Quote Originally Posted by icansayit View Post
Not to sound like a know-it-all here, but back in the mid-80's. The ship I was stationed on visited IZMIR Turkey, where the U.S.Air Force had a few families who served at the Embassy outside of Izmir.

I only managed to get ashore twice there, and could see some of the Ancient artifacts the people were proud to display. I also had a pair of my civilian shoes RE-SOLED by a man who worked on the pier there. Cost me $5.00 U.S.
Funny how we also were warned (at the time) If we dropped one of the Turkish dollars called Lira (I think)...a paper bill. We were told NOT to STEP ON IT if the wind was blowing it away.
The bills had the image of ATATURK...their High Something whom they worshipped. And stepping on his face (even if it was only paper), could get you thrown in jail. (Not sure how true that is, but I never dropped anything there). Look forward to seeing that show.
Thanks
Ataturk is the "Father" of modern Turkey prior to Erdogan trying to pull it back into the Stone Age. He is credited for modernizing Turkey post WWI/Ottoman Empire. He is also credited with leading Turkish forces in the Battle of Galipoli. His government was secular nationalist and kept the Muslims and everyone else in check.

Stepping on his image was(is?) akin to stepping on God to Turks. Better to lose the Lira than step on it. The same was true about showing the soles of your feet in the direction of another person.

I guess Turks have foot fetish issues