Visiting Turkey was a fantastic experience, from the sites we saw to the people we met and learned so much about. Before visiting the country, my knowledge surrounding the social and economic position was very surface level, only knowing about the issues within Turkey from media outlets and conversations. The entire trip was memorable as we could experience so much within the time we were there.
It isn’t easy to pick only one significant aspect of the journey, as I truly believe everything we did was exciting. I enjoyed staying and travelling around Kadikoy, visiting the restaurants and markets and travelling by ferry as public transport.
Exploring Istanbul was fascinating as we had a very informative guide informing us about the city’s cultural history and development. This allowed me to understand the relationship between cultural and religious development throughout the country’s modernisation. Visiting and exploring the traditional areas within Istanbul was also very interesting as the more Islamic regions became more prominent within the community, showing a more conventional cultural perspective of the city. I genuinely believe all aspects of the trip were significant in helping me to explore and learn more about Turkey’s development.
This trip was very relatable to our course on studying the development within the Middle East and Central Asia as it helped us to personally experience the growth within Turkey through visiting the tourist attractions, the communities within the city, and, most importantly, being able to learn from Turkish lecturers who spoke about Turkey’s socio-political and economic stance within global institutions. Learning from the Turkish perspective was an exciting experience as we learnt about their relationship with the European Union and the importance of Turkey within international frameworks. Listening to their perspective firsthand was very important in understanding an in-depth study of development through the relationship of global politics with historical aspects.
I will truly treasure this trip and all the things I got to experience whilst being in Turkey; if I ever had the opportunity to visit a country again, I would explore and study the country through developmental frameworks. After having a trip focused so heavily on development, all other trips will always include exploring a journey through economic and developmental means. I recommend a trip to Istanbul, Turkey, to future students studying development as all coordinators of this trip made sure we had an educational experience whilst also enjoying our time.
Zara Khan