{"id":9076,"date":"2022-01-11T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2022-01-11T12:07:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T20:07:26","slug":"turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Turkey, officially the\u00a0Republic of Turkey,<\/sup>\u00a0is a country bridging\u00a0Europe<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Asia<\/a>. It shares borders with\u00a0Greece<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>\u00a0to the northwest; the\u00a0Black Sea<\/a>\u00a0to the north;\u00a0Georgia<\/a>\u00a0to the northeast;\u00a0Armenia<\/a>,\u00a0Azerbaijan<\/a>, and\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0to the east;\u00a0Iraq<\/a>\u00a0to the southeast;\u00a0Syria<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea<\/a>\u00a0to the south; and the\u00a0Aegean Sea<\/a>\u00a0to the west.\u00a0Turks<\/a>\u00a0form the vast majority of the nation’s population and\u00a0Kurds<\/a>\u00a0are the largest minority.<\/sup>\u00a0Turkey’s capital is\u00a0Ankara<\/a>\u00a0while its\u00a0largest city<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0financial center<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0Istanbul<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Turkey on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the world’s earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important\u00a0Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0sites like\u00a0G\u00f6bekli Tepe<\/a>, and was inhabited by ancient civilizations including the Hattians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Anatolian peoples<\/a>.\u00a0Hellenization<\/a>\u00a0started in the area during the era of\u00a0Alexander the Great<\/a>\u00a0and continued into the\u00a0Byzantine era<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0Seljuk Turks<\/a>\u00a0began migrating in the 11th century, and the\u00a0Sultanate of Rum<\/a>\u00a0ruled\u00a0Anatolia<\/a>\u00a0until the\u00a0Mongol invasion<\/a>\u00a0in 1243, when it disintegrated into small\u00a0Turkish principalities<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Beginning in the late 13th century, the\u00a0Ottomans<\/a>\u00a0started\u00a0uniting the principalities and conquering the Balkans<\/a>, and the\u00a0Turkification<\/a>\u00a0of Anatolia increased during the\u00a0Ottoman period<\/a>. After\u00a0Mehmed II<\/a>\u00a0conquered\u00a0Constantinople<\/a>\u00a0in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under\u00a0Selim I<\/a>. During the reign of\u00a0Suleiman the Magnificent<\/a>, the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>\u00a0became a\u00a0global power<\/a>. From the late 18th century onwards, the\u00a0empire’s power declined<\/a>\u00a0with a gradual loss of territories and wars.<\/sup>\u00a0In an effort to consolidate the weakening empire,\u00a0Mahmud II<\/a>\u00a0started a\u00a0period of modernization<\/a>\u00a0in the early 19th century.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a01913 coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0effectively put the country under the control of the\u00a0Three Pashas<\/a>, who were largely responsible for the Empire’s\u00a0entry into World War I<\/a>\u00a0in 1914. During\u00a0World War I<\/a>, the Ottoman government committed\u00a0genocides<\/a>\u00a0against its\u00a0Armenian<\/a>,\u00a0Assyrian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pontic Greek<\/a>\u00a0subjects.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0After the Ottomans and the other\u00a0Central Powers<\/a>\u00a0lost the war, the Ottoman Empire was\u00a0partitioned<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Turkish War of Independence<\/a>\u00a0against the occupying\u00a0Allied Powers<\/a>\u00a0resulted in the\u00a0abolition of the Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0on 1 November 1922, the signing of the\u00a0Treaty of Lausanne<\/a>\u00a0(which superseded the\u00a0Treaty of S\u00e8vres<\/a>) on 24 July 1923 and the proclamation of the Republic on 29 October 1923. With the\u00a0reforms<\/a>\u00a0initiated by the country’s first president,\u00a0Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk<\/a>, Turkey became a\u00a0secular<\/a>,\u00a0unitary<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0parliamentary republic<\/a>; which was later replaced by a\u00a0presidential system<\/a>\u00a0with a\u00a0referendum in 2017<\/a>. Since then, the new Turkish\u00a0governmental system<\/a>\u00a0under president\u00a0Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/a>\u00a0and his party, the\u00a0AKP<\/a>, has often been described as\u00a0Islamist<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0authoritarian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Hagia Sophia Istanbul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Turkey is a\u00a0regional power<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0newly industrialized country<\/a>, with a geopolitically strategic location.<\/sup>\u00a0Its\u00a0economy<\/a>, which is classified among the\u00a0emerging and growth-leading economies<\/a>, is the\u00a0twentieth-largest in the world<\/a>\u00a0by nominal GDP, and the\u00a0eleventh-largest<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0PPP<\/a>. It is a charter member of the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>, an early member of\u00a0NATO<\/a>, the\u00a0IMF<\/a>, and the\u00a0World Bank<\/a>, and a founding member of the\u00a0OECD<\/a>,\u00a0OSCE<\/a>,\u00a0BSEC<\/a>,\u00a0OIC<\/a>, and\u00a0G20<\/a>. After becoming\u00a0one of the early members<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Council of Europe<\/a>\u00a0in 1950, Turkey became an\u00a0associate member<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0EEC<\/a>\u00a0in 1963, joined the\u00a0EU Customs Union<\/a>\u00a0in 1995, and started\u00a0accession negotiations<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0European Union<\/a>\u00a0in 2005.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

