Articles about Turkey
Official name: The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti).
Founder: Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK (1881-1938).
Location: Eastern Mediterranean. Located on two continents: Europe and Asia.
The European part of Turkey is called Trakya (Thrace), while the Asian part
is called Anadolu (Anatolia or Asia Minor). Area: 814 578 km2. 3% on the
European continent. 97% on the Asian continent.
Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the
defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later
honored with the title Ataturk, or "Father of the Turks." Under his
authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal,
and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with
multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition
Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power.
The southern cost of Turkey is one of the worlds most beautiful regions:
sandy beaches offering eight month of swimming, wonderful landscapes and
numerous historic sites. The region, which spread along 100-200 kilometer
wide belt between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, has been a
focal point of interaction, commercial relations and political
confrontations throughout the history of mainland.
Limits: There is no limit on the amount of foreign currency that may be
brought into Turkey, but not more than 5 5,000 worth of Turkish currency may
be brought into or taken out of the country.
When Kara Mustafa Pasha came through Vienna, he was so sure that he would
capture the city and he began to plan the parade he was going to do after
the invasion. He brought the necessary objects, which he was taken from the
Topkapi Palace. As Jean Sobiesky the King of Poland took the command of the
ally armies, Pasha's hopes were broken.
Visas: Citizens from a long list of countries do not require a Visa to
enter Turkey. This list includes some South American, European, Asian and
Middle Eastern countries, so it is worth checking out whether or not you
will need a Visa. However, travelers from Canada, the UK, the USA,
Australia, Hong Kong, and a number of other countries do need a visa to
enter Turkey. Holders of UK and American passports can obtain a Visa on
arrival at the point of entry to Turkey. Those from the UK will pay 16 and
Americans 20. All other travelers who require a Visa must apply for one
before leaving for Turkey. Fees vary as do the lengths of time travelers are
permitted to stay.
Compared to Ephesus, Troy is quite dull. Some say that it loses something
without Brad Pitt running around, others see this as an improvement on the
representation. Either way Troy is no stunner - the drawcard is its sheer
history. Excavations have revealed nine ancient cities on the site, with
Troy VI or VII believed to be the setting for The Iliad.
TURKEY IS A NEW COUNTRY in an old land. The modern Turkish
state--beginning with the creation of the Republic of Turkey in the years
immediately after World War I--drew on a national consciousness that had
developed only in the late nineteenth century. But the history of nomadic
Turkish tribes can be traced with certainty to the sixth century A.D., when
they wandered the steppes of central Asia. Asia Minor, which the Turks
invaded in the eleventh century, has a recorded history that dates back to
the Hittites, who flourished there in the second millennium B.C.
Archaeological evidence of far older cultures has been found in the region,
however.
There is abundant archaeological evidence of a thriving neolithic culture
in Anatolia at least as early as the seventh millennium B.C. What may have
been the world's first urban settlement (dated ca. 6500 B.C.) has been
uncovered at Çatalhüyük in the Konya Ovasi (Konya Basin). Introduced early
in the third millennium B.C., metallurgy made possible a flourishing "copper
age" (ca. 2500-2000 B.C.) during which cultural patterns throughout the
region were remarkably uniform. The use of bronze weapons and implements was
widespread by 2000 B.C. Colonies of Assyrian merchants, who settled in
Anatolia during the copper age, provided metal for the military empires of
Mesopotamia, and their accounts and business correspondence are the earliest
written records found in Anatolia.
The first historical references to the Turks appear in Chinese records
dating around 200 B.C. These records refer to tribes called the Hsiung-nu
(an early form of the Western term Hun ), who lived in an area bounded by
the Altai Mountains, Lake Baykal, and the northern edge of the Gobi Desert,
and who are believed to have been the ancestors of the Turks. Specific
references in Chinese sources in the sixth century A.D. identify the tribal
kingdom called Tu-Küe located on the Orkhon River south of Lake Baykal. The
khans (chiefs) of this tribe accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Tang
Dynasty.
Documentation of the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According
to semilegendary accounts, Ertugrul, khan of the Kayi tribe of the Oguz
Turks, took service with the sultan of Rum at the head of a gazi force
numbering "400 tents." He was granted territory--if he could seize and hold
it--in Bithynia, facing the Byzantine strongholds at Bursa, Nicomedia
(Izmit), and Nicaea. Leadership subsequently passed to Ertugrul's son, Osman
I (r. ca. 1284-1324), founder of the Osmanli Dynasty--better known in the
West as the Ottomans. This dynasty was to endure for six centuries through
the reigns of thirty-six sultans.
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