Time for some fun: Guess this man

[Angela]

It shouldn't be too hard. If you know who he is, don't spoil it for others.

[Angela]

It shouldn't be too hard. If you know who he is, don't spoil it for others.

No one seems to want to play, so perhaps the interest isn't there anymore. I'll save my time for more important sections of the site as I have less and less time.

For the record, from this picture my husband thought Southern Italian. Just looking at this one picture I would have said maybe Greek Islander.

Both are wrong. He's a Turkish actor, extremely handsome in my opinion. One of my secret vices is Turkish soap operas. Yes, I know. I don't read "romance" novels aimed at women, I don't watch Spanish language novelas, or Italian ones, for that matter, I don't watch even American soap operas, but I really like these crime procedural/romance combinations that Turkey puts out. The crime procedural part always grabs me no matter the country of origin, but they add these old fashioned love stories and family loyalty stories that speak to my heart, perhaps because they're so old-fashioned compared to romances or romantic comedies made in the west. It doesn't hurt that the leads are always gorgeous and almost uniformly great actors who (the women), wear fabulous fashions.

I have to say he doesn't look like most Turks I've seen. To my eyes, admittedly not as a native of those areas, I think he would pass in the Greek Islands, but on reflexion I also think there's a sense of the ancient Iranians in him, particularly in some pictures.









Part of his popularity is no doubt those large, liquid, expressive eyes, and that great smile, in addition to his obvious acting ability, imo. He can say the most romantic soulful things, portray such sweetness, cry convincingly, and within seconds either mischievously tease and make jokes or explode into rage. He has real "access" to his emotions, as drama teachers are wont to say. :)

[ΠΑΝΑΞ]

I really appreciate those kind of approach. Something between "casting" and cllassification, art and science.
By the way, it is more than fun as the title suggests. It is "psychagogue' entertainment and of course we dont login just for having guesses. Here we make a form of
hypernaturallistic metaphysic of phenotypical gnosiology. That means in "laconic" terms:<< It is not how it looks but what the experts (me and few others) decide.
Thats it.

As it is concerns about the sample. Oh yeah, I think I met him at the walls of Troy... but I will not reveal if he was up on the walls or outside of.
(for the provocation...)

[dominique_nuit]

Having known a number of Turks here in NYC, he looks pretty damn Turkish to me

[TardisBlue]

I like those guessing games, but I'm not particularly good at it so sometimes I just don't dare to venture a guess. I would have said Southern Italian or Spanish, and Greek seems right too. I wouldn't have said Turkish, or maybe Turkish from the West coast. I've been to Turkey several times and I think men (especially on the Eastern part of Turkey, and those with Kurdish origins) generally have "tougher" looks and more angular features, with somewhat fierce deep set eyes. This guy looks more latino (as in "latin lover") to me - though seen in profile, I can see the Turkish in him.

[Angela]

Does he?

Did you know they were Turks? I mean, they were speaking Turkish or something?

The Turks I run into in NYC, and even the men in the few families who bought into my neighborhood, look more like this:



I don't know if it's more actual "Turkic" in them or maybe some of them come from closer to the Levant or what.

There must be a lot of variety in Turkey. Maybe some of them are more Greek and some more Iranian looking?

I'm dying to do a tour of all the sites there, particularly from the Classical/Christian Era, but I'm doubtful now that Ertegun has so much power.

When I said he looked like a Greek Islander, I meant someone like Mihalis Kampourakis, who might be from Cyprus? Sorry, I used to work in advertising when I was fresh out of university, and still talk about it with old friends.

[Angela]

I like those guessing games, but I'm not particularly good at it so sometimes I just don't dare to venture a guess. I would have said Southern Italian or Spanish, and Greek seems right too. I wouldn't have said Turkish, or maybe Turkish from the West coast. I've been to Turkey several times and I think men (especially on the Eastern part of Turkey, and those with Kurdish origins) generally have "tougher" looks and more angular features, with somewhat fierce deep set eyes. This guy looks more latino (as in "latin lover") to me - though seen in profile, I can see the Turkish in him.

You shouldn't. It's just for fun. :)

As I said, my husband thought he looked Southern Italian in that first picture with his wife, who is also Turkish, but where he has a beard and darker hair he joined me in saying he looked more Greek Islander or something.

In post 6 I speculated that perhaps there's a lot of variety in Turkey. Did you find that, i.e. western Turkey and Istanbul versus the east or southern Turkey?

