ABSTRACT
The cultural uniformities take the form of variations on common themes, perhaps the most accessible is that of cullinary culture: kebabs, stuffed vegetables, mutton stews with vegetables, sweet pastries with ground nuts. The most easily comprehensible similarities are at the level of literate, intellectual culture. The Arab linguistic and cultural effects in Iran and Turkey are well known, as are the Persian influence in Turkish culture. Moreover, within the Arab world there are many linguistic minorities: Kurds, Turkomans, Armenians and Persians. The common components of popular culture may be accounted for in terms of the historical recurrence of the stability—prosperity phase of the cycle. The economic, social and spatial bases of popular culture are being eroded as part of the general processes of "modernisation", often as a consequence of state policy. Culture has always constituted an essential component of the nationalist project, one which defines national identity.
