Due to the recent events happening in the Middle East, we are receiving overwhelming amount of "Is Turkey safe?" questions again. Please view the threads below, or use this thread to ask your questions.
Before posting your question here please use the search function to scan previous post here and try not to repeat similar question. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions on this sub:
- Is Turkey safe?
Yes. Turkey receives millions of visitors every year and the tourism industry seems immune to all social upheavals. During major protests, terror attacks and even the pandemic, all transport and accommodations for visitors functioned as usual. If you act with general common sense and avoid certain areas where you don't have any business as a visitor anyway, you'll be as safe as anywhere in the world.
- How do I get around Turkey?
Most public transport in Turkey is by bus. You can go to a nearest "otobüs terminali" and figure out how you get to your destination or just book your tickets online (1, 2, 3)
Flights can be cheaper than bus rides on long distances. The Turkish LCCs are AJet and Pegasus.
Although the railway grid is not very extensive, it still gives you the opportunity to cross the country in comfort. There's even an Oriental Express from Istanbul to Tehran. You need to book in advance though.
The road quality is very good in Turkey though some highways and bridges are very expensive. You can easily rent a car and drive around with general common sense. Just be mindful of the aggressive driving around big cities.
Metropolitan areas normally have good public transport which can usually be used with a local transport card. In Istanbul, for example, the Istanbulcard will get you on busses, trams, subways, boats, funiculars, cable-cars as well as help you with car parks, some museums and more.
It's common sense to avoid yellow taxis which are known to rip tourists off. Instead you can try apps like BiTaksi, Martı or Uber (different to international Uber though) which give you a prior price estimate.
- How much money will I need? Cash or card?
With one of the highest levels of inflation worldwide for many years, it's not easy to estimate costs in Turkey even for local residents. This also depends very greatly on your habits while traveling. So if you still want to learn about costs of certain things for a certain time, just be as specific as you can regarding your preferences (public transport/rent a car, 5-star hotels/camping, Blue Voyage boat tours/hiking, etc.). Credit card use is very common in Turkey but in smaller establishments you can get a discount if you pay in cash. Paying by mobile apps is also getting more common.
- Where should I visit in Turkey? What's not to miss?
There are so many websites that will give you extensive lists of best places to visit and things to do in Turkey. Please post here only if you need advice regarding a specific place or a route.
- I'm scratched by a stray cat. Do I need rabies shots?
Probably not. Turkey is the native home of the domestic cat and we have them everywhere. We also do get scratched and playfully bitten by them time to time. We do not have any incidents of cats transmitting rabies in Turkey.
It's another story about stray dogs though. If you have a problem with those, first try to find out if anyone around is taking care of them and ask if they are vaccinated (many strays are regularly checked in Turkey) and then visit the nearest clinic.
- Is Turkey a backwards muslim country? Will I have issues because I'm gay, have tattoos, etc.?
No. Turkey is a very diverse secular country to say the least (not a muslim country but a country with a majority muslim population). Don't be fooled by the number of mosques everywhere, in metropolitan areas you'll find all sorts of people, some with tattoos or turbans, some women in conservative clothes or in minis. In the countryside people can be more conservative but they are still tolerant towards tourist, as long as they maintain general respect. This may include not being too loud, putting on some clothes entering mosques and tombs, and not making fun of Atatürk or islam. The Mediterranean coastline is very progressive and you can bathe in a bikini or topless on many beaches. Islamism is a political issue but it shouldn't affect the visitors unless they advertise being israeli or anti-islam in the wrong places.
- How can I learn Turkish?
Turkish language is not related to Arabic or Middle Eastern languages; it is of Central Asian origin and is quite interesting to learn. There are several subreddits where you can meet others like you and some Turkish speaking people to help you out with the language such as r/turkishlearning/, r/turkish/ and r/learnturkish/
- Will I be able to eat the food there? Any vegetarian or vegan options?
