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Articles about Turkey
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General information 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.
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Turkey factbook
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.
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Alanya
The southern cost of Turkey is one of the world’s 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. More...
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Alanya images
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Tips for travellers
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. More...
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Weather in Alanya
A typical Mediterannean climate with hot and dry summers
and mild and rainy winters dominates in Alanya. This region where winters
mostly are like summers, the summer heat is being reduced by sea-breeze in
the afternoon. The strait between Alanya peninsula and Taurus Mountains
produces an air-current and releases a positive effect on the temperature.
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First Acquaintance of the Europeans with Coffee
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. More...
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Facts for the Traveler
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.
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Attractions
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. More...
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Historical Setting
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. More...
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Ancient Anatolia
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. More...
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Turkish
Origins and Seljuks
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. More...
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The Ottoman Empire
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. More... |
