From: mistik@grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Mustafa Soysal)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: soc.culture.turkish Frequently Asked Questions
Date: 27 Jul 92 22:40:00 GMT

soc.culture.turkish                       Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List
===============================================================================
You can send updates to            mistik@grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Mustafa Soysal)

24.July.92

History:
========

After a few initial lists of travel agents and mailing lists Ahmet
Parlakbilek wrote the initial version of the Frequently asked questions
list for soc.culture.turkish in July 1992, before turning it over to me
for maintenance.  He is going to be busy for a while, and I intend to
take care of it.  Please send suggestions and updates to
mistik@grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Mustafa Soysal).


Contents:
=========

This is a list of the headings you can find by searching for the abbreviation.

Subject                        	        Abbrev
--------------------------------------  ----------

Visiting Turkiye .....................  [Travel]

Turkish Language .....................  [Language]

Electronic Communication .............  [E-mail]

History ..............................  [History]


Headings:
=========

[Travel]
VISITING TURKIYE..............................................................

1) Where can I get cheap tickets to Turkiye?

Travel Agencies, where you can find tickets to Turkiye, are:

FREEDOM ............. 1-212-307-7380
PICASSO TRAVEL....... 1-213-645-4400  (Sevin Hanim)
HUR TURK ............ 1-800-241-8875  (1-800-AIR-TURK) , 1-800-874-TURK
                      1-212-750-1170 , 1-212-586-2901
THY ................. 1-212-986-5050
CLUB AMERICA ........ 1-800-221-4969
                      1-212-972-2865
[UNKNOWN ?] ......... 1-603-862-4509
BLUE VOYAGE ......... 1-800-ANADOLU  (New York)
TURSAN .............. 1-800-451-6050
                      1-212-888-1180
ISTANBUL TRAVEL ..... 1-212-868-3394
UNITED WORLD ........ 1-201-523-5950
SUNSET .............. 1-800-243-1500
                      1-818-227-5770
CONNECTION TOURS .... 1-800-367-3931
                      1-212-486-9633
S&S TRAVEL .......... 1-516-756-0275
FAME TRAVEL ......... 1-718-263-5636
TRAVEL 24 INC ....... 1-416-222-2440 (Toronto - Osman Dino)
SULTAN TRAVEL ....... 1-416-923-7936 (Toronto)
SKYTREK ............. 1-613-829-3300 (Ottowa - Leyla Baran)
MOON TRAVEL ......... 1-212-564-5839/5840 (Kazim)
TCI TRAVEL .......... 1-800-333-7033 (Dallas - Ercument Kilic)
                      1-214-630-3344

2) Can I take one or more camera/camcorder/laptop to Turkiye?

Yes, but according to law, those should be recorded to your passport
at the time of your entrance and they should be checked upon leaving.
Usually, the customs officer do not create problems for a single
camera/camcorder etc. However, it is a good practice to register
them, especially when you have more than one. (..be advised that like
most customs officers, they do not care whether you miss your plane or not..)

3) Does my <insert any electrical device here> work in Turkiye?

220 volts, 50 Hz. is used in Turkiye instead of the 120 volts, 60 Hz.
used in North America. If your device does not mind frequency, it is
easy to make it work in Turkiye by the help of an inexpensive transformer.

In particular, you may use the small transformers sold at Radio Shack for
low-energy consumption (less than 50 watts) devices. If you would like to
take a stereo (amplifier, tape deck, tuner etc.), you should buy a powerful 
220v.-120v. transformer (preferably from Turkiye, not to carry this
heavy thing with you). The amplifier, CD player, tape deck mostly do
not create problems. Tuners, on the other hand, has the problem of
different frequency spacings of radio stations in Turkiye: AM spacing
is 10 kHz instead of 9 kHz and FM spacing is 100 kHz instead
of 200 kHz. This means you may not tune AM stations accurately in
Turkiye. Finally, some turntables, which controls the pitch with the
power supply frequency may create problems: you can adjust the speed 
manually in many of them, but if this fails, the RPM drops to 5/6 of
the origin.  