Traditionally most Turkish food contains some meat but there is a whole class of cold dishes called "zeytinyağlılar" (olive-oiled) which do not have any meat. Also most baked dishes like böreks do not have meat but cheese. Vegan food is more difficult because all baked food has eggs and/or milk inside, and perhaps cheese, and some zeytinyağlı's have yoghurt on them and/or cheese in them. You'll have to ask before you eat most times. Even a simple lentil soup may contain some chicken or meat broth inside or melted butter on top. But Turkey is one of the richest countries on earth when it comes to the choice of vegetables and fruits. So if you're into preparing your own food, you're in luck, just ask for the weekly fresh markets around you and buy what you want the cheapest way.
- Is my medication available there?
Check out this website to find out if your medicine can be found in pharmacies in Turkey.
I’m a student living in the UK and I’m planning to visit Istanbul for 5–7 days sometime between 5 and 19 October.
I’m travelling by myself and would be happy to meet other people who are around during those dates. I’m also open to meeting someone travelling from the UK around the same time.
The idea is simply to meet up, grab some food or coffee, walk around the city and spend some time together. I’m quite flexible with dates and plans, so nothing is booked yet.
If you’re going to be in Istanbul during this period and would like to meet, feel free to DM me.
Ben psikoloğa gitmedim ama NSSI olabilir internetten arastirdim ayni belirtiler sinirlenince parmagini ısırma sertce ve 2-3 gün izi galmasi yada biyere sıkıştırma bazen cok sinirlenince baska seylerde bunu yasayan var mı
Merhaba. Öncelikle önemli bir not: Türkçem sadece A1–A2 seviyesinde ve ben Türkiye'de yaşamıyorum. Ayrıca bu forumun düzenli bir kullanıcısı değilim. Bu nedenle yorumları veya özel mesajları hızlı göremeyebilirim; hatta bazılarını uzun süre sonra fark edebilirim. Türkçe uzun bir tartışmayı sürdürmem de zor olabilir.
Bu yazıyı ve raporun Türkçe çevirisini de ChatGPT yardımıyla hazırladım.
Ben Koreliyim. Bu çalışma akademik bir araştırma olarak başlamadı. Türkiye'yi birkaç kez ziyaret etmiş bir yabancı olarak, özellikle 2019'dan sonraki değişimi görünce basitçe şunu merak ettim:
Türkiye'nin PPP rakamları neden günlük hayatta gördüğüm yaşam standardından farklı görünüyor?
Bu merakla ChatGPT kullanarak internetteki fiyatları, resmi istatistikleri, ücretleri ve başka ülkelerle karşılaştırmaları kontrol etmeye başladım. Bir sorunun cevabı başka bir soru çıkardı ve sonunda sekiz ülkeyi karşılaştıran bir yaşam maliyeti simülasyonu, gerçek perakende fiyatları, çalışma süresiyle ölçülen satın alma gücü, PPP/AIC, konut, enerji, istihdam, şirket tasarrufları ve ENAG'a kadar gittim.
Sonunda yaklaşık 40 sayfalık bir rapor çıktı. Bu kadar uğraşıp sadece bilgisayarımda bırakmak biraz yazık geldiği için paylaşmak istedim. :)
Raporla ilgili birkaç uyarı:
Ben ekonomist değilim. Mühendislik mezunuyum ve ekonomi eğitimim üniversitede aldığım temel dersler düzeyinde. Bu yüzden bunu akademik bir çalışma değil, bir yabancının merakından doğmuş uzun bir araştırma notu olarak görmek daha doğru olur.
Ayrıca artık yeni rakamlar aramayı bıraktım. Hem ayırabileceğim zamanın sınırına geldim hem de bundan sonrasını gerçekten düzgün yapmak için sanırım Türkçeyi ana dili gibi bilen ve ekonomi eğitimi almış birinin çalışması gerekiyor.
Türkçe kaynaklarda PPP, ücretler, otomobil fiyatları, telefon fiyatları ve gerçek satın alma gücü hakkında benzer şüphelerin ayrı ayrı tartışıldığını gördüm. Ancak benim bulabildiğim kadarıyla bunların hepsini aynı model içinde birleştiren uzun bir incelemeye rastlamadım.
