# Who is the most "Middle Eastern" looking group of Europeans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178 "2013-02-13T14:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/1 "2013-02-13T14:41:27Z")
It’s multiple choice. I only put the options that people would have a potential to choose… basically the Mediterranean countries that would have received migration to/from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Balkan countries that were under Ottoman rule. I had a thread on here at one point asking how people perceived Sicilians’ appearances, since I am of that background, and people’s replies were interesting and informative. So I thought I’d ask this. Due to historical movements, it’s certain that there has been migration to and from Europe and North Africa, the Levant etc. This might seem like a “weird” question but I am actually curious. Especially on online forums you read about Turkish influence in Greece, Phoenician and North African influence in part of Italy, Moorish influence in Spain and Portugal etc. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/2 "2013-02-13T15:25:31Z")
I didn’t realize editing a thread title was an impossibility. I wanted to put (is multiple choice) at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/3 "2013-02-13T15:30:48Z")
I wanted to vote Turks but that’s not an option. The advantage is that some of them live in Europe (half of Istanbul) yet the county is mostly in the Middle East. Plus I think Turkish people are some of the best looking folks on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/4 "2013-02-13T15:38:49Z")
Some Turks live in the Balkans but as a whole Turks are considered a Middle Eastern population themselves. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/5 "2013-02-13T15:48:22Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Plus I think Turkish people are some of the best looking folks on the planet. Bing Image Search (Safe Search OFF) for Turkish Naked interestingly enough brings up mostly men, and man-on-man at that. Just in case anyone was wondering. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/6 "2013-02-13T15:58:39Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Bing Image Search (Safe Search OFF) for > Turkish Naked > interestingly enough brings up mostly men, and man-on-man at that. > > Just in case anyone was wondering. Interesting. lol. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/7 "2013-02-13T16:12:31Z")
In case anyone is wondering “Just what does a Portugese person look like?” here’s a picture with composites of [men](http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ra4f916fb6.jpg) and [women](http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2011/02/faces.jpg) from around the world. [Here’s more info on the project](http://www.faceoftomorrow.com) (although the pictures I linked to can’t be found on his site anymore). ETA: Of course, Portugal isn’t on the pictures lol But you can find a Portugese composite on the site for the project, which I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/8 "2013-02-13T16:14:56Z")
I said Sicilian, though it’s not a very considered response. Lots of ways to consider the question, among them, what exactly is “Middle Eastern Looking”? Or even inexactly, what is it? ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/9 "2013-02-13T17:02:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I said Sicilian, though it’s not a very considered response. This surprised me because usually it is. You always hear people online talking about how exotic Sicilians are. People in this thread seemed to be going for the former Ottoman Empire as far as what they picked. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/10 "2013-02-13T19:28:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > In case anyone is wondering “Just what does a Portugese person look like?” here’s a picture with composites of [men](http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ra4f916fb6.jpg) and [women](http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2011/02/faces.jpg) from around the world. [Here’s more info on the project](http://www.faceoftomorrow.com) (although the pictures I linked to can’t be found on his site anymore). > > ETA: Of course, Portugal isn’t on the pictures lol But you can find a Portugese composite on the site for the project, which I linked to. A lot of the pictures taken in Portugal according to that, do not look ethnic Portuguese and may in fact be Brazilian, Cape Verdean etc. immigrants or other colonials. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/11 "2013-02-14T00:17:51Z")
The scary guy who confronted Liam Neeson and asked him, “Why are you bothering the girl?” ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/12 "2013-02-14T14:30:50Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > The scary guy who confronted Liam Neeson and asked him, “Why are you bothering the girl?” I don’t understand the reference. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-middle-eastern-looking-group-of-europeans/650178/13 "2013-02-14T21:04:30Z")
Corsicans