Turkey has a diverse culture that varies by region. Some traditional dances include the Horon of the Black Sea region, featuring fast footwork, and the Kaşık Oyunu spoon dance of central Anatolia. While Turkey is officially secular, the vast majority of citizens (95%) are Muslim, mostly Sunni. Turkish culture has blended Islamic influences with aspects of Western culture, especially in large cities. The Turkish diaspora in places like Germany has also helped spread Turkish pop culture and cuisine abroad, known for spices and roasted meats.

1. TURKEY
CULTURE,
RELIGION,
TRADITIONS
AND FOOD

2. TRADITIONS
The dance traditional
Each region of Turkey has its own dance and traditional costume and the most
well known are:
• Horon: This dance of the Black Sea is normally done by men, dressed in
black with silver trims. The dancers joined dance hits of weapons and fast
rhythms with their feet to vibrations the kemence (a kind of archaic violin).
• Kaşık Oyunu: Of the spoon dance is performed from Konya to Silifke and
consists of ornately decorated dancers accompanying the rhythm of dance
with a couple of wooden spoons in each hand.
• Kılıç Kankan: It is executed only by men, dressed in military costumes of
campaign Ottoman, who dance without music, the rhythm of the sound of
swords and shields sounding wrecked each other.
• Zeybek: In this dance of the Turkish Aegean, dancers wearing colorful attire,
symbolize courage and heroism.

3. RELIGION
• Turkey is officially a secular State. However, the
vast majority of the Turkish population (95%)
profess the Muslim religion. Of these, about 75%
are Sunni and 20% are Shi'a.

4. CULTURE
• Culture in Turkey began a marked transition from Islamic culture,
during the period of the Ottoman Empire, towards the Western
culture from the transformations driven by Kemal Ataturk. The
Westernization of the customs of the population becomes evident
especially in big cities like Istanbul and Ankara. While the majority of
the population professes the faith of Islam, this is considered
"moderate", in reference to other Muslim-majority towns. Most of the
population considers itself as a European.

5. CULTURE
• The diaspora of Turkish citizens in Europe, has contributed
to spread the culture of Turkey through the continent. This
trend is mainly marked in Germany, home to nearly 3
million Turks, some of which have opened up a space in
the culture of that country. Such is the case of the
filmmaker Fatih Akin. Pop music, Tarkan is also famous on
the continent and in various parts of the world.

6. FOOD
• The kitchen of Turkey corresponds to the set of culinary
customs of the inhabitants of the regions of Turkey. The
cuisine of Turkey is well known today and seems to have
influenced other cuisines in the use of spices, roast meats,
etc. It is known for its features bridge between the kitchens of
the Middle East and Balkan cuisine, and it can be said that it
is in a prominent position among the kitchens of
Mediterranean origin, isn´t only because of the geographic
position of the country, but it does have in common with the
other cuisines a predominance of the use and employment of
vegetables and olive oil as ingredients in most of their dishes.

7. FOOD PICTURES
DöNER KEBAB