Value Systems and the Hybrid Turk

In the Crescent Star by Stephen Kinzer he talks baout how "Turkey has changed beyond recognition", (11) this can be seen in many walks of life. There seems to yet another wave of change occuring within Turkey. There is a hybrid of people growing and spreading throughout Turkey. The value system among the young Turkish population is evolving. The young women seem to be moving more conservative and contemporary. This group of women identify themselves as Islamic and forward thinking while rooted in tradition. These women wear fashionable modern head scarves and the long full body jackets, covering everything besides their face, hands and feet. The clothing, purses, shoes and jewelry they wear are usually of high quality. These women keep to themselves or the women they happen to be out with and of course their male partners. The younger generations of women take great care in not show their feelings or facial expressions to me. Instead I get a certain feeling from them that is hard to describe. I say “me”, because I may be being treated a different way because I am a foreigner, an American. I wear what I want and express myself as I please. The American in me sticks out: my hair color, facial features, and dress. It is interesting that even though we are from very different cultures, me and many traditional Islamic women have something in common: we notice each other. It is almost as if we both, myself as a foreigner stick out to the Turkish people as much as those who dress in the traditional or modern Muslim way stick out to me. We both identify ourselves with a specific culture by the way we adorn and dress ourselves. This value of self presentation in relation to culture is something we both value and consider every day.
The young men of Turkey have been raised to follow certain traditions and seem to be very appreciative of their culture and its people. When traveling to Kadikoy I was astonished to see young men and a few women performing Black Sea folk dances. Several groups of people had formed circles by joining hands and were dancing and singing to Turkish music. It was interesting to see how the young individuals had little reservations and how enthusiastic they were in performing. They welcomed anyone in, that wanted to participate. These practices are rooted in years of tradition. These customs have not faded through time and seem to be reinvigorated with the large, young population. The values of brotherhood, family, and community can be seen in the many areas of life in Turkey.
So there are these dichotomies within Turkey, where there are these ever evolving aspects within the culture, while there are these other aspects that remain treasured and passed down through the generations. You have this contrast between the conservative, modern, religious sect and a more secular yet traditional sect. Sometimes you may have all these attributes in one individual which may cause some psychological dispute within the individual, but that seems to be a part of being Turkish.