That is interesting, Colwyn
My grandson aged 6 showed me his YTL notes and he asked me who is this man on every note. I tried to explain and told him that in Turkey every shop and business has his picture on dispaly and thought nothing more of it. Later in the week we went to Megri in Fethiye to have a meal and towards the end he asked the waiter very authoritively to show him the picture of Ataturk as he could not see it. Somewhat embarrassed the waiter could not show him one on display and so took him to some other nearby stores to see if they had one on display for him to see. It was not until we went to the 3rd store (a tailors) that one was on display.
The next day in Calis he showed a store keeper his money but not to buy something but to ask about Ataturk. The store keeper face was a picture. He wasn't going to let go of his money as he just wanted an answer.
The shop keeper went on to tell him about Ataturk saying he changed the language people spoke, looked after women, run the country, was a war hero and was a great man - more great than Tony Blair or George Bush and that he died young. My grandsone appeared a bit non plussed so the store keeper said Ataturk was a hero like Robinh Hood and Spiderman - then it all clicked and my grandson understood his greatness. It was a lovely interlude to be part of and made me realise just how much my grandson likes Turkey because he is interested in it. In the same way his sister once said on a Dolmus that Turkey must be a very safe place because the young school children walk home from school without their parents.
This is why I feel that taking kids abroad in school time is no bad thing but that is another topic!
