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Published: August 14th 2006
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Yesterday, I made the mistake of hanging around the Aya Sofia Square, here in Istanbul, taking some nice evening photographs. This is when the colours are at their warmest and the light from the sun is less harsh. I was approached by 6 men in 10 minutes. It always starts out the same way: "Can I ask you a question?" And on it goes. I snapped at one man who yelled back at me. I didn't mean to get angry at him as an individual, but the constant hassle was annoying.
Now, one of these men said to me that this is the Turkish way. You make friends, drink some tea, make some contacts and perhaps sell a carpet to you or your friends in the future. If this is the Turkish way, why is it only here in the Aya Sofia Square, the very centre of the Istanbul tourist sites are we tourists hassled like this? No where else has a Turk come up to me and offered me tea, ask me where I am from, where are you going, can I help you. I have been all over the city and various parts of the country, but it
is only in that square am I hassled.
I have watched these men also hassle others, and it seems that the single traveller is particularly vulnerable. Those arriving by tour bus are immune, as the safety in numbers rule applies. Couples get to walk and talk together and ignore the hassler. In no way do I feel threatened. But I find it annoying, boring and totaly transparant. I mean, really, who is going to fall for this? How many people follow this stranger to their carpet shop and buy an expensive carpet? On my first couple of hours in the city as I was heading for the Blue Mosque I was "helped" by one hassler, as another was trying to sell me a guide book. From both sides, I was getting hassled.
I should clarify that there are varying degrees of hassle. Throughout Greece and Turkey as you pass a restaurant there will be someone outside asking you to sit for dinner. Usually you can politely shake your head and say "no thank-you". And also as you pass various tourist shops, the owner / worker will be in the door asking you to enter to have a look at their merchandise. All you have to do is politely say "no thank-you". But these men in this square are extremely persistent. One sat with me as I was taking photos. One waited 10-15 minutes for me as I entered the Blue Mosque. Far from any shop, these strangers will just come up to me and start talking. They will walk and spend many minutes hassling. I suppose that if they are this persistent, they assume my resistence will wear down and I'll follow them to their shop.
Today, I took a boat trip up the Bosphorus Strait all the way to the Black Sea. It takes 1 1/2 hours to motor our way from the dock at Istanbul to the northern end of the Strait. We stopped a few times along the way, crossing between Europe and Asia. I climbed to the ruined fort that sits atop a hill overlooking the Black Sea, then walked back down and had lunch. Strangly, the only item on all the menus in all the restaurants in this small town was fish. I ate the fish as I watched many container ships, tankers and other large vessels plough their way up and down the very waters from which the fish was caught. So why is it called the Black Sea? And because I was far from the Aya Sofia Square, no hassle. This I liked.
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gail
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false economy
I have just visited Turkey for the first time we stayed not far from Marmaris (icmelar). I have had a great time however I found it difficult to deal with the hassle. I was not allowed to browse and to be quite frank I found it very daunting and would scurry out of any shop that I ventured in once I was cornered. I am sure that the Turkish people believe that this is the only way to sell but I think someone should advise them that a sure way of losing sales is to hassle. I do appreciate that many of them are on a commission only basis in a poor country but it is a shame that they do not realise that we are more likely to buy after we have been allowed to look around the shop In peace. I even went into the shops that advertised no hassle but even there it was difficult to browse without being verbally bombarded. I did manage to find a lovely man in a gift shop who left me entirely alone to browse and I ended up buying all my gifts from him in one hit. I do realise that I should accept the Turkish culture however as much as I enjoyed my stay I do not think I would go again unless I hear of changes because after all I went on holiday to relax and not be stressed.