Bu yüzden Kore'den, ChatGPT aracılığıyla erişebildiğim Türkçe ve uluslararası internet kaynaklarıyla yaptığım bu çalışmanın en azından karşılaştırma veya tartışma için ilginç bir referans olabileceğini düşündüm.
Bir başka sınırlama daha var.
Araştırmanın asıl çalışma kayıtları Markdown dosyalarında duruyor. Özellikle sekiz ülkelik simülasyonda hangi harcama kalemlerini kullandığımı ve varsayımların nasıl değiştiğini oradan çok daha ayrıntılı gösterebilirim.
Fakat bu dosyalarda kişisel bilgilerim ve araştırma sırasında yaptığım özel karşılaştırmalar da bulunduğu için ham dosyaları internete yüklemek konusunda biraz çekingenim.
Şimdilik PDF'deki Türkçe çevirinin Korece nihai raporla aynı içeriği taşıdığı varsayımıyla paylaşıyorum. Açıkçası 40 küsur sayfanın Türkçe çevirisini tekrar satır satır kontrol etmek benim A1–A2 Türkçemle biraz fazla iddialı olurdu. :)
Bu nedenle ayrıntılı Türkçe açıklamaları burada tekrar yazmaya çalışmaktan vazgeçtim. Raporun kendisi açıklasın.
Türkiye'de yaşayanların “burayı doğru anlamışsın” veya “hayır, burada Türkiye'yi tamamen yanlış anlamışsın” şeklindeki yorumlarını elbette merak ediyorum. Ancak tekrar belirtmek isterim: Ben bu topluluğun düzenli bir kullanıcısı değilim ve muhtemelen raporu paylaşmak için buraya gelip sonra uzun süre tekrar uğramayacağım. Bu nedenle bir yoruma cevap vermemem, onu görmezden geldiğim anlamına gelmez. Büyük ihtimalle henüz görmemişimdir. :)
Dolayısıyla hızlı cevap vereceğime söz veremem. Bir gün tekrar geldiğimde yorumları okuyabilirsem memnun olurum.
Not: Raporda anonim kalmak için HI-LLM (Human Interface LLM) takma adını kullandım. Araştırma sırasında ChatGPT, sürekli veri karşılaştırıp tutarsızlık arama alışkanlığımın biraz LLM'e benzediğini söyleyince bu isim ortaya çıktı. :)
it was the first time to use reddit and one drive sharing for me. i wanna shareing is succeeded.
Briefly saw a news banner about it yesterday on TV at airport , and i am trying to understand the whole edge funds story , cause its no just tera but apparently an entire segment of financial industry which is just a very bad joke
I read few articles and i later watched a video about it on youtube and i wanted to know if he captured most of it ? or some big parts are missing
I know the news around it are coming to light and new stories will emerge but i wanted to check if he summarized it well
Now , most important for me , as i was trying to understand the rationale behind this story , there is one interesting part from this mess i couldnt wrap my head around , its about investors themselves, the ones who went with edge funds like tera
Beware i am not talking about the ~ 170k customers of regular money market funds , these people invested into what was supposed to be regular safe products according to law , but it seems managers of these money market funds were lending money to edge funds counterparts like adults give candies to kids during bayram without doing proper due dil, so these customers are collateral victims of irresponsible people , even though some money market funds published ads promising 123% returns while interest rates are around 60%
I lived in turkey for few years but still coming back quite often , i understood that shady stories are part of daily life , that elites / small circles are rigging the game by keeping whatever good for themselves, i understand and iam witnessing how combined inflation and lira's downfall is going pretty insane , that having money in TRY deposit/regular account is guaranteed lost , i get it that people in turkey lost faith in the system and so on ......