4) How can I have a long distance call from Turkiye?

There are public phones available for this purpose. You need to purchase
some tokens from PTT (Turkish Post/Telegraph/Telephone Company). One
token is on the order of $1 and you probably need a few for a single call.


>>Where-to-visit, what-to-take-with-you etc. missing.


[Language]
TURKISH LANGUAGE ...........................................................

5) What is the origin of Turkish?

Turkish is an Ural-Altaic language, which is spoken in different forms from 
Balkans in the west to China and Siberia in the east. Approximately 150
million people speak Turkish in the world.

There are four main dialects of Turkish (according to Colloquial 
Turkish - Y. Mardin):
a) Oriental dialects of Altay
b) Western dialects of Kirgiz and Tatar
c) Dialects of Central Asia
d) Southern dialects: Turkmen, Azerbeycan, Anadolu, Kirim and Osmanli Turkcesi.

6) Is Turkish a hard-to-learn language?

Yusuf Mardin answers this question as follows:
"Turkish is an easy, logical language. There is no gender, no he, she or it,
but one word for all three."
"In Turkish, there are no diphtongs. When two vowels come together, each
retains its individual sound. Every letter in every word is sounded
individually and every word is pronounced as it is written."

7) Which alphabet do people use in Turkiye?

Latin alphabet with some modifications. There are 6 extra letters:
                         _    
    c   i(without dot)   g    "o    s    "u
    '                               '       
q, w, x does not exist in Turkish alphabet.

8) How can I use Turkish alphabet in Wordperfect/Mac/TeX?

Wordperfect has a Turkish keyboard file which can be used to generate 
Turkish letters by the help of Cntrl-Alt keys. For Mac, there is a 
Turkish Mac System and Turkish fonts. All of those can be found at
cs.umn.edu under the directory /pub/cosar for anonymous ftp. There is
also a Tex style file, easyturkish.sty which generates Turkish letters
for Tex document preparing system. You may contact akgul@trbilun.bitnet
for Turkish Tex and easyturkish.sty. Turkish fonts also do exist in several
sites for ftp; you may try,
host:kth.se directory:/kth/tex/stuttgart/fonts/metafont or 
host: utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp directory:/TeX/fonts for anonymous ftp. 

9) Is there any books to learn Turkish?

Yes, we even have an online tutor. The online tutor/teacher (for pc) is 
available at wuarchive.wustl.edu under the directory /mirrors/msdos/education.
We did not try it, so we do not have any idea about its completeness,
usefulness etc. The books that might be used to learn Turkish are:

- "Colloquial Turkish", Yusuf Mardin, London Routledge (several editions
exist, some includes a tape.)

- "Turkish Basic Course" (2 volumes), Lloyd B. Swift, Selman Agrali, 1966,
State Dept. Series (can be found in libraries, elemantary/intermediate level)

- "Yabancilar icin Turkce Dersleri", Kaya Can, Middle East Technical 
University, Ankara, 1981 

- "Turkish", Paul Wittek, London, 1956

The following books include Turkish stories and poems:

- "Turkish Sampler: Writings for all readers", Muge Galin, Indiana University
Turkish Studies, 1989

- "Turkish Literary Reader", Andreas Tietze, Indiana University, 1963

- "An Anthology of Turkish Short Stories", Editor: Ali Alparslan, Publications
of rge RCD Cultural Institute No:45, Istanbul, 1973

And about dictionaries:
  (by Jack Campin)
  By FAR the best portable dictionary is one you can only get in Turkiye - the
  Berlitz/ABC Kitabevi "Ingilizce-Turkce/Turkce-Ingilizce Sozluk", 1988 (ISBN
  975 09 0150 9).  It suffers from the usual problem in Berlitz materials of
  not giving you any even remotely naughty words - god help you if you have
  to explain a gynaecological problem with it - but it's wonderful on food
  terms.  About A6-sized, bright red.  If it's out of print, the Redhouse
  Elsozlugu is a reasonable substitute.[It is not out of print, I checked 
  it--ahmet]

