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Identify this Famous Turk... To Jim and Peri's Commercial-free CD for Turkish Learning -- now with triple ebook bonus! Also available in Downloadable Broadband Edition Essential Suffixes Printed Book

Arts and Entertainment Turkish Superstitions of Superstars and Ordinary People Superstitious Celebrities Click for enlargement! Thanks to Gözcü Gazetesi 18 October 2006 Most Turkish superstitions are uniquely Turkish... but some are the same as ours! As you've probably already noted, we feel that it's hard to learn the Turkish language well without knowing a good deal about the Turkish people -- their culture, their traditions, their hopes and dreams. We reckon that you won't be able to exercise (or enjoy) the full potential of the language without learning about the ancient customs that Turks respect, without knowing what makes them happy or sad, without knowing what inspires them to sing, dance, and laugh. We also believe (as you've probably also noted) that a knowledge of Turkey's celebrities is useful in the language learning process -- providing a (somewhat exaggerated) microcosm that helps all of us Turkish language-learning-strugglers to better understand the rest of the Turkish population. In this article about Turkish superstitions (hurafeler) you'll be getting 'two for the price of one'. Because...as you learn more about a select group of Turkish celebrities, you'll also gain insight into what makes them and their Turkish audiences tick. Click for enlargement! Pop Singer İzel: She will never take a pair of scissors from the hand of another person -- and she will never give scissors or soap by hand to another person. She believes that if she does so, it will result in an argument between the giver and the taker. Click for enlargement! Pop Singer and Talk Show hostess Seda Sayan: To ward off evil, she taps her teeth with her finger nails. If she feels especially endangered by an evil presence, she bites the tip of her tongue as a protective measure. Click for enlargement! Film and TV Actress Berna Laçin: When she removes an item of clothing she never lets it turn inside out -- and she immediately straightens, folds, and puts it away in its proper place. Otherwise, she believes, her life will fall into disarray. Click for enlargement! Sanat Music Singer and Actress Bülent Ersoy: She can't stand the thought of the number 13. She won't stay in a hotel room with the number 13, even if it's the Presidential Suite -- and that goes for rooms with numbers whose digits add up to 13, for example 148, 256, 166, etc. And, because of her fear of germs, she tries not to kiss anyone's cheeks upon greeting or bidding them farewell (in the usual Turkish manner)... Generally, she shakes hands in such cases. Click for enlargement! Pop Music Singer Zerrin Özer (who at 45-years of age hopes to represent Turkey in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest): She always starts off to work on her right foot. And, she can't abide anything out of alignment -- always straightening objects which she finds askew. Like Berna Laçin she feels compelled to avoid disorder. Click for enlargement! Clothier Cemil İpekçi's fashion-design for the Miss Globe 2002 Contest won the 'Best Evening Dress Award', leaving behind the world’s most famous -- Versace, Armani, and Christian Dior. But he's as superstitious as any of the aforementioned Turkish artistes -- refusing ever to listen to accounts of anyone's bad dreams and filling his house with nazar boncuklar (blue-bead good-luck charms) to ward off 'the evil eye'. How many of the superstitions above do you share with these Turkish celebrities and their audiences? Related: About free-spirit Seda Sayan -- with a song clip Bülent Ersoy's slip (and more) is showing Turkish Culture -- Two Turkish traditions we especially like Turkish Culture -- 4 things you shouldn't do in Turkey Turkish Culture -- 5 things you should do in Turkey Circumcision and what many Turks believe about Westerners Also: Mature Foreign British Bride in Turkey Mature Foreign Swedish Bride in Turkey Teetotaling THY Flight Attendants want a passenger alcohol-ban Is the Drinking of Alcohol Forbidden by Koranic Decree? Troubles in Turkish Paradise -- Threats of Terrorism and Religious Excess Post your comment...»

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