What Is a Turkish Water Closet?
A Turkish water closet, or WC, is a type of toilet found in Turkey and some parts of Europe. Also called "alaturka," traditional Turkish toilets are plumbed holes in the floor with a place for your feet that you squat over.
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Turkish Toilets
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Toilet signs in Turkey usually say "WC" or "Tuvalet." To find a restroom in Turkey, ask "Tuvalet nerede?" (too-wah-let nehr-day) which means "Where is the toilet?"
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Ladies' and Gents'
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Men's toilets are labeled "Bay" (buy) and women's toilets are "Bayan" (buy-on). Some restrooms use only pictures to indicate gender, such as a high-heeled shoe for women and a pipe for men.
Sitters and Squatters
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Public restrooms in Turkey often have both sit and squat toilets, so check all the stalls if you're not comfortable squatting.
Using a Turkish Toilet
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To use a squat toilet, place your feet to the sides of the hole in the spaces provided and squat down. Be sure to empty your back pockets to keep your stuff from falling in.
Plumbing
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Plumbing in Turkey is often not equipped for toilet paper, so put your used paper in the small bin next to the toilet.
Flushing
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Some Turkish toilets have a pull-chain flush, but others don't. There is usually a spigot and a small container next to the toilet that you use to rinse wastes down. If there's a flush, stand back before flushing, as water pressure is often unpredictable and water can spray out onto your feet.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit "Yarışma / Contest" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Duru... (Sevilay) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
