Recently I saw some dances by turkish belly dancer Didem on youtube .

Looking at it , I wondered , if people look down upon any girl who does belly dancing , or do they have a fan following something akin to film-stars.......or both ?

Belly dance is considered a form of art in Turkey, it doesn't have the erotic annotations as common in Arabic countries.

You don't "get laid" with a belly dancer in Turkey.

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"If you want peace, prepare for war."
Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Roman Military strategist. c. 390. A.D

There's no belly singers in night clubs...
It's just an art...

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Mate,Feed,Kill,Repeat

Dirty harry:
I know what you’re thinking: “Did he fire six shots, or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well do ya, punk

Mmmmmm, I love belly dancers.

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In the arab world there are not many bellydancers because its mostly only for the tourists,in Turkey on the other hand its part of the program in life music bars and restaurants.It mostly only takes half an hour and is considdert an artform,there are special schools for it.

In ottoman times it was mainly gypsies and Christains, because dancing didnt conflict with their beliefs. where as in Islam both dancing and being scantly dressed were haram. the entertainment industry back then, as is now was big business and the christians profited well.

The Turks back then figured,
as long as its not my family doing it, it aint haram

So everyone looked upon it as an art. keep in mind, in the Islamic world the Turks have always seen art in more liberal outlook that all other islamic nations.

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I have seen that in Central Asia, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan), it is popular as a form of aerobic exercise as well as cultural dance form with young girls and ladies of all ethnicity including Russians.

Here in Australia its become a fashion for older western ladies to belly dance to get fit and get involved in an art form.

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Must say Belly dancing is the best thing to come out of turkey. Istanbul can also be great tourist spot for wealthy Indian, it is certainly much more exotic than Europe can ever be.
@Ashdoc you should also check this German director Fatih Akın of Turkish descent who makes very nice movies.

Middle Eastern dance was a part of their culture and upbringing hence learning to belly dance came naturally. Although they loved this dance form, they pursued different career paths