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*There is one main Turkish hand gesture that leads to confusion among foreigners. It is indeed extremely ambiguous, used in very different situations and complicated to understand in its context. It consists of the index fingers of both hands rubbed against each other back and forth. Some important meanings of it include casual sex, friendship, physical contact, geographical closeness of objects or places, money, etc. You see that the meaning can range from explaining how to get somewhere or explaining that driver is going close to your destination to asking for casual sex. Nothing more can be said than to use your common sense and not to be overly paranoid.
*When it comes to accepting rides, listen to your intuition and don't worry about being picky. Remember that even if you say no to several cars you'll still not wait very long.
*To finish, a brief list of useful vocabulary in difficult situations. Check out the pronounication guide in the [[Eastern_Europe_phrasebook#Turkish|Turkish phrasebook]].
:*''çok ayıp'' - lit. "big shame", the most useful thing to say if somebody is harrassing you (sexual or not.)
:*''Allah akşina'' - lit. "for Allah's love", i.e. for God's sake
:*''kuzen'' - "cousin", ''biz kuzen'' - "we are cousins"
:*''evli'' - "married"
As a brief summary: Be aware of your body language - smiling, eye contact, being flattered by compliments are all bad ideas. As a guy hitchhiking, stand your ground, show presence. If the driver talks mostly to the girl, it's a bad sign. Girls should dress modestly and make sure not to be confused with Russian prostitutes ("rus", "natasha"). Be picky about your rides. Most importantly though, keep in mind that in 99% of the cases all will be fine, especially if you pay attention to those guidelines!
As a guy travelling with a girl it is rare that you will be hit on with the notable exception of the far Eastern part of the country. However travelling alone as a guy you will/might be asked for sex depending not so much on your attractiveness in the Western sense as on how exotic you are (i.e. being big and blond will most likely increase the level of attention). Keep in mind that just even if a guy asks you to have sex with him it does not necessarily mean he's gay. Especially in Eastern Turkey it's very common among unmarried straight men to engage in casual sex among each other as an effect of an extremely conservative society and sometimes horrible ramifications for girls having pre-maritial sex. However other than the nuisance of being asked for sex you're unlikely to run into any problems.
