A country of in depth history and culture, the Turkish Republic is located where the three continents of the old world, Asia, Africa and Europe, are closest to each other and straddle the point where Europe and Asia meet. Because of this geographical location, the mainland Anatolia has witnessed the mass migration of diverse peoples, shaping the course of history. Home to countless civilizations, Anatolia has developed a unique synthesis of cultures, each with its own distinct identity, yet each linked to its predecessors through insoluble threads. As a modern nation in an ancient land, Turkey today is the inheritor and conservator of such an essential, shared heritage of humanity.
WHY TURKEY?
- Since the early days of the Silk Road, Turkey has been the crossroad of creative exchange between Europe and Asia.
- Turkey is accessible from all corners of the world including Central Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East because of its geographical location.
- The citizens of 99 countries can enter Turkey without a visa.
- Turkey is a paradise for tourism.
- Turkey is a kaleidoscope of cultures and history. The beauty of the land and the spirit of the people make it an attractive and rewarding country. It is an optimistic, progressive nation with a proud and gracious way of life.
- Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were located in Turkey.
- The Hagia Sophia is one of the Seven Medieval Wonders of the World.
- Over the centuries, visitors have been enthralled by the delightful tastes of Turkey´s unique cuisine.
- Genuine warmth and generosity are characteristic of the hospitality extended to visitors since Turkish tradition declares that every traveler is "a guest of God ".
- Turkey is the only country in the world where Children’s Day is celebrated every year on April 23.
DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TURKEY?
Population: about 72 million
Area: about 780,000 square kilometers
Capital: Ankara (population about 4 million)
Main cities: Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya
Religion: Muslim (99%)
Time Zone: GMT +2
Electricity: 220 volts AC
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhichevan), and Iran to the east; Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea and Archipelago are to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north.
Separating Anatolia and Thrace are the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits (the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles), which are commonly reckoned to delineate the border between Asia and Europe, thereby making Turkey transcontinental.
Due to its strategic location astride two continents, Turkey's culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasian landmass with strong historic, cultural and economic influence in the area between the European Union in the west and Central Asia in the east; Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south; Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.
Turkey, classified as a developed country by the CIA, is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West while continuing to foster relations with the Eastern world.
Turkey is a paradise of sun, sea, mountains, and lakes that offers the vacationer a complete relief from the stress and routine of everyday life. From April to October, most places in Turkey have an ideal climate that is perfect for relaxing on sandy beaches or enjoying the tranquility of mountains and lakes. Turkey also has a magnificent past, and is a land full of historic treasures from 13 successive civilizations spanning 10,000 years.
Even if you spend only a short time in Turkey, you can see a lot of this great heritage. There is no doubt that one visit will not be enough, and you will want to come back again and again as you discover one extraordinary place after another. All of them, no matter how different, have one thing in common: the friendly and hospitable people of this unique country.
Turkey is a rapidly modernizing country with one foot in Europe and one in the Middle East. It's not all oriental splendor, mystery, intrigue and whirling dervishes but it is a spicy maelstrom of history knocking up against a pacy present. Turkish people have an unrivalled reputation for hospitality, the cuisine is to die for, the coastline is a dream, and many Turkish cities are dotted with spectacular mosques and castles. And while costs are rising, Turkey remains the Mediterranean's bargain-basement destination.
There's an enormous variety of things to see and do ranging from water sports to mountain trekking, archaeology to night-clubbing and river rafting to drinking raki. Whether you leave Turkey with magnificent carpets, amulets to ward off evil, belly-dancing tips, an appreciation of its history, or just a tan, you're likely to want to go back for more.
Turkish Culture
Turkish Culture, having been shaped for over 3000 years and moved from the Central Asia till Central Europe, is a very diverse one. Turkish Culture carries traces from both the European and Islamic cultures. Turkish language has many English, French, Persian and Arabic rooted words still used in today's modern language. Until the migration of the Turks from Central Asia to Middle East, Turks' religion was shamanism. After they contacted with the Muslim world, they started choosing Islam as their religion and just after this they started contacting the Christians of the Byzantine Empire with which they were in close contact until today. Because of the "harem" tradition of the Ottoman Sultans, even the Sultans of the Empire were not purely Turkish. Many Turks, today, have roots from the Balkans, from the Middle East, from Caucasus or even from Egypt.
Parallel to diversity of the Turkish Culture, Turkish arts also carry strong influences form both West and East. Especially after the modernization of the nation by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk after the War of Independence in 1923, Turkish arts developed rapidly and started competing against its Western rivals.
Geography
Turkey has 80 cities (administrative provinces) and 7 regions with no administrative purposes. With a coastline of about 8,300 km (5,000 miles-more than 2/3 of the border), Turkey is surrounded by 3 seas (Black in the north, Aegean in the west and Mediterranean in the south).
Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is the highest point in Turkey with a height of 5,166 meters. Turkey is one of the highest countries in the world with an average height of about 1,500 meters.
There are over 20 National Parks that are protected under laws. Turkey is one of the few countries that is agriculturally self-sufficient. More than 30% of the country is covered with forests and woodlands. Because of the varied landscape and climate of Turkey, flora and animal species are very diversified. Only in Turkey, over 9,000 species of flowers exist whereas this is only 11,500 for the whole Europe.
Climate
All of the four seasons practically exist in Turkey. Surrounded by sea on three sides, the parallel location of the high mountains and the variety of geographical formations like valleys and plateaus have led to this diversity. The climate is usually mild in the coastal regions due to the humidity from the sea. The central regions demonstrate typical characteristics of a continental climate.
The Mediterranean and Aegean regions have the Mediterranean climate. Here, summers are hot and humid while winters are mild and rainy. The Black Sea climate occurs in the northern regions of Turkey towards the Black Sea. The summer is not as hot as the Mediterranean region (about 25- 30 °C). The winter is colder than that of the south. The main characteristic of this region is the high amount of rainfall both in summer and winter. Because of this Black Sea Region has a high percentage of woodland. The continental climate is seen in regions far from the sea and is also surrounded by mountains. Temperature differences between night/day and summer/winter in this climate are very high. Rainfall is infrequent. Winters are rather long and cold while summers are short but hot.
Turkish Cuisine
Turkish cuisine, being one of the 3 major cuisines in the world (others Chinese and French), is a successful combination of Middle Eastern food (kebabs, lavash and houmous) and Mediterranean food (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and grilled meat). Hot peppers, mint, parsley, dill and yoghurt are important ingredients in Turkish cuisine (actually yoghurt is made known to the world by Turks).
Bread is an indispensable part of the Turkish daily diet. Side dishes called "meze" consisting of a number of small dishes may be served before the main course of a meal as an appetizer. Traditional side dishes include slices of melon, feta cheese, pickles, nuts, salads and vegetables but practically there are over 200 kinds of mezes.
Soups, rice and wheat dishes, meats and seafood are prepared always with vegetables such as aubergines, artichokes, beans, beetroot, chard, chick peas, cucumbers, mushrooms, onions, peppers and spinach. The famous "kebab" is a favorite Turkish food which is prepared by marinating lamb roasted on charcoal. Döner Kebap, already very famous in the Western World, is practically a roll of lamb meat on a vertical skewer turning parallel to a hot grill.
Raki, an anise flavored spirit, is the national drink of Turkey. Boza, a traditional non-alcoholic drink is made from fermented wheat berries. Turkish coffee is quite thick and black and tea is prepared over boiling water and served in small glasses. The most well-known Turkish desserts, baklava and Turkish delight (lokum in Turkish) are also made known to the world by Turks).
Did you know?
- Turkey is the only secular Muslim country in the world.
- Over two thirds of the Turkish Population is under the age of 30.
- The oldest known human settlement in Turkey is Göbekli Tepe (Southeast Anatolia) (10000 BC).
- St. Paul was born in Tarsus in South Turkey and Christianity was first bloomed in Anatolia with the first Christian Church dedicated to St. Peter. The Greek Orthodox Church is still located in Istanbul.
- Ağrı Mountain Ararat, with a height of 5,166 meters is said to be the place where Noah's Ark landed.
- The seven churches of the Book of Revelation are all located in West Anatolia - Ephesus, Smyrna (modern Izmir ), Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea .
- St. Nicholas, in other words Santa Claus, was born in Patara and lived in Myra in South Turkey.
- Only in Istanbul, over 100 Christian churches are still active today.
- The oldest known shipwreck in the world was excavated in Kas.
- Many city names actually originated in Anatolia such as Philadelphia, Paris, Antioch, Troy and the continental name "Europe".
- Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was located in Anatolia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus at Bodrum.
- The famous words "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) were said by Roman Emperor Caesar when he came to Anatolia in 47 BC.
- The Lycian Union's (in South Anatolia) federal system for governance with proportional representation was actually used as a model by the authors of the United States constitution in the 18th century.
- The famous Trojan War took place in Western Anatolia.
- The famous Dutch Tulip actually originated from Turkey and was taken to Netherlands in the 16th century.
- The color of Turquoise comes from the clean see color on the Aegean Cost in Turkey.
- The Spoonmaker's Diamond, one of the greatest pieces of diamond in the world, is displayed in Topkapı Palace.
- Virgin Mary's House, near Ephesus, where she spent her last years and died in, was visited by Pope the 6th Paul and Pope Jean Paul.
- The first known University in history is in Harran, Southeast Turkey.
