Slavic cuisine is widely known all over the world. The range of dishes of Slavic cuisine is very diverse, and its popularity in Turkey is increasing.
Slavic cuisine is original and unique. No other country in the world has such a wide range of vegetable, meat, fish and other cold appetizers, first and second courses, sweet dishes, and culinary products.

Residents of Turkey treat everything new with great caution, and our cuisine is no exception. Turkey, our dishes amaze with their unusualness, which is worth just okroshka or, for example, borscht. The unusual appearance of our dishes alarms the Turks, but when they try them, they are delighted. Although they do not understand some Slavic dishes and even consider them strange.

What dishes do Turks like, and which ones should Turkish friends and relatives not cook?

Soups and borscht

No other national cuisine offers such a variety of soups. From ancient times to the present day, a rich assortment of first courses and seasoning soups (shchi, borscht, pickles), and hodgepodge has been preserved. There are more than 60 types of cabbage soup alone in Slavic cuisine. The people of Turkey have a real love for our borscht. Many, having tasted real borscht, look for restaurants with Russian cuisine and take friends and relatives there.

But with okroshka the Turks didn’t make love. Vegetables drenched in kvass cause great bewilderment among most people - why douse the salad? They also don’t understand cabbage soup, especially traditional sour cabbage soup.

Salads

Slavic salads are a separate topic for discussion; representatives of Turkey who have visited, for example, Russia, consider them some amazing achievement of national cuisine. Turks like many salads. For example, the same Olivier. In Turkey, it can be seen as an ingredient in Turkish fast food, as a cold aperitif in restaurants, etc. The Turks call Olivier “Russian” salad. Externally and even internally it is similar to the original, but still it is not Olivier. But they are clearly not happy with the vinaigrette. What confuses them, first of all, is their appearance. If you still manage to feed it to a Turkish guest, the first thing he will ask will be: “boiled vegetables?”, and then he may wonder why they were chopped so finely. Many residents of Turkey also do not like herring under a fur coat. This dish, a must for the holiday table in Russia, is almost impossible to get a Turk to try. First of all, because of the presence of “raw” fish in their understanding.

Jellied meat and lard

To the Turkish nation, the very idea of ​​meat jelly seems very strange. It is almost impossible to explain why broth with meat is specially cooled to a jelly-like state. And unfortunately, not many people even dare to try this dish. I think lard is not worth discussing at all. After all, Türkiye is a Muslim country and it is simply a sin for them to eat such an animal as a pig. They consider the pig to be a very dirty animal.

Pickles

Pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, which are familiar to us, often cause inexplicable delight among Turks. In Turkey, pickles are also very popular, where they are called Turshu and are most often vegetable mixtures in brine.

Yulia Christodulova

In less than a year, Russian-Turkish relations have turned 180 degrees twice. Has the attitude of ordinary Turks towards Russians changed as a result of these somersaults? What do they associate Russia with in general, what stereotypes are there in Turkish society in this regard? Lenta.ru turned to Turkish experts with these questions.

Hasan Selim Ozertem, director of the Center for Security and Energy Studies of the Organization for International Strategic Studies (USAK, Ankara), expert of the Valdai Club:

In Turkey, it is customary to distinguish between relations between people and between states. The Turks were angry that the Russian plane violated the country's airspace, but this did not change their attitude towards Russians who come to Turkey. As far as can be judged, there have never been any cases of targeted violence against Russians. Moreover, during the period of deteriorating relations, television did not inflame hatred of Russians. Thus, the crisis that erupted on November 24 last year left no noticeable scars.

But the attitude towards Russia as a foreign policy player has worsened. If in 2013 and 2015 just over 10 percent of Turks considered Russia a threat (according to a survey by Kadir Has University), then in 2016 the figure was already 34.9 percent. Only the United States was perceived by residents of Turkey as a more serious threat - 44.1 percent. After relations between the countries normalized, Russia became less likely to be seen as a threat.