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Off topic mode ON 😄😄🤪😎🫠👶✈️🧳
Before i used to pack my emtpy luggages of food from turkey when returning home cause it was cheaper to bring it rather than buying it again or in some cases impossible to find outside of turkey , Now it almost doesnt make sense if same poduct is available cause in many cases prices are more or less the same like in western europe
Since 2022 i even try to get rid of my liras as soon as i can before leaving turkey since i dont know how much it will be worth when i come back
Off topic mode OFF 😄😄🤪😎🫠👶✈️🧳
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While i can understand that some day to day traders who smelled quick opportunity might have lost (but thats part of the game baby) , i still cant get around the fact that so many regular folks (almost half a million apparently) jumped into edge funds , putting their savings or so into what was a essentially a gambling machine
Let me know if my thoughts below captured everything or if i missed some parts of the story regading mindset of victims
1 = The Fallacy of Ignoring Financial History: In 2026, the global public has a bunch of catastrophic financial frauds to learn from. After Bernie Madoff, the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown, the fraudulent claims of Theranos, the multi-billion-dollar collapse of FTX, the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, Do Kwon with Terra, and even pop-culture warnings like The Wolf of Wall Street, the lebanse banking crisis of 2018 and the list goes on and on ..... there is absolutely no excuse for baseline financial ignorance which will excuse blindly put all your savings or big amount of money into something you barely understand or cant investigate. I read about 700% return at the beginning, and then it sky rocketed , how can people believe there is nothing fishy behind it ??
2 = TEFAS's trap : Regardless if available through TEFAS or not , any investment carry some risks , so boring savings accounts have low returns for a reason . How can people not understand that edge funds are called risky for a reason ? and risks means winning ut also loosing ? It seems TEFAS is not labelling funds and their assets based on how risky they are , is this correct ? And also that auditing is a joke, cause how the hell something can provide over 100% returns and display that in a official platform and not raise suspicions ?
3 = Speculation fever : I can understand quick buy/sell of very volatile assets , by investing money you are ready to lose , cause such high return figures as i read like 4000% or 15000% are purely speculative . Its like short term gambling cause you never know when the party will end , but many put crazy amounts from their life savings, mortgage deposits , wedding savings, etc ..... I know its easy to criticize afterwards , but are people dumb , ignorant or that much desperate
4 = The Delusion of AKP stamp : Even if people linked to AKP were pulling the strings, how can people not understand that the elites do not work in favour of the population ? Anyone sees what trump did with his world liberty financial , its kind of similar playbook of insider trading , leaving early investors to enjoy the losses after the hype blew up
5 = Investors FOMO : Anyone with a bit of understanding saw that the best time to buy bitcoin was when it was worthless or very cheap before first spikes like 2013 or at least 2016, so i never jumped into it cause its pure mass heresy , like one sheep lead the herd and the rest follows , but i knew that despite all the hikes there will be winters too and some days . So did these investors jumped into this ship based on word of mouth or advertisements ?
6 = The misunderstanding of foreign currency risks : I also read stories of turks living abroad who send money back to turkey only to invest it into tera , how the hell can someone not understand that parking money abroad in stable foreign currencies (like USD or EUR) or high-quality, low-risk international bonds is better that investing significant portions of their savings into a high risk market and volatile assets ?
I dont know about all Turkey, but I was recently in Laleli (neighbourhood in Istanbul), where on a single street you can find 20-30-50 small clothing shops, all with their own unique name above - however, they are not just "Clothes store" or something like that, but actually look like big brand store, while in fact they have only this shop.
I have never seen anything like this elsewhere. Can a turk explain this?
Hi everyone! Does anyone know whether Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is legally available without a prescription in Istanbul, and if so, which pharmacies carry it, especially around Kadıköy? I’m looking for a legitimate pharmacy and would appreciate any advice on how to get it safely.
Thank uu 🙏
I need to know what happens to the money payed for the entire university if the student dies. Like is there a chance the money is returned to the parents or will it be lost forever
We’re a married couple in our early 30s with kids, but this trip would be just the two of us. We’re planning a fall trip to Turkey, leaving New York on a Friday and returning the following Sunday—eight nights in Turkey.
