There are some topics you should avoid and at the top of this list are Cyprus, Bosnia, the European Union and Human Rights. Although the Turks admire the West on very many fronts, they believe that there has been prejudice and injustice displayed by the Westerners when it comes to these subjects.

Although Turkey is a country where, as the tourism brochures will tell you, East meets West, there are still enough differences to make it advisable not to be too opinionated on certain subjects. This is obviously something you need to develop a feel for, so until you feel confident that the topic is not too touchy or likely to create offence, it is sometimes best to keep a low profile when certain issues, like the ones mentioned above, arise