In Turkish society, Russia as a state is treated with respect and is considered a politically and militarily developed power. However, we are also closely monitoring the performance of the Russian economy.

If you ask ordinary Turks who and what is a symbol of Russia and Russians for them, you will get the following answers: undoubtedly, Putin, gas and oil (in that order), nuclear weapons, Moscow, St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square with its bulbous heads, and these days - tourists. And also - don't get me wrong - the beauty of Russian women.

In addition, Turks have great respect for Russian culture, especially classical authors such as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gorky and Pushkin. I believe that Nazim Hikmet (Turkish poet, prose writer, screenwriter, playwright and public figure - approx. "Tapes.ru") and his life in Russia are well known to Turks, especially those of the left. I don’t think that Turks know modern Russian writers, composers, theater and film directors. The main reasons for this are the lack of proper interaction and the language barrier.

Due to the legacy of previous years, some groups of the population are distancing themselves from Russia. Its communist past is a problem, especially for conservatives and nationalists, but this does not mean that Russia is seen as a second-class country, on the contrary, it is taken into account and respected, although they believe that one must be careful in bilateral relations with it.

Moreover, Russia is seen as a country that contributed to the industrial modernization of Turkey during the Republican period and during the Cold War. Her contribution to the Turkish War of Independence is also known. However, Stalin's demands for control of the straits and territorial claims turned Russia into a threat.

Men love vodka, and women are beautiful - these are the main stereotypes of Turks about Russia and Russians. And the symbol of Russian power and unpredictability is, of course, the bear.

Yaşar Yakış, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey (2002–2003), expert at the Valdai International Discussion Club:

Russians are of interest to Turks depending on the level of relations between Russia and Turkey. Russians are interesting when Russia attracts attention on the international stage, regardless of the state of Russian-Turkish relations. This is speaking in general. Today, Russia and Russians are among the four important topics that periodically come to the fore in Turkish public opinion. Relations with the United States, relations with Russia, the process of accession to the European Union, the issue of Cyprus (meaning the legal status of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state recognized only by Ankara - approx. "Tapes.ru") - these are important topics for the Turks, and the order of their importance varies depending on the circumstances. And it doesn’t matter whether they sound with a plus sign or a minus sign.

Turkish society is aware that Russia is a diverse, multinational and multi-religious state. Turks also know about the dominance of the Russian language, that it is spoken by educated people in many post-Soviet countries - in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Moreover, Russian is also used there for communication within the family.

There is a visible difference between the ideas of elites and ordinary people about Russia and Russians. Elites are more likely to think about Russia and the Russian people in a broad historical perspective: about the shared imperial past of the Ottomans and Tsarist Russia, about the contributions of Tsarist and Communist Russia to modern civilization and technology, about the absence or dysfunction of democracy, about the Russo-Turkish wars, and so on. The Turkish Russian intelligentsia is represented by writers such as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Turgenev, and composers such as Tchaikovsky. If you ask business representatives about Russia, they will first of all remember Russian architecture and infrastructure.

Ordinary Turks still have information about numerous Russian-Turkish wars somewhere in the back of their minds. On the positive side, ideas about Russians are created based on direct contacts between people that began after the collapse of communism and the expansion of economic ties, after the arrival in Russia of a huge number of Turkish workers, engineers and other specialists, tens of thousands of mixed marriages, millions of Russian tourists , visiting Turkey. As for symbols, people on the street associate Russia with a bear, nesting dolls, and Caucasian dances. The strength of Russia for the Turks is expressed by the head of state, now it is President Putin.