Our tentative itinerary is: Bodrum: 3 nights, heading there on arrival via a connection in Istanbul. Cappadocia: 2 nights, staying in a cave hotel and hopefully doing a balloon ride. Istanbul: 3 nights, exploring the city before flying home Sunday.
Our other option would be to visit Istanbul plus just one of Bodrum or Cappadocia, giving us more time in each place. I would rather do Bodrum, while my wife would rather do Cappadocia. A friend who visited told me Cappadocia can get a bit boring, so I’d appreciate an honest perspective on how much time it deserves and what there is to do beyond ballooning.
We want a mix of exploring and relaxing, with time to enjoy being away together. Specifically:
Is fitting all three destinations into eight nights too rushed?
Is three nights in Istanbul enough, or would we regret not allowing more time?
Would two destinations make for a better trip, and how would you divide the nights?
Given our different preferences, is including both Bodrum and Cappadocia a sensible compromise?
Hi there, so im thinking of moving to Istanbul for personal reasons and i have started to look for jobs and i think i might get an job offer soon from a small boutique strategy consulting firm in istnabul, but they want me to tell them my salary expectations and after doing a little reseach i still dont know what to expect bc all of these sources say different things…
also a little background of myself, i was born and grew up in the netherlands but im turkish, i can speak turkish, dutch and english fluently, i went to uni in the netherlands and i mean it was not a target uni but its also not too bad, i did my bachelors and masters in business and this is gonna be my first full time job as a gradute so i dont really have any working experinece
I know that the job market in general is pretty bad and i also know that i should not expect to earn too much in Türkiye but i was thinking maybe around 2k net per month but idk if thats realistic tho
Merhaba, ben Ali. Okulumla yaptığım proje için parça temin etmem gerekiyor, ama istediğim parçalar Türkiye'de yok. Yurtdışından kargo da yasaklandığı için bir yolcunun parçaları Türkiye'ye yanında getirmesi gerekiyor. Parçaların teslimi bir hafta kadar olacak, yani 1-1,5 hafta içinde Amerika'dan veya Almanya'dan Türkiye'ye dönen var mı? Sizlerden ricam parçaları yanınızda Türkiye'ye getirmeniz. Öğrenciyim ve proje için bu parçalara ihtiyacım var. Parçaların toplam maliyeti yaklaşık 100$, bunu ben kendim ödeyeceğim. İstediğim parçalar gerçekten çok küçük, ayrıca içinde pil barındırmadığı için bavulunuza koyup uçakla getirebilirsiniz. İzmir veya Manisa'dan parçaları teslim alabilirim. Eğer bana yardım etmek isterseniz lütfen bana ulaşın, şimdiden teşekkür ederim.
Hello, I'm Ali. I need to provide parts for the project I did with my school, but the parts I want are not available in Turkey. Since cargo from abroad is also prohibited, a passenger must bring the parts with him to Turkey. The delivery of the parts will be about a week, that is, will anyone return to Turkey from America or Germany in 1-1.5 weeks? I ask you to bring the parts with you to Turkey. I am a student and I need these parts for the project. The total cost of the parts is about $100, I will pay for this. The pieces I want are really small, and since they don't contain batteries, you can put them in your suitcase and bring them by plane. I can pick up the parts from Izmir or Manisa. If you want to help me please contact me, thank you in advance.
And I see that i am unable to remove the travel insurance costs. Is this something new? Because i am unable to find any information regarding this at all.
Visa Fee - 31 x 2$
Processing Fee - 2.40$
Service Fee + E-Visa Travel Insurance - 36.00$ ?????
I did a quick check with AI and it says i am on a third party website. But i am pretty sure i am on the https://evisa.gov.tr/ URL.
Önümüzdeki 4-5 yıl içerisinde TSK'nın dış kaynaktan muvazzaf subay alımını tamamen sonlandırması veya önemli ölçüde azaltması bekleniyor mu? Özellikle elektrik-elektronik mühendisliği mezunları için bu alımların gelecekteki durumu hakkında öngörünüz nedir? Diğer sene EE mühendisliği okumaya başlayacağım, hedefim dış kaynaktan mühendis subay olmak. Fikirleri olan insanlar varsa okumak isteirm.