I'd definitely be more interested in the places where a lot of the men look like Engin Akyurek! :) As people say, "you can always look"; no harm in that. :)

I really do want to see Istanbul and the ancient sites but I'm afraid given Ertegun and his changes. Did you go before or after him?

[Duarte]

Hi Angela.
I like the game, but it is very difficult to get it right. For me, overall, the people in the pictures posted have familiar faces. Looks like I've seen them somewhere in Belo, Rio or São Paulo. We Brazilians are very diverse and my ability to discover one's ethnic background gets harmed. I stopped participating because of this, but I still find the game very cool.
Cheers :)


Enviado do meu iPhone usando Tapatalk

[TardisBlue]

You shouldn't. It's just for fun. :)

As I said, my husband thought he looked Southern Italian in that first picture with his wife, who is also Turkish, but where he has a beard and darker hair he joined me in saying he looked more Greek Islander or something.

In post 6 I speculated that perhaps there's a lot of variety in Turkey. Did you find that, i.e. western Turkey and Istanbul versus the east or southern Turkey?

I'd definitely be more interested in the places where a lot of the men look like Engin Akyurek! :) As people say, "you can always look"; no harm in that. :)

I really do want to see Istanbul and the ancient sites but I'm afraid given Ertegun and his changes. Did you go before or after him?

I went way before Erdogan, at the time it was Turgut �zal. Went there with Mom 6 times from 1991 to 1998, we did the whole country from West to East and North to South. 2 big Package tours, a few sojourns on the Western resort in Summer, and a few days in Istanbul during Christmas time. Hang on a bit, I'm going to scan some old pics that show Turkish diversity… because you're right, there's much diversity there, despite what I said. What I described above is the "typical" Turkish look as I've seen it more often than not, but there are many types indeed. Ah, the good old times before the smartphones and digital cameras. Very annoying, when you want to post old pictures on the Internet!

[TardisBlue]

(photos removed)

The guy above has for me "the" typical Turkish look. He was gorgeous, a waiter at our table, it was in Western Turkey close to the seaside I think. Pic was taken more than 25 years ago so I don't think he'll mind Still, those pics being personal, they have a limited shelflife here One of our friends in our group wanted to take a pic of us together because we kinda had the same eye color. But his eyes were lighter, striking green. I've not visited many countries but lots of Turkish people have absolutely stunning eyes… blue and green with beautiful shades.

This one below, taken at the same place. Sorry for the bad quality and the graininess:


This one below, still on the Western part. Guy had light hair and a more European type:


The guys on the top right corner are Turkish, as well as the one on the bottom left:


This one was taken in Cappadocia. Guy was gorgeous too:


This one below, still on the Western part. A man and his child (or grandchild?):


I have many more pics but they're at my Mom's place. On the Western and Southern coast you have many Greek-like (?) types. On the South East, they look West Asian or Arabic, near the Armenian border and on the Northern part you have many blonde/fair haired people. Overall, young men are quite handsome. But yeah, it's really diverse - Kurdish, Greeks, Armenian, Syrian types close to the border, etc.
It's a gorgeous country with so many great sites. We saw Nemrut Dagi, Mount Ararat, Istanbul, Ephesus, Aspendos, Sumela monastery… you name it. When I feel motivated, I'll ask my Mom to bring her photo albums and I'll scan some more pics of all the wonders we saw.

[Angela]

The guy above has for me "the" typical Turkish look. He was gorgeous, a waiter at our table, it was in Western Turkey close to the seaside I think. Pic was taken more than 25 years ago so I don't think he'll mind Still, those pics being personal, they have a limited shelflife here One of our friends in our group wanted to take a pic of us together because we kinda had the same eye color. But his eyes were lighter, striking green. I've not visited many countries but lots of Turkish people have absolutely stunning eyes… blue and green with beautiful shades.

This one below, taken at the same place. Sorry for the bad quality and the graininess:


This one below, still on the Western part. Guy had light hair and a more European type:


The guys on the top right corner are Turkish, as well as the one on the bottom left:


This one was taken in Cappadocia. Guy was gorgeous too:


This one below, still on the Western part. A man and his child (or grandchild?):


I have many more pics but they're at my Mom's place. On the Western and Southern coast you have many Greek-like (?) types. On the South East, they look West Asian or Arabic, near the Armenian border and on the Northern part you have many blonde/fair haired people. Overall, young men are quite handsome. But yeah, it's really diverse - Kurdish, Greeks, Armenian, Syrian types close to the border, etc.
It's a gorgeous country with so many great sites. We saw Nemrut Dagi, Mount Ararat, Istanbul, Ephesus, Aspendos, Sumela monastery… you name it. When I feel motivated, I'll ask my Mom to bring her photo albums and I'll scan some more pics of all the wonders we saw.

