Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You’d probably be correct in the historical sense. But then again as far as I know back in the day people also considered Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, etc all to be “India” or “East India”. There’s probably not super strict borders for what’s considered the Middle East today, but the old Near East overlaps with a lot of it.
Right, that's what I was thinking. To some extent, these designations are relative to each other, and the borders of each region can get wobbly, depending on the context they're used in.
But I'd never consider Israel to be "Middle Eastern". nor Turkey or Lebanon. "Middle Eastern" may have become a catch-all label, for "those Muslim countries over there somewhere, we're not sure where, so we'll just call them 'Middle Eastern' ".
Geography and non-Western cultures have never been Americans' strength in the education realm.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 05-11-2022 at 02:43 PM..
Right, that's what I was thinking. To some extent, these designations are relative to each other, and the borders of each region can get wobbly, depending on the context they're used in.
But I'd never consider Israel to be "Middle Eastern". nor Turkey or Lebanon. "Middle Eastern" may have become a catch-all label, for "those Muslim countries over there somewhere, we're not sure where, so we'll just call them 'Middle Eastern' ".
Geography and non-Western cultures have never been Americans' strength in the education realm.
Why would Israel and Lebanon be excluded from the Middle East? Going by that logic, Jordan and Syria wouldn’t be in the ME either.
Why would Israel and Lebanon be excluded from the Middle East? Going by that logic, Jordan and Syria wouldn’t be in the ME either.
Exactly. I didn't list all the countries that are Near East rather than "Middle". I gave a working definition, that the two you mentioned fit into. You could add Saudi Arabia to that, and other countries on the peninsula.
Nothing happened, it's still around, but not that useful anymore (Europe-asia borders are more clear today, and i dont mean geographical borders, i mean istanbul is in Europe, but geographically only), but it's not mutually exclusive of middle East
A country can be 100% middle Eastern, and sometimes being mentioned as 100% near Eastern as well
Turkey is in that confusing spot geographically, influenced by both European and Middle Eastern cultures. I think culturally and genetically, it is more Middle Eastern than anything though
05-13-2022, 09:39 AM
Status:
"From 31 to 41 Countries Visited: )"
(set 3 days ago)
4,640 posts, read 13,912,538 times
Reputation: 4052
Feels solidly so after the in visit experience. Even from Istanbul to Edirne, other than the other side of country: Anatolia, Kurdistan, Izmir to Ankara/Van/Trabzon. Strongly enters exact vibes on another exotic foreign Continent when going from Romania EU Eastern Europe to Turkey for one example. Mosques, "Spirituality", Nargile Smoke Lounges, Turkic Language, Entire Continental approach.
Turkey is most familiar with Azerbaijan, Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan rather than France/Italy/Spain.
Yes. The Middle East is a region and most would say that Turkey is firmly a part of the region.
05-13-2022, 12:36 PM
Status:
"From 31 to 41 Countries Visited: )"
(set 3 days ago)
4,640 posts, read 13,912,538 times
Reputation: 4052
Also heard endless Arabian music when in Istanbul Middle to Late September 2021. After 4 to 5 days later, finally encountered Westernized music in an isolated Luxury Hotel in the outskirts. There isn't even one Europe country that would play Arabic tunes that often. Sounds like Egypt, UAE form.
Also heard endless Arabian music when in Istanbul Middle to Late September 2021. After 4 to 5 days later, finally encountered Westernized music in an isolated Luxury Hotel in the outskirts. There isn't even one Europe country that would play Arabic tunes that often. Sounds like Egypt, UAE form.
That exactly is how I felt when i visited Turkey, not one, but 5 times. Bazaars, hookahs, and carpets/rugs were everywhere, something that felt very alien to me. Belly dance felt very native there, and it was not unusual to see people eating on the floor. A LOT of buildings had Arabic pointed archs, like the clock of Izmir.
Forget about Islam, which is Even more frequent in Turkey than among some Arabs themselves (at least compared to Lebanon and Syria). Even without muslim things taken into account, Everything feels so oriental
But in a very weird way, when i see Turkish People talking about this issue online, they reject the idea of any resemblence to Arabs, and they mainly identify with nearby Europeans
It’s interesting to me that many things considered “Middle Eastern” or “Arab” culture nowadays have the Ottoman Empire and Turks as their culture of origin, which is another reason why there’s some overlap with Southeastern Europe and North Africa as well on things like culinary and religious traditions. I wonder if some of these date back even further to the Turkic groups of Central Asia or the Mongols
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
