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HISTORY
Turkey has been called ‘’the cradle of
civilization’’ and by traveling through
this historic land the tourists will discover
exactly what is meant by its phrase. The
world’s first town, a Neolithic city at
Catalhoyuk ( by Konya ), dates back to 6,500
BC. From the days of Catalhoyuk up to the
present time Turkey boasts of a rich culture
that trough the centuries has made a lasting
impression on modern civilization. The heir
many centuries of cultures makes Turkey a
paradise of information and cultural wealth.
Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Urartians,
Lycians, Lydians, Ionians, Persians,
Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, and
Ottomans have all held important places in
Turkey’s history, and ancient sites and
ruins scattered throughout the country give
proof to each civilization’s unique
distinction.
Turkey also has a very
fascinating recent history. Upon the decline
of the Ottoman Empire, a young man named
Mustafa Kemal, who was a soldier by occupation
but a great visionary in character, took the
defeat of World War I and turned it into a
shining victory by liberating Turkey of all
foreign invaders. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
founded the Republic of Turkey on the 29th of
October, 1923. He led his country into peace
and stability, with tremendous economic growth
and complete modernization. Through decades of
change and growth Turkey still boasts of this
success by effectively living by their adopted
motto of ‘’Peace at Home, Peace in the
World’’.
POPULATION
The current population
of Turkey is over 65 million people, of whom
60% live in the cities. Then ten most populous
cities in order are Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir
Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep, Eskisehir, Kayseri
and Diyarbakir. More than half the population
is under the age of 20.
LANGUAGE
The Turkish Language
belongs to the Ural Altaic group and has an
affinity to the Finno Hungarian languages.
Since 1928 Turkish has been written in a
phonetic, Latin alphabet of 29 letters and is
spoken by some 150 million people around the
world.
RELIGION
While Turkey is a secular
state, about 98% of the people are Muslims;
their faith is that of Islam. ‘Islam’
means ‘submission’; a Muslim is one of who
submits himself to God. Islam is the most
recent of the three great monotheistic
religions, having developed from the
revelations by God to the Prophet Mohammed. He
was born in Mecca and lived from about AD 570
to June 8,632. His activity as a Prophet
encompassed the ten years before his death.
The holy book of Islam is the Koran; it is
believed to be the revelation of God to
Mohammed. It contains 114 suras (chapters) and
6,666 ayets (verses). Allahuekber (God is
incomparable) are the words calling the people
to prayer. The non-Muslim minority people are
concentrated in Istanbul. There are Sephardic
Jews and Christians of several backgrounds:
Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Greek
Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, a few Protestants
and some others.
POLITICAL
STRUCTURE
The Turkish Republic is
based on secular democratic, pluralist and
parliamentary system, where human rights are
protected by law and social justice. The
National Assembly is elected by popular vote
and the nation is governed by the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Turkey
is a founding member of OECD, the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization, a member of
NATO, the European Council and the European
Parliament, and an associate member of the
European Community.
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