If that's you in the first picture, you're absolutely stunning. They must have gone mad over you. :)

It used to be culture shock for me when I would come home from Italy to JFK airport. I'd instantly go from being the center of attention to every man 9-90 in eyesight to feeling a bit neglected. Once, my cousin, with whom I often traveled, said: "What's wrong with the men?" :)

Yes, all those types appear in this crime/procedural/love story "Black Money Love" (terrible translation), which the Turkish actor is in...

There are some blondes who are even called "Blondie" if the translation is right, some Balkan types, some Greek types, some who look more Armenian, then Caucasus like, and some who really look like they have quite a bit of actual "Turkic".

This is the female lead, who I think is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen:















Of course, I think their tv serials are known for picking good looking actors and actresses, and they certainly are...

[TardisBlue]

It used to be culture shock for me when I would come home from Italy to JFK airport. I'd instantly go from being the center of attention to every man 9-90 in eyesight to feeling a bit neglected. Once, my cousin, with whom I often traveled, said: "What's wrong with the men?" :)

Lol, I know the feeling. Never had much success in France, but my trips to Turkey boosted my self-esteem. It's me in the first pic and then the one in Cappadocia, dancing with the guy. Such a long time ago. Turkish guys are certainly very handsome, but personality and education-wise, it's a no-no. The culture clash is too big. Once we were in Van on the Eastern part, and my girl friend and I spotted a very good-looking young man so as we were young and silly, we chatted him up and took some pics with him - nothing wild or anything, it was all very mild, but still it was enough to turn the guy's head. He showed up at our hotel at night and asked to "buy" us and bring us back home with him. Thanks but no thanks!

[Angela]

Lol, I know the feeling. Never had much success in France, but my trips to Turkey boosted my self-esteem. It's me in the first pic and then the one in Cappadocia, dancing with the guy. Such a long time ago. Turkish guys are certainly very handsome, but personality and education-wise, it's a no-no. The culture clash is too big. Once we were in Van on the Eastern part, and my girl friend and I spotted a very good-looking young man so as we were young and silly, we chatted him up and took some pics with him - nothing wild or anything, it was all very mild, but still it was enough to turn the guy's head. He showed up at our hotel at night and asked to "buy" us and bring us back home with him. Thanks but no thanks!

No, in Italy it was mostly bows from elderly men, and maybe a kiss of the fingertips sent my way, or younger men turning around and calling "Ciao Bella":) When I was in my teens and traveling with my mother she'd tell them to go off and leave me alone quite sternly! As a university student traveling alone or with friends there were a lot of offers of coffee or a glass of wine. In the brief period when I smoked, taking out a cigarette meant six men offering their lighters, or if I took out a map, they'd instantly be experts on how to get where I wanted to go. :)

I know that with foreign women it used to be that it could get obtrusive, but I told the more crass ones off in Italian in no uncertain terms, so there was never any problem. I never, ever, felt unsafe.

Even when I was traveling with my husband, or with only my children, there was a special attention and gallantry. I've mentioned before the scrapes I got into with cars or trains or other mishaps of one sort or another while traveling and it always seemed like there was a nice Italian man young or old rushing to my aid. Often, if I was in a resort or restaurant, they'd hear my accent and send complimentary cantuccini and vin santo after the dinner, or a Ligurian wine. I don't think they could quite place the accent, but got it generally right. Even my children noticed it. In Sorrento once my ten year old son asked me why the waiters were always coming over more to me than to the rest of them to ask if I was happy, if everything was alright. My husband said yeah, I'd like to know too since I'm paying the bill! We all had a laugh over it.

No offers of sheep for my purchase, though!

To be fair, going at least by these serials I watch, there seem to be more educated and more westernized Turks, but with Ertegun I think he's trying to push them all back into the past. That's why I'm leery of traveling there even with a female companion.