Since the collapse of communism, positive perceptions of Russians outweigh negative ones. Such stereotypes include mutual respect and understanding. The genuine hospitality with which post-Soviet Russians greet Turks coming to Russia is another stereotype. Russian tourists in Turkey are perceived much more positively than tourists from European countries. Delving into history, we can remember: Turkish prisoners of war captured by the Russian army in 1917 said that both the Russian authorities and the people treated them politely, respecting their human dignity. Turkish workers feel more at home in Russia than in Europe. Marriages between Turks and Russians are easier to arrange than marriages between Turks and Europeans - perhaps due to the fact that Russian spouses are more adapted to the way family life works in Turkey.

Sergei Koritsky, who worked as a diplomat in Turkey for more than six years, wondered: what do Turks know and think about Russia and Russians? “What are the first three words, phrases, associations that come to your mind when you hear about Russia?” Among Koritsky's interlocutors are entrepreneurs and waiters, taxi drivers and police officers, artists, students and many others. The answers he heard were both familiar and unexpected and interesting.

Moscow. Very cold. Tourists. - Do tourists from Russia buy carpets? - Almost none... - Would you like me to send you photos by email? - I don't have an email address. (Doğan Tudun, salesman in a carpet store, 19 years old)

Aralov. Yesenin. Mamayev Kurgan. - Why Aralov? - This is the first ambassador of Soviet Russia in Ankara. Along with Frunze and Voroshilov, he played an important role in the history of the Turkish Republic. - Do you know Yesenin’s poems? - “Goodbye, my friend, without a hand, without a word...” When I was in Konstantinovo, I saw an autograph of this poem in the museum. I was very impressed. - Have you been to Volgograd? - Certainly. I was also on Mamayev Kurgan. This is the place where the history of the world was made. We must not forget the cruelty of Hitler's fascism and the heroism of Russian soldiers. - It’s a little unusual to see your UAZ on the streets of Antalya with the “Guard” sign on the door. - I really love this car. I also have a white Volga, hello from the 1970s, but it doesn’t drive, it’s parked in the hotel courtyard under the palm trees. (Aziz Dincher, hotel director)

Vodka. Beautiful girls. Visa-free regime for Turks. -Have you ever been to Russia? - No, but I really want to go. -Are you a musician? - Music is my hobby; in the evenings I play in a bar. And so I am a student, studying at the Faculty of Management of the Mediterranean University. (Mustafa Tumer, student, 26 years old)

Moscow roads have five or six lanes. Pavel Bure. Maria Sharapova. - The roads in Moscow are really wide, but traffic jams remain... - Unfortunately, this is true, but it’s still impressive. (Umit Gokdas, tennis coach, 41 years old)

Literature. Rich history. Bargain. - Why bargaining? - love to bargain. - Do you know anything from Russian literature? - I read Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground four times. (Bulent Isik, manager of a coffee shop on wheels, 28 years old)

Snow (I came to Antalya from Germany three years ago, I haven’t seen snow since then, I miss it). Majestic historical buildings (I’ve never been to Russia, but I know). I also know that Russian is a very difficult language. - Why did you come from Germany to Antalya? - Fate, probably. - Are you satisfied? - Very. (Eda Su Sezer, waitress at the bar)

Friendly people. Democracy. Decency. - Do Russians buy anything from you? - Yes, I have many buyers from Russia. (Atilla Bakhchivan, small shop owner, 60 years old)

My girlfriend. Vodka. Cold climate. - What does your girlfriend have to do with it? - She herself is from Georgia, but speaks Russian. - Do you work somewhere? - Not yet, at the end of the year I’m going to serve in the gendarmerie. (Yusuf Durmush)

Vodka. Beautiful girls... - More? - (in Russian) Board immediately. - ??? - I worked at the local airport for a long time, I will never forget these words. (Umit Chinar, 23 years old)

Lenin. Stalingrad. Gorbachev. - What comes to mind when you remember Gorbachev? - For some reason, his birthmark on his head always reminded me of a map of the island of Cyprus. (Onder Felek, restaurant manager, 29 years old)

Nazim Hikmet*. Saint Petersburg. Dostoevsky. - Have you ever been to St. Petersburg? - Yes, this city made a great impression on me. And in general: three words about Russia are very little. (Can Emiji, member of the dance group “Fire of Anatolia”, 40 years old) * Nazym Hikmet is a famous Turkish poet, the last years of his life he lived and was buried in Moscow.

