Turkey: Prosperous Entertaining
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Entertaining for business success
Most business entertaining will take place in restaurants. Turks enjoy food and the meal is a time for relaxing and engaging in some good conversation.
The protocol of Turkish hospitality dictates that the host always pays for the meal. The concept of sharing a bill is completely alien. You may try and offer to pay, which may be seen as polite, but you would never be allowed to do so. The best policy is graciously to thank the host, then a few days later invite the host to dinner at a restaurant of your choice. It may be a good idea to inform the restaurant manager that under no circumstances are they to accept payment from your guests.
Evening meals may be accompanied by some alcohol, usually the local tipple called Raki [pronounced rak-uh]. The meal will comprise of a few courses with the main course always meat or fish based, accompanied by bread and a salad.
Turks smoke during meals and will often take breaks between courses to have a cigarette and a few drinks before moving onto the next.
Tea or Turkish coffee is served at the end of a meal, sometimes with pastries. Turkish coffee is a national drink and should at least be sampled. It comes either without sugar, a little sugar or sweet. Turkish coffee is sipped and allowed to melt into the taste buds, so do not gulp it down as you would instant coffee. Never drink to the bottom of the cup, as it will be full of ground coffee and taste awful.
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