Michael Doelle wrote:

(I wrote)

> > >I believe that not one Arabic (same definition) nation today, apart
> > possibly from Turkey which Mustafa Kemal (known as Ataturk or father
> > of the Turks)<
> >
> > Turks are NOT Arabs. They originate from Western China. The Uigurs are
> > original Turks, for example.

Oops, I apologise.

I quote from:

<http://www.ataturk.com>

> Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and  its first
> President, stands as a towering figure of the 20th Century.  Among the
> great leaders of history, few have achieved so much in so short period,
> transformed the life of a nation as decisively, and given such profound
> inspiration to the world at large.

I've spent about two months in Turkey, a country and its people that I
love dearly. I continue to remain astonished at their extraordinary
Graeco-Roman as well as Byzantine legacy, their equally extraordinary
facility to speak other languages, the list goes on.

To tell a little story (and get us away, perhaps, from the current
rather bitter arguments):

My then wife (and current good friend) Judith and I were going uphill
in the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, (a truly wondrous place, regardless of
the commercialism). I had a sweatshirt on with "Nescafe Gold" on its
back - and Hash House Harriers on its front. An urchin (SCUBA content
hereby noted) came up from behind , hooked his arm in mine and, in
excellent English enquired:"Sir, how can I help you spend your money?"

What did we do? We took him to lunch and avidly listened to his
stories. I'll never forget that. Incidentally, we accepted his advice
as to where we should "do" lunch. His choice was excellent. No doubt
he got a cut, but what the hey? By our standards it was cheap
regardless and it WAS authentic.

His name is Ahmet Tuncalp, he is a successful shopkeeper today (no
doubt still using that ploy) and I still consider him a friend. Oh,
and he fluently speaks Turkish, Greek (the two countries just don't
like each other - never have), English, German and French, leave alone
serious smatterings of other languages. By the way, he's not, by
Turkish standards, unusual in that linguistic ability.

When we met him he was fourteen and, whilst I might be biased, I
consider that a wonderful (in the true sense of that word) story.

Cheers,

Christian