What are your thoughts about Turkey? I've never been there, but I've heard wonderful things about Instanbul. A poster down in the PoFo has compared it to Italy and said it was very tourist-friendly before all hell broke loose.
I've never been to Turkey personally but have many close friends who are living there and in America. I see a lot of the beauty on their Facebook pages. Their beautiful families and landscapes. Some of them are on vacation there now and were caught in the middle of the coup. Thankfully, they are safe and they were really proud of being involved in stopping the coup attempt.
They tell me of how beautiful Turkey is, especially away from the city. They have amazing beaches and ski resorts. Their history is recounted by thousands of years (not hundreds). Their civilization is older than all of Europe. It is definitely on my bucket list.
It is hard for me to have an overall sample of Turkey because most of my friends are very educated, I.e. Masters and PH.D. Level. They are scientists, economists, writers , professors. But they also strive for religious enlightenment. To them (and me), science and religion are one and not mutually exclusive.
[Reading] If one is interested in logical religion, read the teachings of Said Nursi (Risale-Nur). It has been translated into English by various academics. Nursi was labeled enemy of the state by the ottoman. He taught for free and was imprisoned a long time. [/reading]
But I've been to Italy. Italy is a newer turkey if that makes sense, although Italy has also been around for a long time.
One thing that the western world is deceived by the media is that they think that "all-hell has broken loose" in Turkey. It's very far from the truth. The citizens simply do not allow it. At least that's what my friends tell me. They are tight knit. Yes, there is a sense of fundamentalist movement creeping in but the human rights activists are quite vocal in Turkey and it doesn't get reported in the west.
Edit: I want to point out that Turkey is the opposite of Saudi Arabia where Wahabbism has taken over logical reasoning. The state sponsored academics are spreading a militaristic and extreme version of Islam. Even though Mecca and Medina are in Saudi, the government is not recognized as true authorities of Islam.
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