The recorded history of the country we called Turkey stretches back at least 40,000 years. The majority Asian portion of the country is very fertile as a result this part of Turkey called Anatolia was one of the first place on the earth develop agriculture and as such is one of the cradles of human civilization. In Europe, modern Turkey shares borders with Greece and Bulgaria. In the Caucasus region with Eurasian countries of Georgia and Armenia and in Asia proper with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Turkey's highest peak lies on It's border with Iran at nearly 17.000 feet or more then 5000 meters mount Ararat( Ağrı dağı) is known in the judeo- christian tradition as the place where Noah's ark was said to have come to rest.
As a result of its strategic transcontinental location the country was fought over conquered and ruled by a who's who of ancient civilizations these included the Assyrians, the Persians, Greeks, Romans, numerous Europen crusaders and finally the native Anatolian Ottoman Empire. Of all the native born sons of Anatolia special mention must be made of the writer Herodotus born in the Greek city Halicarnassus modern day Bodrum. Herodotus is rightly known as the father of history for his masterpice and only book the histories
but returned to into the Ottomans, the story of Turkey's most famous Empire is incredibly rich starting in 1300 the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire is a tale with conquest, culture, infighting and intrugue at It's very hard
It's the story of a once insignificant Anatolian tribe rising to become one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. A major power on three continents at once Europe, Asia and Africa the Ottoman Empire was a force to be reckoned with military and culturally and then as with all empires there followed the inevitable decline and fall with its and written into the peace settlements following the First World War.
Out of the ruins of an empire came the modern republic of Turkey an amazing achievement under the circumstances.
It's no wonder the man responsible for the rebirth of a nation Mustafa Kemal otherwise known as Atatürk or father of Turks is revered throughout Turkey
Picture taken from http://www.yardimcikaynaklar.com/ataturkun-okul-asker-ilke-ve-inkilap-resimleri-ve-fotograflari/
but before the republic of Turkey let's return to the ottomans each Ottoman Sultans has a story worth exploring in detail but one gets a sense of their characters from the titles by which they are known the conqueror, the warrior, the thunderbolt, the magnificent, the lawgiver, the god-like, the affable, the great and the grim.
The history of the country capital and Its changing names is the the history of country in miniature. First, settled by the Greeks in 700 BC they knew İstanbul as Byzantium. When emperor Constantine rebult the city in 330 AD as the capital Eastern Roman Empire. It was officially named new Rome better know as Constantinople. It would remain the capital of Rome in the East for more than a thousand years.
Then in 1453, Constantinople fell to Ottomans after a six weeks siege and became the new capital of this growing Ottoman Empire. Although he became known as the conqueror Sultan Mehmed II saw himself as inheritor of the Roman Empire and called himself 'ceaser of Rome' the political system founded would last for more than 450 years until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
In the 19th century, the Ottomans instituted a parliamentary system and other reforms but these changes were too little too late to stave off this disquiet among Turks who had seen Europe and wanted a more modern freer nation.
During the First World War, the Ottomans sided with Germany and fought against Allied forces at Gallipoli and against Arab on the Arabian Peninsula in a guerrilla war made famous by the British officer come legend Lavrance of Arabia. Finally, on November 1st 1922 after 623 years the Ottoman era was consigned to history, When a decree was signed abolishing the empire Mehmed the 6th the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire went into exile and Republic of Turkey was born.
At the same time the nation's capital moved to Ankara and Atatürk the man who responsible for creating the modern republic of Turkey insisted that Constantinople now be know by It's more familiar name İstanbul. Atatürk's reputation remains monumental and reaches a near cult-like status for many people in Turkey.
You can expect to see the great man's image in one form or another wherever you go, variously portrayed as a warrior civilian leader of the people and educator.
The image of Atatürk as an educator is especially notable perhaps the most significant part of Atatürk's radical program of reforms and modernization in the 1920s was the switch that saw Turkish dropped the Arapic alphabet and writing from right to left in favor of a European script written from left to right and the father of the Turks can even be found in Washington.
Picture taken from http://m.milliyet.com.tr/fotogaleri/36619-sicakhaber-ataturk-un-bilinmeyen-fotograflari/1
Istanbul remains the country's historical and cultural hub dating back to the Roman era every visitor should visit Hagia sophia a magnificent church of the old Eastern Catholic faith when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople it became a mosque but since 1935 it has been Turkey's most visit museum.
Picture taken from http://www.turizmtur.net/ayasofya
But history not all about another very important aspeckt of Turkish culture is it's position as a traiding nation which includes the flavours imported from the four corners of the Earth. Together these have been blanded to create on of the world's greatest cuisines.
Picture taken from https://www.tooistanbul.com/en/turkish-cuisine/
