I ' ve lived in Ankara and Istanbul . Turkey is a very complex country . The only other place I spent a good amount of time in , that ' s kind of equivalent , was Mogadishu . There ' s not one Turk . The influences are very Mediterranean and European , Russian and Asian . The way so many western countries are favourable to a Kurd nation is viewed as a serious slight to those currently in power . Most Turks don ' t care and will willingly shop and drink chai with any Kurd , but those in power Erdogan set the narrative . Another key political issue is the unwillingness of Erdogan to accept any viewpoint that maybe what happened to the Armenians was genocidal . If you can , I do strongly recommend visiting Istanbul and the coastal areas . Europe is young and boring compared to the history in just that one city . Hope that helps a little and maybe gives you some idea of what else to look at . I do love Turkey and if things were different I ' d move back in a heartbeat my kids keep me here