Our hotels, restaurants, and our gulet/yacht toilets will be western style and hygienic. However, public toilets are another matter. Here you may often encounter the ‘a la Turca’, a ceramic square recessed into the floor with two indentations for your feet and a hole to squat over. This is because we do not believe it is hygienic to use the western style toilets publicly. In the Oriental societies, people have traditionally washed themselves with the flat of their left hand using water from the spigot or pail). While sometimes attendants will sell you paper at the entrance for a small fee you are advised to always carry your own tissues or toilet paper which you can buy in Turkey.

And in most such facilities (and on the gulet/yacht) you are expected to discard the used paper in a covered wastebasket since the pipes are narrower than yours and will clog readily if even a small amount of paper is flushed.

Turks themselves and their other facilities and homes are extremely clean. Our homes are often spotless, as we do not walk into our homes with shoes; the restaurant kitchens are hygienic, and our hotels and gulet/yacht will be immaculate.