Turkish culture is filled with traditions that predate Islam and have, what Turks like to call, "Shamanic" origin. The divide may even be more stark, because while they are common, they are in some way counter to fundamentalist views (which, to be fair, are not common there as they are in some Arab countries).
One way to approach the topic might be to watch "The Gift" on Netflix and realize that the book was written by a woman who practices (quite successfully, too) these Shamanic ideas. Then, the context would be that these sorts of stories and myths are extremely popular in Turkey (which is why the book was a hit) and that they live - in an uneasy, unspoken relationship - side by side with Islamic teachings that are culturally from a very different origin.
Another option is to look at Sufism and its capricious relationship with official, state sponsored Islam. Many Turks I know like to view themselves as heavily inspired by Sufism.
Not sure if I am qualified to explicate on traditions in detail, but my feeling is your intuition holds quite true, at least in Turkey. Many little things, from reading coffee, to marriage rituals, to protection against "evil eyes" and spirits, personification of devils and angels, things that are bad luck and generally most "Islamic" things that you find are unique to Turkey compared to Arab countries - are probably things that predate Islam.
One way to approach the topic might be to watch "The Gift" on Netflix and realize that the book was written by a woman who practices (quite successfully, too) these Shamanic ideas. Then, the context would be that these sorts of stories and myths are extremely popular in Turkey (which is why the book was a hit) and that they live - in an uneasy, unspoken relationship - side by side with Islamic teachings that are culturally from a very different origin. Another option is to look at Sufism and its capricious relationship with official, state sponsored Islam. Many Turks I know like to view themselves as heavily inspired by Sufism.
Not sure if I am qualified to explicate on traditions in detail, but my feeling is your intuition holds quite true, at least in Turkey. Many little things, from reading coffee, to marriage rituals, to protection against "evil eyes" and spirits, personification of devils and angels, things that are bad luck and generally most "Islamic" things that you find are unique to Turkey compared to Arab countries - are probably things that predate Islam.