Job Discussion Forums

[elliot_spencer]

Hi, I am a gay guy who has been offere work in Gaziantep with Oxford Vision, I know that Istanbul etc can be ok and quite open minded but how about the east of Turkey?? What is it like? Is it strongly muslim or relaxed like the west. Is it more like Kazakstan than IstanbuL?

Thanks

[sandyhoney3]

East Turkey - you mean Diyarbakir area? It's def. a different experience that teaching in Istanbul. More strongly muslim? Yes, for sure. A much bigger Kurdish population out there as well.

But beautiful - the scenary will knock your socks off.

[eclectic]

but r there any schools?

[teachinggypsy]

If you're thinking of Erzurum I would say don't go.

[bulgogiboy]

I never went to the East, spent most of my time in Ankara (but also visited Istanbul and the Black Sea), but my students all told me the East was pretty darn conservative, even by Turkish standards.

A female co-worker, and good friend of mine, is from Gaziantep (or 'Antep' as it is widely called in Turkey). She told me in Antep it would be frowned upon by a lot of people for her and I to go out to dinner together, even as friends, because of us being unmarried. I think you can liken parts of the East to an Arab country in terms of attitudes to sex.

Even as a straight man, in the Western part of Turkey, I felt quite restricted in many ways, when dating Turkish girls. Half the time you have to sneak around like schoolkids! The parents are intensely paranoid about any man bringing 'dishonour' on them by persuading their daughters to (shock horror ) enjoy their sexuality as consenting adults. How much more narrow-minded do you think those attitudes will be when it comes to men sleeping with men....?

Bearing all this in mind, and bearing in mind the money in Turkey isn't particularly great anyway, I would ask you why a gay man wants to go to such a conservative area? Not only will you be celibate for the length of your contract, but you will have to keep your mouth shut about your sexuality. If not, then at best people will feel very uncomfortable around you, and at worst they will show open contempt for you. I think you would have a miserable time, to be honest.

My advice: If you're going to go to Turkey, go to Istanbul, but even then don't expect people to welcome you with open arms as a gay man. If I were you I would go somewhere you can be yourself more easily - Thailand? I think half the co-workers I met were openly gay, and nobody cared!

[teachinggypsy]

Don't kid yourself. At worst you could be murdered.

[big3bc]

I lived in Antep for a year and I can't imagine how an openly gay man would be treated.
I tutored a young woman (25) for a couple of months in my apartment. Her family (parents, 2 brothers) would sit in my kitchen for the entire 2 hour period.
You haven't seen conservatism until you've been in that part of Turkey.
To a past poster on this thread- breathtaking scenery? I traveled all over the area between Gaziantep and Diyarbakir and nothing remotely took my breath away.

[bulgogiboy]

[bulgogiboy]