Same with North Africa. My father was there for a long time and spoke of it often, and I've always wanted to see the places he mentioned, but his memories were of decades and decades and decades ago, and he was obviously male, so, given my husband has no interest in going, and the turmoil in recent years, I've given it a pass.

Come hell or high water, though, I'm going to Israel.

[bigsnake49]

Does he?

Did you know they were Turks? I mean, they were speaking Turkish or something?

The Turks I run into in NYC, and even the men in the few families who bought into my neighborhood, look more like this:



I don't know if it's more actual "Turkic" in them or maybe some of them come from closer to the Levant or what.

There must be a lot of variety in Turkey. Maybe some of them are more Greek and some more Iranian looking?

I'm dying to do a tour of all the sites there, particularly from the Classical/Christian Era, but I'm doubtful now that Ertegun has so much power.

When I said he looked like a Greek Islander, I meant someone like Mihalis Kampourakis, who might be from Cyprus? Sorry, I used to work in advertising when I was fresh out of university, and still talk about it with old friends.

The ones in the group photo look very Turkic. Most of the Turkish people I have met were from either Istanbul or Izmir so they looked like Greeks or Southern Italians or Spanish. Mihalis Kambourakis sounds Cretan because of -akis last name ending. There are some general rules about name endings and place of origin:
-akis: Cretan
-ou: Cypriot
-opoulos: Peloponnese & Mainland
-idis: Greek from Pontus and Eastern Thrace
-oglou: Izmir and Cappadocia

These are not hard and fast rules, there are exceptions. For example, my mother's village were all given names that ended with -akis even though they came from Eastern Thrace because the army sergeant that registered them during the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey was Cretan. I have no idea what their last name was before then. I could pay a genealogist that would go and search the bishoprics' archives, the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the tax authority archives I guess.

[Angela]

The ones in the group photo look very Turkic. Most of the Turkish people I have met were from either Istanbul or Izmir so they looked like Greeks or Southern Italians or Spanish. Mihalis Kambourakis sounds Cretan because of -akis last name ending. There are some general rules about name endings and place of origin:
-akis: Cretan
-ou: Cypriot
-opoulos: Peloponnese & Mainland
-idis: Greek from Pontus and Eastern Thrace
-oglou: Izmir and Cappadocia

These are not hard and fast rules, there are exceptions. For example, my mother's village were all given names that ended with -akis even though they came from Eastern Thrace because the army sergeant that registered them during the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey was Cretan. I have no idea what their last name was before then. I could pay a genealogist that would go and search the bishoprics' archives, the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the tax authority archives I guess.

Very interesting. It doesn't work precisely the same way in Italy, but with a lot of Italian names, maybe the majority, I can tell instantly whether the name is southern or northern Italian. It works often with first names as well.

Those kinds of name mistakes were made at Ellis Island in the U.S. by Irish customs agents. So, Chini became Kinney. My husband's surname wasn't changed, but it was misspelled. Now, half the family spell it the "changed" way, and half the "real" way. Even first names got mangled. Even his own children didn't know the real first name of my husband's grandfather. I was appalled by it, frankly.

I think, as Moesan always reminds me, that some movie or tv makers, and in some countries more than in others, they pick not only good looking people, but people from one area versus another. In the Turkish serials it seems to me that a lot of the leads look like Southern Europeans or Balkanites, and perhaps that stems from casting for those parts in Istanbul or western Turkey, while the subsidiary characters are played by people who look more, I don't know, Turkic, or Kurdish, or eastern Turkish? Maybe it's a class thing thing too?

I probably don't recognize the Southern European looking Turks I pass or encounter as Turks!

In the Italy of the last decade or two it's the opposite, I sometimes think, perhaps because more Southern Italians are in the tv and film business in this era, and the directors are making movies and shows about "their" Italy, and so the actors are more often southerners too. It was different way back when the movie makers were from Emilia Romagna or Toscana or even Rome, at least when they were making movies about those areas. I suppose people also sometimes unconsciously cast their characters to some degree by familiarity, or with whom they went to film school, etc. at least when it's not a part written as "foreign".

[MOESAN]

Does he?

Did you know they were Turks? I mean, they were speaking Turkish or something?

The Turks I run into in NYC, and even the men in the few families who bought into my neighborhood, look more like this:



I don't know if it's more actual "Turkic" in them or maybe some of them come from closer to the Levant or what.

There must be a lot of variety in Turkey. Maybe some of them are more Greek and some more Iranian looking?

