Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Istanbul (Turkey) -- Social life and customs
Of course there are many more Turkish men than women in business. Many
Turkish trading firms have been formed, many Turkish factories are
now operating and there are even quite a few small Turkish banks. All
these firms employ Turks almost exclusively. Thus gradually the Turks
are reclaiming the business of their own country from those who have
had it for centuries and as the Turks are really the only stable and
reliable element of the Near East they will surely obtain finally the
lead in Near Eastern business matters. The process will be slow as the
competition the Turks have to contend with is extremely strong and
very often not fair. But their business ability should not be gauged
by the time they will require to take a preponderant position in Near
Eastern business. They have as rivals Jews, Armenians and Greeks who
have the benefit of many centuries of experience plus old established
organizations. An old saying states that it takes one Jew to fool two
Christians, one Armenian to fool two Jews and one Greek to fool two
Armenians. The non-Turkish conception of good business in the Orient is
principally to fool those one is dealing with and Greeks, Armenians and
Jews are now more than ever trying to “deal” with the Turks!
The principal Turkish business center is, of course, in Stamboul and
the location of my office gives me the double advantage of being near
my home and among my own people. My office is right at the foot of the
hill of the Sublime Porte. It is near the station and almost on the
water front. Big transit warehouses for merchandise to be transshipped
to and from Black Sea ports are just opposite our building, but as the
warehouses are low they do not impair in any way the view I have from
my windows. In fact the view is so gorgeous and so little inducive
to work that I have turned my desk so that I have the window and the
view at my back. I believe that with such a view as the one we have in
Constantinople and with the climate we enjoy, business here will never
reach the intensiveness of business in London or in New York, despite
the fact that geographically speaking Constantinople commands a more
important economic position than any other city in the world being as
it is astride two continents. While the atmosphere of New York is so
full of electricity that one is forced to be on the go practically
all the time, and while the fog of London makes it almost a physical
pleasure to remain at work within the four walls of a cosy office,
the climate of Constantinople relaxes one's nerves and its gorgeous
scenery, its beautiful Oriental sky have an irresistible, softening
appeal, calling to the outdoors, to repose or to contemplation,
according to one's individual temperament. Although it does not make
people lazy, it renders them somewhat easy-going. They do not, they
cannot struggle with as much intensiveness as in New York or in London.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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