  For a big dictionary, the Oxford two-volume one (also published cheaper
  by ABC in Turkey, in an edition that may only be sold there) is hard to
  beat, though the Redhouse Cagdas Turkce-Ingilizce Sozluk is just as good
  (one way only).  You may have problems getting that in the US.  The Oxford
  is also available in a one-volume abridgment.

10) Is there any Turkish radio programmes in North America? 

The following are the frequencies and time periods of various Turkish 
broadcasting services. 

Voice of Turkiye: (Everyday)
EUROPE   9795 kHz     21.00-22.00 GMT 31 mB. English
         9685         23.00-00.00     31     English
         9685         00.00-04.00     31     Turkish
        15267         05.01-00.00     19     Turkish
        15267         10.00-17.00     19     Turkish
         9460         17.00-23.00     31     Turkish
         9515         06.00-10.00     31     Turkish
         9515         11.00-16.00     31     Turkish

NORTH EAST
AMERICA
         9445         04.00-05.00     31      English
         9445         23.00-00.00     31      English
         9445         00.00-04.00     31      Turkish

BBC: (all according to EST. For conversion, GMT = EST + 5)

   Time         Day           Frequency
   00:15-00:30  (Mon-Sat)     6050,7325,9750
   03:00-05:00  (Sun)         1296,6015,9740,11715,15390,17695
   12:30-13:00                6085,7180,17640
   15:45-16:30  (Mon-Sat)     6125,9915,15430



[E-mail]
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION .....................................................

11) How can I communicate with someone in Turkiye via e-mail?

There are 29 EARN/bitnet and 4 Internet nodes in Turkiye. A recently 
updated list of nodes is as follows:

Node name      Organization                  City          Contact (user-id)  
-------------  --------------------------    ------------  -----------------
EARN/BITNET nodes:
trakden        Akdeniz University            Antalya       saka
tranavm1       Anadolu University            Eskisehir     onder
tranavm2       Anadolu University            Eskisehir     onder
trbilun        Bilkent University            Ankara        arkun
trboun         Bogazici University           Istanbul      kaylan
trcuniv        Cukurova University           Adana         ilhami
trdeu1         Dokuz Eylul University        Izmir         ayten
trdicle        Dicle University              Diyarbakir    baykal
trearn         Ege University                Izmir         aytac
trege1         Ege University                Izmir         aytac
trerun         Erciyes University            Kayseri       yapici
trfirat        Firat University              Elazig        uzun
trgantep       Gaziantep University          Gaziantep     ege
trhun          Hacettepe University          Ankara        unal
triuvm11       Istanbul University           Istanbul      erol
tritu          Istanbul Teknik University    Istanbul      harmanci
trktu          Karadeniz Teknik University   Trabzon       aras
trkosgeb       Small and Medium Industry
               Development Organization      Ankara        sogut
emunivm1       East Mediterranean University Mersin        necdet
trmarunv       Marmara University            Istanbul      iskar1
tromuni        Ondokuz Mayis University      Samsun        nazmit
trmetu         Middle East Technical Uni.    Ankara        anlagan
trmetua        Middle East Technical Uni.    Ankara        ozgit
tryildiz       Yildiz University             Istanbul      yahya
tryldz02       Yildiz University             Istanbul      yahya
tryok          Higher Education Council      Ankara        arinc
trtetm         Tubitak Info. Tech. Center    Ankara        selcuk
trgebze        Tubitak Gebze                 Gebze         
trmbeam        Tubitak Gebze Marmara Rsrch.  Gebze        
Internet nodes: (NOT connected to international internet yet; ftp, telnet
does not work, only for e-mail purposes.) 
4381.cc.itu.edu.tr   - Istanbul Teknik Universitesi
twr.cs.cc.itu.edu.tr - ITU Control and Computer Dept.
3090.cc.metu.edu.tr  - METU
3090.ege.edu.tr      - Ege Universitesi

If you need more information, you may contact Sitki Aytac 
(bilsay@trearn.bitnet), Network Country Coordinator for Turkiye.