I'm dying to do a tour of all the sites there, particularly from the Classical/Christian Era, but I'm doubtful now that Ertegun has so much power.

When I said he looked like a Greek Islander, I meant someone like Mihalis Kampourakis, who might be from Cyprus? Sorry, I used to work in advertising when I was fresh out of university, and still talk about it with old friends.

My first thought was it would have been a Cypriote Greek. (or Eastern Greek); he is 'mediterranean' in the broad sense, but with more 'indo-iranian' input than western med ; he seems prognathous enough for the superior maxillar, (more guess than effective constatation) what is found often among these pops, the inferior maxillar being less prognathous among them, almost receding under the mouth; here I'm not sure. His nasal profile is not "fronto-nasal", because he has some good nick under glabella, some 'brünnoid' or 'capelloid' old inheritage (some EHG's).
'indo-iranian' type has this too, the 'fronto-nasal' types could be one of the results of admixture with "soft" 'mediters' where the glabella is less developped... He isn't at all typical of the Anatolian Turks mean but can be found at some low level (individual) in Turkey for evident reasons: he represents the dolichocephalic element among them, a mix of gentle 'mediter' of previous Western Anatolia, so present among first EEF people, and something more archaic-like from Iran surroundings and surely CHGlike for DNA, sporadic since Neolithic and reinforced by diverse people from Caucasus and Iran and Eastern Caspian Sea at diverse periods, even along last partly 'east-asian' Turkic colonization.
Angela is good-eyed here, as in the other thread about an Aïnou picture (except the "darker skin", perhaps a souvenir of old pictures where everybody, even Irish people, seems brown skinned!).

[Angela]

My first thought was it would have been a Cypriote Greek. (or Eastern Greek); he is 'mediterranean' in the broad sense, but with more 'indo-iranian' input than western med ; he seems prognathous enough for the superior maxillar, (more guess than effective constatation) what is found often among these pops, the inferior maxillar being less prognathous among them, almost receding under the mouth; here I'm not sure. His nasal profile is not "fronto-nasal", because he has some good nick under glabella, some 'brünnoid' or 'capelloid' old inheritage (some EHG's).
'indo-iranian' type has this too, the 'fronto-nasal' types could be one of the results of admixture with "soft" 'mediters' where the glabella is less developped... He isn't at all typical of the Anatolian Turks mean but can be found at some low level (individual) in Turkey for evident reasons: he represents the dolichocephalic element among them, a mix of gentle 'mediter' of previous Western Anatolia, so present among first EEF people, and something more archaic-like from Iran surroundings and surely CHGlike for DNA, sporadic since Neolithic and reinforced by diverse people from Caucasus and Iran and Eastern Caspian Sea at diverse periods, even along last partly 'east-asian' Turkic colonization.
Angela is good-eyed here, as in the other thread about an Aïnou picture (except the "darker skin", perhaps a souvenir of old pictures where everybody, even Irish people, seems brown skinned!).

Thanks, Moesan.

That "archaic" ancestry is responsible for the one feature I don't particularly like: that sloping forehead and heavy eyebrow ridge.


Well,no one's perfect. :)

Still, a stunning combination for my tastes. Oh my God, is someone close to RAOUL BOVA????? :)



Just saw this one. This is as close as anyone I've seen to what my husband looked like when we were first married.

[Angela]

I think I have a partial explanation for this particular combination of features. His father's family comes from a once Armenian city called Erzincan.

He's definitely closer to Armenians in phenotype than to Turks, imo.
Vahan Teryan-Armenian poet:



Tumanyen the violinist


Armenian general




The young Charles Aznavour


William Saroyan-a very good writer, if you're not familiar with him yet.

[MOESAN]

just a precision: Charles Azanvouryan had been remodelled his nose, its previous form was very more "stereotype-armenian-like".

[Angela]

Another Turkish actor who fooled me: Cam Yaman. I would have sworn he was Italian. He's not, although neither is he Turkish ethnically; he's of Albanian descent. Lots of overlap around the Mediterranean and associated seas.



Italian versions:
Marco Mengoni


Luca Calvani

[Angela]

The young Al Pacino has a bit of that EEF/CHG thing going on, I think. He was so handsome as a young man, but he aged really badly. Maybe it was all that alcohol and nicotine. Nothing ages people worse in my opinion.





He was the best thing in "The Irishman". When he's "on" no one can touch him, even at almost 80.