A country that is friendly to us. Sochi. Red Army. - Have you been to Sochi? - No, but I watched the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics. It was great. - Why the Red Army? - I would like to see the Red Army Choir perform in Antalya. I also want to ask a question: do they shave with a straight razor in hairdressers in Russia? (Sedat Gundogdu, hairdresser)

Kazan. Gray. Train. - Have you ever been to Kazan? - No. - Why gray? - That's how I feel. - Why the train? - About 30 years ago I watched a documentary about the Trans-Siberian Railway on Turkish television. I still remember. (Agyah Gargun, coordinator of Antalya Harley-Davidson Club, 47 years old)

Hospitality. Mafia. Russian tourists - without them our hotels and pockets would remain empty. - Have you traveled to Russia? - Twice, I lived in Moscow with friends, I really liked it. - Did you see the mafia there? - No. (Baki Kefes, taxi driver, 49 years old)

Samara. Putin. Leningrad. - Why Samara? - My son is an engineer, he worked in Samara for some time. (Selcuk Sodim, 72 years old)

"Dynamo Moscow". Volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova. Happy men. - Why do you think Russian men are happy? - Because Russian women are beautiful. (Atilla Turkyilmaz, former physical education teacher, retired)

Kars*. Natural gas. Kremlin Palace. - Why Kars? - I served there. They say that Kars is very similar to ancient Russian cities. Even today there is a lot that reminds us of Russia. - Do you want to wish anything to your Russian colleagues? - To the police in Russia, and in other countries, I would like to wish patience. (Osman Bashtug, policeman, 43 years old) *Kars is a city in northeastern Turkey, in 1878–1917 it was part of the Russian Empire.

Friendly people. Hospitality. Red Square, which we really want to see. - Do Russians come to your restaurant? - Yes, often, Russians are very fond of Turkish cuisine. (Muharrem and Sibel Iyioz, owners of the Beydagi restaurant)

Moscow. St. Petersburg... - Third word? - (in Russian) “Come on!” (Buse Gundogan, member of the dance group “Fire of Anatolia”)

Great country. Art. Freedom. - In your opinion, in Russia people of art are free in their creativity? - I have many friends in Russia - artists, sculptors. I know that in their creativity they feel free. I’ll add separately: Russian sculptors are the best in the world. - Is that your portrait in the back? - Self-portrait. (Savash Altai, artist, 59 years old)

Russians are our friends. Snow. Nuclear energy. - Why did you name nuclear energy? - The Russians are building the first nuclear power plant in Turkey. -Where are you from? - From Trabzon. (Ali Shahinkaya, cafe manager, 37 years old)

Rich culture. Saint Petersburg. Along with the USA and Great Britain, the leading power in the world. (Ramazan Zerdali, restaurant worker, 25 years old)

Siberia. Borsch. Chicken Kiev. - Of the dishes mentioned above, what do you cook most often in Turkey? - Sometimes we arrange a “Russian evening” in a restaurant, then we make sure to cook chicken Kiev. (Erkan Ashci, 31 years old, Erdem Arici, 32 years old, cooks)

Our good neighbor. Great civilization. A country I would like to visit. (Talat Aktash, sea taxi captain, 44 years old)

I love these videos and lists on forums listing why the Turks love us.

We are beautiful, and well-groomed, and we go to museums and galleries, but we don’t leave theaters. And we love until we lose our pulse, and we are also smart, each of us has two higher and three languages. And we cook and raise children, and work and have time to take care of ourselves, but in bed there is generally fire, unselfish, obedient, not picky. In a word, where are the Turkish women with their seeds in front of the TV?
In short, according to the statistics of foreign brides among Turks (2017), Syrians, Azerbaijanis and Germans are in the lead. The number of German women exceeds the number of brides from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus combined. At the same time, less than four percent of Turkish citizens marry foreigners. The rest marry Turkish women.

