pack of clothes, bundle.The Persian boχçe and the Arabic būḳca (same meaning) is taken from the Turkish. The Italian bagascia, French bagage, Spanish bagague/bagasa (in the same sense) have been transferred from Arabic around the 13th century.
The Asian relationship or kinsfolk is very obvious, when taken a look to the "bojagi" 보자기 in Korea and "furoshiki" 風呂敷 in Japan, they have the same function such as "bohça" as well as the exactly same physical characteristics of bohça has been shared by both, bojagi and furoshiki. The pronounciation of bohça and bojagi are even very similar - no wonder, you will say when reading further.
Traditionally, the wrapping cloth is a square, measuring from approximately 35 cm in with, for small items, to ten times larger in with for larger objects such as bedding. Materials included silk, cotton, ramie, and hemp. Colors ranged from red, purple, blue, green, yellow, and pink to dark blue, white, and black. The wrapping clothes were sometimes embellished to be lined, unlined, padded, quilted, or decorated with painting, paper-thin gold sheets, embroidery, and patchwork.
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some 30 languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, to Siberia and Manchuria and through to the Middle East. Some 170 million people have a Turkic language as their native language; an additional 20 million people speak a Turkic language as a second language. The Turkic language with the greatest number of speakers is Turkish proper, or Anatolian Turkish, the speakers of which account for about 40% of all Turkic speakers. More than one third of these are ethnic Turks of Turkey, dwelling predominantly in Turkey proper and formerly Ottoman-dominated areas of Southern and Eastern Europe and West Asia; as well as in Western Europe, Australia and the Americas as a result of immigration. The remainder of the Turkic people are concentrated in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, China, and northern Iraq.
The Turkic language family is traditionally considered to be part of the Altaic language family.
Altaic (/ælˈteɪ.ɪk/; also called Transeurasian) is a language family that includes the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. 73 Speakers of these languages are currently scattered over most of Asia north of 35°N and in some eastern parts of Europe, extending in longitude from Turkey to Japan. The group is named after the Altai mountain range in the center of Asia.
The inside of a typical yurt - everything is done on the floor, as common in many Asian cultures, eating, sitting, sleeping, etc. even after leaving the nomadic lifestyle, and being no more in yurts the traditional living at houses was exactly the same way in Turkey. A blankets pile on a dresser was, and hopefully still is a typical Turkis or Turkic way of interior. But more and more people left and do leave this traditional lifestyle by using sofas, kitchen tables, chairs and beds, which is a huge pity.
A yurt is not only the tent, camp or accommodation place of the Turcs, Central Asians, it’s also "homeland" (English translation) in Turkish.
Recent linguistic, genetic and archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest Turkic peoples descended from agricultural communities in Northeastern China and wider Northeast Asia, who moved westwards into Mongolia in the late 3rd millennium BC, where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle. By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become equestrian nomads. The genetic and historical evidence suggests that the early Turkic peoples were of largely East Asian origin but became increasingly diverse, with later medieval Turkic groups exhibiting both East Asian and occasionally also West Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins.
Did you know that the traditional Turkish kilims and weavings, seen everywhere when visiting Turkey, have similarities between the symbols and motifs of Navajo tribal of the Native American weavings?
Besides many other like physical, cultural, traditional and religious similarities, the designs are very close to eachothers artisanal handcraftings and techniques.
We are heading tomorrow to Marmaris at the Aegaen cost. As a typical in the sign of Aquarius born mermaid, I love to be in water! Sandro calls me therefore „Otter“ as I love to spend my holidays especially in a pool if not at the beach. Otter 🦦 is the totem animal - the equal zodiac sign for Aquarius in Native American zodiac.
I own already a Bayswater tote from Mullberry, which I love as I do love to have a lot of things in my handbag, but the Cornflower Blue Heavy Grain is my next object of desire.
Talk to you in September!
Wardrobe: Mullberry Bayswater Cornflower Blue Heavy Grain
Accessories: gold herringbone & crescent necklaces
