A Brief History Of The Country Of Turkey.

So we will start with a brief piece on the history of Turkey.
The first inhabitants lived in the caves (6500B.C) in ÇATALHÖYÜK near KONYA in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey, and the 'Karain' cave is one of the oldest settlements known in old Anatolia (modern day Turkey). From the period of 8000 to 5500 we enter the Neolithic Age. In this period the most advanced civilizations of this age are in Anatolia.

The years between 3000 & 2000 B.C saw a new beginning in certain parts of Anatolia. In the small town of Troy, the Mediterranean people came to settle. These people were different in the fact that they were of Western origin & nothing to do with the Anatolian way of life what so ever. Troy later became a large & famous city. Most famous of all because of the Mythological Trojan War. Also at this period of time the cities of Smyrna & Ephesus appear in history.

Between 2000 & 1200 B.C saw the reign of the Hittite. These indo-european people ventured from the East to Anatolia as they believed this to be the land of Hattis. The Hittite Empire was to become a sort of Super Power of it's time, along with other great countries such as Egypt & Babylon.
Unfortunately this great civilisation came to an unfortunate end due to invasions by the Europeans who destroyed the towns, cities & villages throughout the Empire.
For the next 500 years Anatolia enters a dark period in history.

From 700 to 300 B.C Anatolia saw some major changes undertaken by the most advanced of civilisations to be found. The Capital city of Anatolia was Lydia & from here ran the longest trade route in history, until the Silk Road came along. The Kings Road ran from the West of Anatolia to Persia. Along this route came great treasures such as Gold & Silver. The Kings of Lydia were the first people to mint Gold & Silver coins. This route was to make Lydia one of the richest places on Earth at this time.

Phrigia (Gordion) was next claimed as the capital of Old Anatolia. Phrigia (situated in the Central Anatolian region) was an important area because it was at the centre of the great Kings Road. Alexander the Great took advantage of this key area & decided to slice the ties, that gave Phrigia such great wealth due to the trade route,this way he would gain full access to Asia. Phrigia was also claimed to be the home of the King, Midas.
This Era also saw the introduction of much Greek influence.With this influence a new period in the Turkish history also evolved. This period was known as the Ionian Period. Most of the Ionian cities lay along the Western Coastline around the Aegean Sea area. This area well suited the Greeks as they could sell products made in this region to the people back in Greece. This area also became well known due to the fact that many great Greeks lived here, such as Herodotus & Diogenes.

During the period between 595 & 30 B.C Anatolia once again went through some very dramatic times. The invasions by the Greeks & the Persians all left their mark on this country.
The Persians swept through Anatolia with intentions of conquering Greece, but this wasn't to be. The Greek Emperor Alexander the Great realised that the Persians were getting in his way of conquering the East & so he stopped the Persians in their tracks, thus stopping them from progressing & taking control over the Anatolian region.
Anatolia remained under Greek occupation until the Romans came along.

Aya Sofia From 30 B.C TO 395 A.D the Romans had total control of Anatolia. The Roman Era also laid to claim many other historical facts that happened throughout Anatolia such as, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar meeting Queen Cleopatra at Antioch, in the Southern Region of Anatolia, Santa Clause (St. Nicholas) was born in the Southern provinces of the region, the Virgin Mary was said to have resided & died at Ephesus (the Roman Capital of Asia) and the Christians, who managed to escape the Romans, made their way to the underground cities in Cappodocia.
Due to many differences the Roman Empire was split into two seperate Empires. The East & the West. The Eastern Empire became the Byzantine Empire.
With the division of the Roman Empire, the Emperor of the East, Constantine, decided to move the Capital of the area to Byzance. He renamed the city to Constantinople, after himself. From this period the Byzantine Empire had been born. The Emperor Justinianus was to be the last Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

From 1073 to 1923 A.D saw the rule of the 'Seljoukites' (to 1243) also known as the Rum Selcuk's (pronounced 'SEL CHUK'). These people were to form the Rum Selcuk Empire. They were known as the Rum Selcuk's,('Rum' was derived from the Roman word 'Rumi'). The term Rum help to distinguish them from the Turks established in Persia, these were known as the Great Selcuks. The Turks were hoping for total domination of Asia Minor at around this time. A major war was inevitable as the massing armies of the Turks,Mongols & Armenians all decided they wanted part of this country at some point. One of the most dynamic of the Turkish tribes, The Osmanli or Ottomans had set up home in the Bursa province (1288). With the introduction of the Ottomans the beginning of Turkey as we know it today was about to begin. The Ottomans were to extend the Byzantine Empire into Europe, but not all went well. There were endless conflicts,with many of the Ottoman leaders being killed. It wasn't until Sultan Mehmet I came to power some sort of order was re constituted. It fell upon Mehmet to restore Turkish influence in Asia Minor. When the Sultan Mehmet II succeeded to the position of Sultanate in 1451 the Ottomans knew exactly what they wanted. The conquest of Constantinople.

In 1453, after a brief siege,the city of Constantinople was taken by Sultan Mehmet II's army. After the renaming to Istanbul it became the capital of Mehmet II and gained for him the title of 'Fatih', the Conqueror. After this event began the building of some of the worlds finest architecture most notably the designd of the Mosques in & around Istanbul & throughout Turkey in general.Although Turkey is most notably a Muslim nation Christians also had an influence at some point with the Church of Saint Sophie, Aya Sophia , being recognised as one of the most fantastic of all Christian Churches throughout the world. The most famous of Mosques in Turkey has to be the 'Sultan Ahmet Camii', also known as the 'Blue Mosque', in Istanbul.
The Mosque was built between 1609 & 1617 by Mehmet Aga.
Suleyman the Magnificent has to have been one of the most influential rulers of the Ottoman Empire & he reigned until 1566. During his 46 years reign (1520 to 1566) he had managed to be able to place Turkey & it's culture into the knowledge of the outside world.

Mehmet From 1566 to 1574 Turkey was ruled by Sultan Selim II ,followed by,Sultan Murat III (1574 to 1595),Sultan Mehmet III (1595 to 1603),Sultan Ahmet I (1603 to 1617) to name but a few.
The last of the unbroken line of Ottoman Sultans was Abdul Hamid who was deposed in 1909. From here on Turkey was run by a Government & so ended the Sultanate of this country.

During the First World War,(1914 to 1918) Turkey allied with the Germans. In 1919 a young Turkish Military Officer was unhappy with the fact that due to the Germans losing the war the foreign allies had plans to carve up Turkey as spoils of war. The young officer was Mustafa Kemel Ataturk. He lead a resistance to these plans & was voted to take control of the country. Ataturk is the most famous of all to the Turkish people & is fondly known as 'Father Turk' as he is regarded as being the 'Father', founder of modern day Turkey, known as the Republic of Turkey.He died in 1938.

Father Turk Although Turkey had a troubled history it still had it's fair share of problems after the formation of the Republic. During the Second World War Turkey managed to remain neutral. In 1960 a Military coup took part but successive governments were ineffective, in 1974 a crisis erupted with Cyprus and this was followed by another Military coup in 1980 which led to a Military government for 3 years.

So ends this brief but hopefully interesting look into the history & forming of modern day Turkey.

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An Eyewitness' Turkey Travel Guide And Review