Random similarities between Turkey and Japan

ii (iyi in Turkish, but with the same pronunciation as the Japanese いい) means good in both languages

Subjects are usually left out of sentences

One of the words for teacher is sometimes used as an all round honorific (in Turkish, Hodja and in Japanese 先生- sensei)

Nationalist education with a confused reaction to the nation’s previous incarnations (the Ottoman Empire and both Tokugawa shogunate and prewar Japan) due to standing up against the West but ultimately losing and having diametrically opposed to the modern state

Taboo to talk about rightwing extremists (uyoku in Japan and the kinds of people possibly involved in the possible coup attempt in Turkey). In Turkey this includes a taboo against making the sign of the fox with your hand.

Supposed influence of those groups on mainstream right wing politics.

A secular state where most people vaguely follow the leading traditional religion(s)

Visitors often comment on the mix of modern/traditional and Western/Eastern

American allies

Nominal allies of their closest neighbours (Greece and Korea) due to alliance with Americans, but actually make life as difficult as they can for each other, for example over some uninhabited islands they both claim

Towns usually built somewhere flat, unlike Spanish or Italian hill towns

Changes in the writing system make it almost impossible for people to read ancient texts

The political head was also the religious leader (Sultan was head of Sunni Islam and pre-war Emperor was the head of Shinto)

Tea

Pottery