I'm from a Balkan country and very interested in Turkish culture.
A woman that I follow on social media, that's married to a Turkish man (she lives in a progressed city) says that culturally, in Turkey the women are expected in every get together to go to the kitchen and help out, and the men are sitting, sipping on tea and being served and catered to.
If the woman doesn't comply and go to the kitchen to help the other women, she will be seen as lazy.
In my country - Serbia, that is not the case.
When we go to someone home, it's their job to serve us, no matter the gender, there is no distinction.
Same for birthday parties - the person that is celebrating is the one that covers the whole bill and the guests only bring gifts.
So, my question is, is this really the case?
Do I, if I'm ever in a Turkish household need to go to the kitchen with the women or I will be seen in a negative way?
Honestly, all of that would make me kinda upset, not because I am not "domestic" or wouldn't like to help out, but because that's foreign to me, and would, in a way, make me feel suppressed, and extremely uncomfortable.
Not because of the act itself, but because in my culture different rules are applicable.
Title’ınız nedir? İşiniz hangi şehirde? Ve aylık ne kadar kazanıyorsunuz net olarak (cebinize kalan yani)? Ne kadar yıllık tecrübeniz var?
Herkes bunları yazarsa gerçekten ne kadar kazandığımızı ve hak ettiğimizi alıyormuyuz onu görmüş olacağız.
ilk ben; 5 yıl tecrube ABD ve Türkiye.
Title; aerospace -aviation operations specialist - Istanbul
45000 TL+ Yemek karti 390TL günlük.
Net
Watching the Hamit Yorulmaz case really broke my heart. Can Müge Anlı and her team help Hamit? Or how can we, as viewers, assist Hamit?
Is it possible to reach out to his mother, get support from the necessary institutions, or create a reliable fundraising campaign for Hamit? Can something like GoFundMe be set up?
I was really moved while watching this case and I want to do something for Hamit. What do you think we can do?
I'm travelling to Istanbul soon and staying in the Old City. Booking.com gave me a free airport transfer from Istanbul Airport (IST) to my hotel as part of my reservation.
The transfer is confirmed through Booking.com and the transport provider shown in the reservation is Welcome Pickups. They have my flight number, say they will track the flight, and the driver should wait around 45 minutes after landing.
My hotel also offered me a private airport transfer for €55 one way.
Would you trust and use the free Booking.com / Welcome Pickups transfer, or would you pay €55 for the hotel transfer instead?
Has anyone used Booking.com's free airport transfer or Welcome Pickups from IST recently? How was your experience, especially with finding the driver after arrival?
Sınıfım Ben ergenligime kadar özgüvenli biriydim suan hic özgüvenli değilim sınıfta herkes cok ozguvenli erkekler kizlarla 3-4 yildir taniyomus gibi arkadaslar ve okadar samimiler ki erkekler ile kızlar ben bi kizla yüz yüze hic konusamiyorum tıkanıyorum ve hiç beceremiyom mesela gecenlerde kantin sırasında bi dalmısım onumde bir kisilik yer kalmis arkamdaki cocuk onume gecti biseyler dedi ağzının yanıyla ben yine bisey diyemedim ne desem bilmiyom zaten keko tipli ama boyu kısaydi yine biara kantın sırasındaydım bi cocuk onume gecti beni itledi bende o sırada cok sinirlendim hic cevap vermedim elim ayagim titredi ittirdim benden kısaydı bu da baya sağlam küfür etti yine gecti bisey demedim niye neden bilmiyom özgüvenim yok gibi garip
Merhabalar, Almanya'da yaşıyoruz yaklaşık 8 yıldır. Bebeğimizde var. Fakat sosyal ve kültürel olarak pek alışamadık. Yani aşırı bireysel ve kaba bir toplum. Bir çok konuda da oldukça pahali ve convenience/servis kültürü yok gibi birşey. Özellikle bizim icin. Beyaz yakalı sonradan gelen türklerde genelde uzun vadede yaşamak istemiyor. Sizler neden düşünürsunuz bu konuda? Alternatif ülke hedefleriniz var mı?