There is no Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian language in the Turkish marriage certificate, although there are several foreign languages ​​there

A foreign wife is not a gift at all. She doesn’t know the language, she can’t officially work for the first 3-4 years, she has a different mentality, religion, and interests. She may not get along with her relatives and may not accept something else that is very important for her foreign husband.

I brush that if a relationship with a foreigner has developed, then this is rather an exception. And I really like Kipling's ballad about East and West

Oh, West is West, East is East, they will never meet,
As long as Heaven and Earth remain as God created them.
But there is no West and there is no East, there are no nations, clans and barriers,
When two strong and brave men look into each other's eyes.

West and East will never “get off the ground”, but despite this, two people from different worlds can get closer and find a common language, for example English

And live together, trying to accept differences: borscht from merejmek chorba and lard from lula kebab

And I want to believe that Ashkym and I are somewhat similar to the robber Kamal and the son of the Colonel from Kipling’s ballad. When I start turning off the music during adhan, and on Sunday he is waiting for me in the church yard. When they don't add red pepper to food because I can't eat spicy food. And when I sit visiting endless Turkish aunties, discussing the weather.

But this does not mean that the East loves the West and the Turks love the Russians.

Although if, as some do, we call love what happens in resort towns every season, then yes. Some Turks manage to out-love everyone who comes to them during the season, they are very hospitable

By the way, I had a commentator who said that in Turkey it is impossible to go outside, everyone immediately starts honking at her, shouting and whistling. I can’t understand, at what point do these screams become something flirtatious for our ladies?
Everyone wants to sell something. Selling anything other than car rims is of course easier for a woman. Men will go wild if they have to do shopping while on vacation.

Try going to any Turkish bazaar. This is what we sell in Russia: "Hello, my name is Natalya, I am an Oriflame consultant". And here they are all shouting, this is the Turkish style of trading. But listen to what they shout to their women. Abla! Sister, they are screaming. Because they respect their women. Older women are addressed as "Auntie" and others as "Sister"

And a merchant will never shout “hey, girl” to a Turkish woman, because her husband, brothers and uncles will come for him and he won’t be able to shout anything else. And they will honk at a Turkish woman only if she is driving and does not start on time at the traffic light, delaying her lane.

And then there are so many stereotypes about Russians that we are far from the love of the Turks. Beliefs about vodka, bears, wolves and rocket fuel are still alive
Many people have a very vague idea of ​​what Russia is and where it is. For example, almost no one knows that we have the largest country. And that Russia is Siberia too, and not just Moscow. About the Republics, too, almost everyone believes that they are separate, and Russia is separate. And for many, it makes no difference whether it is Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus. Just like for our people, it is a shock that Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey. Now probably fewer people think so, after so many hot news releases

So I am still far from elevating myself, a Russian virgin, above Turkish women and praising myself on forums written in Cyrillic. At least in my environment I would like to get rid of stupid stereotypes about Russia. Well, in my blog - about Turkey. Because people very easily draw conclusions about a country based on one representative.

I talk about Russia - only good things or keep quiet. I don’t know, why do some foreign women come here and this starts: “You have hard-working men here who help with the housework, but ours are lazy. You don’t drink, but here they drink. You love your children so much, but our men abandon their families and don’t pay child support. It’s so beautiful here, but here The city is full of dirt." So that they feel sorry for you and take you in your arms? It seems to me that this does not cause anything in the Turks, except perhaps disgust. But they can conclude that everything is bad there! And this is her homeland. And what is the Motherland, so is the person.

