Does Turkey Belong To Asia or Europe? | Street Interview

Did you know that Turkey lies partly in Asia and partly in Europe? The European portion of Turkey only comprises 3% of the country and the rest of the country lies in Asia. Are you curious as to how the locals identify themselves? Do they see themselves as Asian or European? To find out, for the first time ever, we hit the streets of Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia.

The opinions expressed in this video are those of individual interviewees alone and do not reflect the views of ASIAN BOSS or the general Turkish population.

0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Do you think Turkey belongs to Asia or Europe?
1:13 - Why does Turkey belong to both continents?
2:01 - Do you think Turkey belonging to two continents is good or bad?
3:12 - What kind of European and Asian influences do you see in Istanbul?
6:16 - Do you see yourself as more European or Asian?
10:52 - Turkey and the European Union
12:47 - What do you want to say to our global audience that’s curious about Turkey?

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[tsukasa]

To most Asian, Turkey is too European.
To most European, Turkey is too Asian.
To me, Turkey is Eurasian.

[kaanaktas]

As a Turkish, we're done talking about this. We are mediterranean, eastern european, western asian, balkan, anatolian and caucasian.

[b.e.]

There's a term for this: Eurasian.
Turks don't have to pick one side. Why would they? Historically, culturally and genetically they have ties with both of them.
As the guy said, Turkey is a bridge and bridges don't lay on 1 side.

[uvejspreza]

One of the most fascinating things for me in Turkish language is how the verbs are usually the last word of the sentence. This makes learning the language more difficult as you have to pay attention to the full speech until they reach the end to figure out what it is being talked about. have never seen this in any other language. Very unique. I visited Istanbul almost 3years ago. Best city in the world kesinlikle

[JanHanuko]

I studied at university in İstanbul. My apartment was located in Asian part of İstanbul and the university is located at european part of İstanbul. So basically you have to change continents everyday just to go to class, to work or home : D

[haebaragi]

I'm really happy to see Asian Boss in Turkey. Eurasian is a good term for explaining Turkey's situation. Turkey is not going to be fully a part of Asia or Europe due to conflicting opinions but I think it is a unique characteristic that shouldn't be changed.

[zhanatbagissova]

I am Kazakh. While I was watching video, I tried to read subscriptions to understand all the questions and answers. But also I was listening to Turkish people - I understood 30-40% of everything they said... Nice feelings. Turk people can understand each other for sure☺️💯

[bumin]

There is one thing that asian boss didn't mention and that's that although only 3% of turkey is geographically european it has more than 12 million people living on that tiny part (almost 15% of Turkey lives there).

[jfkgkgkhkhjgkgjgjg]

In Turkey people define themselves with religious, sectarian, ethnic, regional, lifestyle etc. identity. But no Continental.

[Joseph-qdew]

Kazakhstan and now Turkey! I’m glad Asian Boss is expanding to more and more countries 😁

[viewercjg]

My grandfather lived in Istanbul as a young man before coming to the US near the end of the Ottoman times. He was from the Balkan portion of the Empire and loved the life in the big city! He had interesting stories to tell and would close his eyes and smile when he would hear traditional Turkish music.

[davidnguyen]

This is my first time hearing Turkish, and it sounds beautiful

[jinain]

Turkish grammar is Subject + Object + Verb. Turkish is the same grammar as Korean and Japanese. their way of thinking is similar.

[annag]

I’m from the U.K. and in school geography lessons we are taught that Turkey is partly in Europe and partly in Asia so in my opinion it depends on which area of Turkey you are referring to. Anyway should it really matter? Perhaps if we weren’t all so fixated on such things the world would be more peaceful. I’ve been to Turkey and it’s a fantastic country, good people and has the most delicious food.

[patrycjawolanin]

I've been to Turkey once and it's an absolutely stunning country with rich culture. I've been to almost all europian countries but Turkey is for sure my favorite. The climate, people, cuisine - everything was fascinating. I would love to revisit this country and explore it more in the future!

[ebruuu]

As a Turk, I don't feel european or asian. I feel very distant, especially from europeans. We are Anatolian. We don't have to define ourselves as european or asian!

[jadapomu]

Okay but people thinking Europe as the ‘wise, open minded’ continent while Asia as ‘narrow minded, left behind’ is a stereotype. Asia is a big continent with really developed countries and people too. Europe is developed overall but it isn’t as open minded as it’s seems.

[jamosss]

I always called Turkey along with Russia and a few other nations, Eurasian nations since they are geographically occupying a place in both continents

[suzandefneklc]

Foreigners are more obsessed with this question than actual Turkish people. Label us however you want but remember we have our own unique culture and language that is different than the border countries except for Azerbaijan.

[Dadendrangg]

10:25 heartbreaking to hear, I hope the best for these gentlemen and the whole working class of turkey 🇹🇷✊🏼