I totaly agree with U ...
I have an idea. Why do those people create a new website and leave Turks out???
Plus, If u r not gona communicate Turks whats the point in coming and living in Turkey?

Wouldn't that be like raising a child in Turkey but putting blindfolds and plugging its ears everytime a Turk shows up? Might as well raise the child elsewhere...

Hello? Istanbul itself straddles two continents. Who are we as a community to exclude the expat-oriented hosts and have them give us their perspective. I think this site have placed enough measures for people to be able to stay or leave (willingly or not).

Still with Maymunn and others on this one.

I think all expats recognize the need to have a group with whom you can have reality checks, share common problems, and find some guidance. But if the group does ALL THAT and gives you the added bonus of meeting Turks who are friendly and outgoing, what's the big deal?

Xenophobes shouldn't choose expat lives.

Okay I think we're seeing the picture so far.

I would like to throw a spanner in the works though! Not because I believe what I'm going to say, but because nobody who actually opposes the inclusivity of Turks on the forum, would feel comfortable saying so in this public arena.

But this debate would be fairly uselss really, unless we can get an understanding of why that feeling is present.

So I am going to turn Devil's advocate (but from the opposite side of the fence than I was when I had the original discussion).

Look at EiT as your Family say. Now you have no problems meeting friends outside your house, at work and other places of daily interaction. But at the end of the day, you may want to go back to your family and discuss your experiences of the day from like minded and unconditionally supporting people, you're not necessarily going to want to have an open invite into your house every night.

Maybe some people saw EiT as a family enclosure at first. They don't have to be racists or 'trapped in a bubble', they may in fact be very happy around locals and have many of them as friends even as spouses! But maybe they just want a sanctuary where they can have a chin wag about non-Turkish things, or even a chin wag about Turkish issues or Turkish people that they don't want to announce to the neighbourhood, but where a fully supporting group of ears await.

What I'm saying is that before you get the daggers out, listen to the other side of the story before unleashing your thoughts. Sentiments other than your own 'could' be fairly valid and not as 'hostile' as people are making out.

Hopefully someone will come in to this discussion and illustrate my point more...

In some respects I agree with Gilly, the posts that have caused the most noise or furore have been when someone has posted something which portrays Turkey in a negative light. This has been done from a foreigners perspective and as such is not intended as an insult, however almost without exception the Turkish contingent will take it as a personal afront and the posts will run and run; incidentally MM has the same problem.

Yeah but the arguments are the best part of this forum. If we didn't have anybody with an opposing viewpoint then we wouldn't be able to have such heated and enjoyable discussions. That said, I think you'll find that the most fervent Turkey promoters (and wearers of rose coloured specs) are not racially Turkish but instead that strange breed of expat that considers themselves Turkish due to marriage/long term residence/citizenship. Seriously, just look at some of the stuff on MM - it's usually the foreign husband or wife of a Turk who's spitting pure venom in defence of their adopted country and wont hear a bad word spoken.

Within the forum Rules all members should feel free to discuss whatever they want without fear of attack. If anyone feels that another member is actively restricting such open discussion then naturally they should report it so that the admins can take appropriate action. This applies to all members of all nationalities.

You've laid iit out nicely Gilly. So the DA in you says that some folks need a "safe haven" where they can comfortably hash out issues, chin wag freely, etc. fully trusting that what is discussed there remains there and more importantly, they expect others not to judge them.

Then do what I do. PM or text ur non native friends from time to time,arrange to go out and have a bitch and a laugh about the good old days back home and the problems with Turkey. We all need it from time to time.

But that doesnt mean you have to exclude Turks from the forum or social gatherings.Hardly rocket science!!!

Rather than take into consideration the Turkish-foreigner divide - we should take into account the intellect and humour divides! Some of those people who jabber on about Turkey (especially on MM) and have a go at people like Tallpony are seriously lacking in brain cells. Those who don't get the jokes on here and take their bat home perhaps should rethink their membership.

Sometimes TP deserves what he gets though, but the last few attacks have been unreasonable.

My favourite this year was the woman claiming that a family could live on the interest of £70k (I think), yet still run a car, pay for family health insurance and send the kids to school.

Couldn't have put it better. We should exclude dickheads not Turks.

Interesting posts, we don't often get feedback from those who choose not grace us with their presence, for whatever reason.

Way back in the early days of ExpatinTurkey, when it was hosted on a free forum site, there were Turkish members. Repats as opposed to expats I suppose you could call them.

Therefore nothing has changed. We have a lot more members than before, and possibly the balance of Turkish members has increased, but considering the geographic focus of the forum, is that surprising...? No it's not.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing...? Well, each and every member must make their own mind up about that and decide if this is somewhere they want to be.

The very loose criteria for joining ExpatinTurkey is that one has to be an expat or a repat. But it is a very loose criteria, we have several Turkish members who have never been outside Turkey and as far as we are concerned they add to this forum and provide some balance to the mix. We have NEVER stopped anyone from joining this forum on the basis of race alone. Questionable motives? Yes. Inability to communicate and participate? Yes. But for simply being a Turk... No. And it's not likely to happen either, at least not while Steve, Carlo and myself at the helm.

We do not want to be exclusive. There are plenty of other online communities where expats can go and bitch about the petty frustrations of living in a foreign country and talk about the lack of Mr Kipling Bakewell Tarts and PG Tips tea bags. Saying that, if anyone here wants to do that then feel free.

Whether one likes it or not, this forum is a multi cultural environment where race, religion, disability and sexuality mean fcuk all. Like the old saying goes... if you don't like it, don't read it.

So, to those who feel that ExpatinTurkey has changed... no it hasn't.

To those who feel that this multi cultural environment is not for you... your loss.

JF

I dont know who this person is that spoke to you Gilly but let them know we dont live in the British empire anymore and we're not in the days of "no mixing with the savages".

We have built up a nice little community here and some people have made some great friends through this forum both foreign and Turkish. It will carry on this way and wont change. I think JF has said enough about this already.

I would be interested to hear from the member that mentioned this in the first place, we have let our thoughts be known, now lets here this persons.

That's not fair. Just because someone has expressed an interest in an expat only forum doesn't make them a racist.

ok, was a bit harsh, I will take it back.