And there are others who come and start the other way around. “You don’t have this, you don’t have that, but we have everything and everything is arranged according to our minds.” Why is this? Turks love their country, it is neither hot nor cold for them here, but just right. And if an overseas bride tells him this, he can also conclude that she will go home and take the children with her. And this is fear for any father, regardless of country.

And of course they ask where is better, in Russia or Turkey. It’s like when you were a child, everyone was asked who you love more, mom or dad.
I answer that these are now my two homes, and I feel good everywhere. Even if I’m allergic to the sun and the water pressure in the shower can’t compare with ours, and I want smoked fish

Of course, it happened several times, my husband’s friends asked to introduce me to Russians. But for example, he saw my friend on Instagram, a concrete girl, not an abstract Russian one, he liked her and wanted to get to know her.

And Turkish women ask if I have an older brother. I say that there is, but not about your honor, but for this you will have to go to Siberia.
Of course they like our guys. Tall, with fair skin, and with beautiful eyes (they call any eyes except brown ones beautiful). But this still does not mean that Turkish women love Russians.

Our “client” for the neighbors is just a godsend

“Russian tourist abroad” has long become a household name and a kind of brand. Well, it’s the same, but with the prefix “in Turkey” - doubly branded. Being a people prone to reflection, coupled with self-irony, we ourselves film and write things that no foreigner would ever think of. One word - “Tagil!” - and they say it all. But only for us, and not for the Turks, who have their own view of culturally vacationing Russians.

Having talked with a considerable number of my Turkish acquaintances, I became convinced that this view on average differs in some way from our own, often overly critical, ideas about ourselves. First of all, greater goodwill.

Well, with alcohol it’s clear. “Who doesn’t drink?” - we ask quite reasonably, especially on a summer holiday, where “all inclusive” and “ultra all inclusive”. And then we ourselves come up with daring jokes about ordering “two more mini-bars” for your hotel room and about the fact that “in Antalya, it turns out, there is a sea.”

This folklore, translated into Turkish and retold to the Turks, invariably amuses them. However, having laughed a lot, they will not fail to say that Russians are a very cultured and educated people thanks to a well-established system of primary, secondary and higher education, which is not comparable to the Turkish one. If they are not interrupted in time in order to slightly lower them from heaven to earth, then even those who have never been to our country will say as a compelling argument: “Everyone in your subway reads books.” And this despite the huge number of beautiful girls in the metro rolling stock. But in Turkish, they say, everyone just stares around, however, without such compelling reasons compared to Russia.

In general, the beauty of Russian girls in the male half of the Turkish population causes constant delight, which can easily and naturally, even during a two-week vacation, be converted into a legal union of two hearts. But it would be very strange if the better half of Turkish society echoed the male one and reacted just as enthusiastically to Russian women, without inserting a pair of stilettos on their own in a purely feminine way.

Along with the recognition of the beauty of our girls (you can’t argue against a fact), from those Turkish women who are younger and more jealous, you can often hear said in a conspiratorial tone, “but Russian girls grow old quickly.” And it is useless to argue that rapid aging is still the prerogative of the southern peoples, including the Turks themselves. They get old, period... And for some reason Russian women, they say, take pictures hugging trees. The argument in competition for the attention of local men is not very good, but what can you do sometimes in the absence of the best ones.

However, from this very shaky ground, let’s step onto more solid ground: according to the Turks, Russians are good clients, not stingy, and at the same time not particularly able or fond of bargaining. Although we would like to note here that in the matter of bargaining with the Turks, few people in the world can compete. And certainly other foreign visitors to Turkey cannot be included in their number - for example, the same Europeans or Americans, who, compared to the Russians, will also be stingier.

So our client is simply a godsend for Turkish sellers. Moreover, a somewhat paradoxical situation has developed: on the one hand, our compatriots travel to Turkey a lot and with pleasure, but on the other hand, the proportion of those who truly understand Turkish products and brands and at the same time still know market prices is not very great. This, I think, is a significant contribution to the thriving Russian-Turkish shuttle trade for many years, the entire business of which is built on buying something cheaper and simpler in Turkey and selling what was later bought in Russia as “genuine Turkey” with a higher markup. At the same time, real Turkey reaches Russia much less often, and its prices in our stores are not comparable to domestic Turkish prices.