12) Is there any electronic mail list for discussions related to Turkish
people/culture etc.?

Yes, there are plenty. One that's very famous is TEL, Turkish Electronic
List. The language used in communication is mostly Turkish and there is
no restriction about the topics discussed. To subscribe, one should send
a mail with the body "sub tel your_name your_family_name" to 
tel@uscvm.bitnet. Other lists can be summarized (not complete) as follows:

listname topics discussed           mail address           command for
                                                           subscription
-------- -------------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------
amiga-tr amiga users                listserv@trearn.bitnet sub amiga-tr fullname
bio-dost biological studies         listserv@trearn.bitnet sub bio-dost fullname
borsa-l  Turkish stock-exchange     listserv@trearn.bitnet sub borsa-l fullname
dost     Turkish scientists         listserv@trearn.bitnet sub dost fullname
fortran  fortran lang.              listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub fortran fullname
ieee-tr  ieee Turkish chap.         listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub ieee-tr fullname
kutup-l  Turkish libraries          listserv@trmetu.bitnet sub kutup-l fullname
macturk  mac users                  listserv@trearn.bitnet sub macturk fullname
politika Turkish politics           listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub politika fullname
progdil  programming languages      listserv@trearn.bitnet sub progdil fullname
ptt-l    everything-u               listserv@liverpool.ac.uk sub ptt-l fullname
senfoni  weekly commentory          listserv@trearn.bitnet sub senfoni fullname
tel      everything                 listserv@uscvm.bitnet  sub tel fullname
textiles textiles, clothing         listserv@trearn.bitnet sub textiles fullname
trknws-l news                       listserv@uscvm.bitnet  sub trknws-l fullname
tsaa-l   everything                 listserv@purccvm.bitnet sub tsaa-l fullname
turkce-l Turkish as a science lang. listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub turkce-l fullname
turkmath Turkish Math.              listserv@trmetu.bitnet sub turkmath fullname
turksci  science policy             listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub turksci fullname
vm-show  comics magazine            listserv@trearn.bitnet sub vm-show fullname
wl-tr    SWL in Turkiye             listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub wl-tr fullname
yoneylem Turkish OR list            listserv@tritu.bitnet  sub yoneylem fullname
yunus    Turkish tex users          listserv@trmetu.bitnet sub yunus fullname

All you have to do to subscribe to any of these lists is to send a mail
to the "mail address" containing the "command for subscription" as the body
of the message. "fullname" should be your first and last name.


[History]
HISTORY ......................................................................

Turkish history is a very long subject to include here. There are several
frequently asked questions on this issue. We allocated a directory 
(/pub/cosar/history) at cs.umn.edu for this purpose. There are articles 
there including recently posted Oztuna articles and excerpts from Coles. You 
may contact to cosar@cs.umn.edu, if you would like to upload any information 
on this topic.


Latest FAQ History:
-------------------
$Log: sct.faq,v $
   Revision 1.2  1992/07/27  18:01:00  Mustafa_Soysal
   Changed format a bit and added yoneylem mailing list at tritu
   upon Erdem Ince's request.
   Changed description of tsaa-l mailing list upon Hasan Cam's request.

   Revision 1.1  1992/07/23  18:00:34  Ahmet_Parlakbilek
   Initial Version


Please send updates to             mistik@grex.ann-arbor.mi.us (Mustafa Soysal)
===============================================================================
soc.culture.turkish                       Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List
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