Bu yaştan sonra yeni bir dil öğrenmekte istemiyorum. Iki ucu bkli değnek. Zaten Avrupa'da nereye gidersem gideyim yabancı olacağım en azından pek haz etmediğim bir kültürün ve toplum grubunun içinde yaşayıp çocuk büyütmek pek mantıklı gelmiyor.
Almanya'nın en iyi avantajı türk diasporasi.
Sizlerin fikirlerini/ Plan B / C sini merak ettim.
I came to Istanbul to stay in Kadikoy but something happened and I might have to move to Beşiktaş. I was so excited to stay on the Asian side and I’m a little depressed about it, but I want to try and enjoy my time as much as I can.
Can you tell me whats it like living in Beşiktaş? Some hidden gems, if possible. Also is it really more expensive than kadikoy?
Looking for an old Turkish cake made with burnt-sugar syrup — no eggs, no added sugar
I’m trying to identify a Turkish cake my Romanian grandmother used to make. She knew a lot of Turkish recipes and regularly made baklava and kadayıf at home.
For years I only remembered that it was a very simple, fluffy, brown cake made with yogurt and oil. But I recently remembered the important details:
no eggs
no sugar added directly to the batter
plain yogurt
vegetable oil
flour
baking powder
sugar + water
The sugar was caramelized/burnt first, then water was added and it was cooked into a thin caramel syrup. This syrup was then mixed directly into the batter.
So the caramel wasn't a layer, wasn't poured over the cake after baking, and it wasn't a filling. It was incorporated into the batter, which made the entire cake an even golden-brown/caramel color.
The finished cake was very fluffy and completely non-syrupy. It was also completely plain — no cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, nuts, cocoa, etc.
My grandmother called it “turta dulce”, which is what we call gingerbread/spiced cake in Romanian, although this cake had no spices at all.
Here is the strange part:
Several years after my grandmother died, I was in Istanbul, around Eminönü, walking through one of the small side streets. I saw an elderly man selling homemade pastries/cakes through the window of his house. One of the cakes looked and tasted exactly like my grandmother's cake.
I couldn't communicate with him well enough to ask what it was called.
I've been trying to find this recipe ever since. My mother has also tried many times to recreate my grandmother's version, but it never comes out the same.
I previously asked about it here years ago, but I didn't have enough details at the time. 😅
Does anyone recognize this cake? What is it called in Turkish?
I'm especially interested in old Istanbul/home-style recipes or regional/family recipes, rather than modern Turkish cakes.
Could it possibly be called something involving yanık şeker (burnt sugar), or am I looking in completely the wrong direction?
If anyone recognizes it, I would be incredibly grateful for the name or, even better, the original recipe. ❤️
I'm planning a trip for my family of 4 for a 12 day road trip in Turkey. We land in IST and will be going to Canakkale- Izmir- Antalya- Cappadocia- Yedigoller- Istanbul. This is our family's second time in Turkey but I still have a few questions I'd greatly appreciate if you can help me with:
Once I arrive at IST airport and rent a car I know I will pay the full amount plus deposit with credit card, but is there anywhere on the way to Canakkale to exchange to TL or I'll have to wait until we reach Canakkale to find somewhere with a good rate?
Is it worth it to stay overnight in Izmir to discover the city? The last time in Izmir I just rented a car to go to Cesme and Ephesus, I read that Izmir has some interesting places but not sure if it's worth it to stay here for a night.
Once I reach the shore of Mediterranean Sea there will be so many resort towns along the coastal road, what are some cities/towns worth stopping? There're so many cool towns around the area of Antalya I feel I cant visit them all. Noted that we'll be visiting on early-November so obviously we're just there for the view, not to swim lol
Visiting from early to mid- November, where and when should I go for peak fall foliage? I plan to visit Yedigoller, lake Abant, Ataturk Arboretum at around 12 November, would it be a good time for autumn color?
