Within my Gallery Wall, you will see my Evil Eye hanging there. In Winter of 2008, I had a friend teaching English in Antalya, Turkey. Using my accumulated Aeroplan Miles from 5 years of flying to and from cruise ship contracts, I went to visit her.

In Turkey, the Evil Eye Amulet is referred to as a nazar. The nazar is an eye-shaped amulet believed to protect against the evil eye.

The belief in the evil eye is strongest in West Asia, Latin America, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region and dates to at least the Greek classical antiquity, 6th century BCE, where it appeared on Chalcidian drinking vessels, known as 'eye cups'.

In Turkey, a typical nazar is made of handmade glass featuring concentric circles or teardrop shapes in dark blue, white, light blue and black, occasionally with a yellow/gold edge.

It is a common sight not only in Turkey but also in North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Armenia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and some regions of Georgia.

The nazar is often hung in homes, offices, cars, children's clothing, or incorporated in jewelry and ornaments to ward off effects of the evil eye, which is a superstitious curse or legend, believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when one is unaware.

They are a popular choice of souvenir with tourists, as myself was, and can be found in markets all over Turkey.