Istanbul - Post Report Question and Answers
Is it easy to make friends with locals here? Are there any prejudices or any ethnic groups who might feel uncomfortable here?
It took a bit of time but we eventually made friends with other expats and Turks. Meeting parents via birthday parties and that type of thing was great. Turks are pretty prejudiced against Arabs, and particularly anyone who remotely looks like they're from Syria (due to the refugee situation). As said before, Turks are not generally warm or welcoming to foreigners outside the tourist areas in general interactions, but we found Turkish families one on one to be much more approachable. - Aug 2021