That is why the Russian Internet is replete with brand names unknown to anyone in Turkey with Russians asking where they could be purchased. Correct answer: “My address is not a house or a street, my address is Laleli/Istanbul.” From this “small Arnautskaya”, in fact, all the products. And at the same time, from the Istanbul Covered Market, famous for its counterfeits of famous world brands - “Kapali Çarşi”, which, by the way, is now being rebuilt with the hope of growing clientele. And from there, having spent very modest sums, especially by the standards of the originals, every Russian man or woman who wants can come out “all in Dolce Gabbana.”

However, the Turks themselves do not see anything reprehensible in wearing a counterfeit world label or wearing counterfeit perfume. That is why the market for both in the country is blooming and smelling, and in the literal sense of the word. For the Turks are very practical and reason simply and in everyday terms: why pay more if you can get almost the same thing much cheaper? And in this sense, Russians are treated with “understanding”.

By the way, in a curious way, the purely Turkish idea of ​​an all-inclusive vacation, which has become one of the symbols of tourist Turkey, was built on how to make something that was initially expensive cheaper.

The simple idea that a person cannot drink and eat more than he is physiologically capable of turned out to be so productive, and Turkish hotel management so effective, that the country’s tourism industry has risen to unprecedented heights in just a couple of decades.

The only disadvantage of this system is that it only works when there is a full or almost full load. This is what the industry experienced during the crisis in Russian-Turkish relations, when in 2016 the number of Russian vacationers fell sharply and barn locks on the gates of many hotels became the best alternative to the holiday season. Well, the worst thing is to directly put them up for sale.

Today, the entire tourist Turkey is literally living in anticipation of the coming summer season and the return of Russians, after reconciliation between Presidents Putin and Erdogan, to local resorts. Moreover, the Turks secretly expect that the Russians will rest not only for themselves, but also for “that guy.” By “guy” I mean those many Europeans and Americans who seem to be ignoring Turkey this year. “The West is taking revenge on Erdogan,” Turkish hoteliers say sadly.

However, the truth is that for a number of years the Turks have been selling to the Russians a Turkey that was sold easily and without any fuss. In one phrase, then five-star “all-inclusive” Turkey on the Mediterranean coast with its main resorts - Marmaris, Fethiye, Antalya and Alanya.

As a result, Turkey, favored by American and European tourists who are more mobile than Russians, with its coastal villages, boutique hotels and guesthouses, turned out to be simply “terra incognita” for Russians. And this applies to almost the entire north-west and west of the country. Just as most Russians do not associate Turkey with alternative recreation - active, medical, gastronomic, etc. Well, during the fat tourist years, Turkey did not invest in their marketing on the Russian market - and now, after a series of political crises, it is reaping the fruits of its strategic miscalculation. In fact, there is simply no one to quickly replace a Western tourist.

It is necessary to take into account the habit of our citizens for an all-inclusive vacation, which, when packaged in a tour package, turns out to be a more budget option than a boarding house, as well as the habit and understandable desire of Russians to relax in the south with that “five-star” comfort that is often so lacking in everyday Russian life. In general, their desire for a two-week period is to “become a lake and reflect the clouds”, without demonstrating excessive physical activity outside the walls of the hotel, limiting themselves to forays to the sea, the dining room, the bar - and back “to the rooms.”

And remember the fact that ecotourism, where the priority is not comfort, but communication with nature as such, is designed for the individual client - a kind of connoisseur of beauty with an active life position, of which in Russia, as it happens, there are still somewhat fewer, than in the West. So for now, the “other Türkiye” is still waiting to be discovered by guests from Russia.