Terlik

Turkey has a fascination with a particular kind of sandals, called "terlik" in Turkish.


Whenever you enter someone's house you are expected to take off your shoes, and the host will invariably offer you a pair of terlik to wear inside. Sometimes they are what we would call slippers, cushioned and made from cloth with a rubber sole for traction. Sometimes they are entirely hard rubber. Some are open-toed, and some cover your whole foot.

Every house is equipped with a handful of spare terlik for guests. In the summer you can get away with not accepting them, but in the winter your host is likely to be a little more insistent, since the floor is cold and he won't want you to get sick. This can sometimes lead to the awkward occasion of having to wear a frilly size 5 pink slipper, if that all that's left in the terlik cabinet.


The toilet terlik is in a class by itself. Many Turkish houses have both a western style toilet and a separate bathroom with a Turkish toilet. It looks like this:

Since the Turkish toilet requires putting your feet on the porcelain footholds and squatting, terlik are a must. Every house has a separate set of terlik for use in the Turkish toilet. These are usually entirely plastic (which is easier to wash) and they sit near the door to the toilet. Sometimes the toilet terlik have wooden soles and a single strap made of tire rubber. These wooden terlik are actually intended for use in a Turkish bath, called a "hamam."



Terlik are normally for indoor use only. Some people, particularly the more "village" set, sometimes wear terlik outdoors as well, but you wouldn't be likely to find someone wearing terlik in a shopping mall, for example.


We have a shoe cabinet near our door which is full of terlik. When a guest arrives, he takes off his shoes as soon as he enters and we offer them terlik. We have a variety of sizes and styles in the cabinet. There are a couple pairs of pink fluffy terlik, and there are more masculine cloth terlik as well as a few hard rubber ones. We also usually have a pair of terlik on the balcony, since it's dusty out there and we don't want to track the dirt in.


There is another interesting trend developing in public places. A doctor's office, or a fancy furniture store both have an interest in keeping their floors neat and clean. But, since it would be impractical to get people to remove their shoes when they have to have a root canal or when they are shopping for a sofa, these kinds of businesses put out a box of disposable plastic booties, called "galosh" in Turkish, that fit over your shoes and are held in place by an elastic. They make a funny sound when you walk.


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