Prehistory of Anatolia and Eastern Thrace:<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world. Various <\/span>ancient Anatolian<\/a>\u00a0populations have lived in\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia<\/a>, from at least the\u00a0<\/span>Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0until the\u00a0<\/span>Hellenistic period<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Many of these peoples spoke the\u00a0<\/span>Anatolian languages<\/a>, a branch of the larger\u00a0<\/span>Indo-European language family<\/a>:<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and, given the antiquity of the Indo-European\u00a0<\/span>Hittite<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Luwian<\/a>\u00a0languages, some scholars have proposed\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia as the hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages radiated<\/a>.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The European part of Turkey, called\u00a0<\/span>Eastern Thrace<\/a>, has also been inhabited since at least forty thousand years ago, and is known to have been in the Neolithic era by about 6000 BC.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

G\u00f6bekli Tepe<\/a>\u00a0is the site of the oldest known man-made religious structure, a temple dating to circa 10,000 BC,<\/sup>\u00a0while\u00a0\u00c7atalh\u00f6y\u00fck<\/a>\u00a0is a very large Neolithic and\u00a0Chalcolithic<\/a>\u00a0settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date and is a\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The settlement of\u00a0Troy<\/a>\u00a0started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the\u00a0Iron Age<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Some henges at G\u00f6bekli Tepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, England, by over seven millennia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the\u00a0Hattians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hurrians<\/a>, non-Indo-European peoples who inhabited central and eastern Anatolia, respectively, as early as c. 2300 BC. Indo-European\u00a0Hittites<\/a>\u00a0came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and Hurrians c. 2000\u20131700 BC. The first major empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the 18th through the 13th century BC. The\u00a0Assyrians<\/a>\u00a0conquered and settled parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC until the year 612 BC,<\/sup>\u00a0although they\u00a0have remained a minority<\/a>\u00a0in the region, namely in\u00a0Hakkari<\/a>,\u00a0\u015e\u0131rnak<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mardin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Sphinx Gate in\u00a0Hattusa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Urartu<\/a>\u00a0re-emerged in Assyrian inscriptions in the 9th century BC as a powerful northern rival of Assyria.<\/sup>\u00a0Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the\u00a0Phrygians<\/a>, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed by the\u00a0Cimmerians<\/a>\u00a0in the 7th century BC.<\/sup>\u00a0Starting from 714 BC, Urartu shared the same fate and dissolved in 590 BC,<\/sup>\u00a0when it was conquered by the\u00a0Medes<\/a>. The most powerful of Phrygia’s successor states were\u00a0Lydia<\/a>,\u00a0Caria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lycia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Antiquity:<\/span><\/h3>\n
Starting around 1200 BC, the coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by <\/span>Aeolian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Ionian<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Greeks<\/a>. Numerous important\u00a0<\/span>cities<\/a>\u00a0were founded by these colonists, such as\u00a0<\/span>Miletus<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Ephesus<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Smyrna<\/a>\u00a0(now\u00a0<\/span>\u0130zmir<\/a>) and\u00a0<\/span>Byzantium<\/a>\u00a0(now\u00a0<\/span>Istanbul<\/a>), the latter founded by\u00a0<\/span>Greek<\/a>\u00a0colonists from\u00a0<\/span>Megara<\/a>\u00a0in 657 BC.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The first state that was called\u00a0<\/span>Armenia<\/a>\u00a0by neighboring\u00a0peoples was the state of the\u00a0Armenian<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Orontid dynasty<\/a>, which included parts of eastern Turkey beginning in the 6th century BC. In Northwest Turkey, the most significant tribal group in Thrace was the\u00a0<\/span>Odyrisians<\/a>, founded by\u00a0<\/span>Teres I<\/a>. <\/span><\/sup>All of modern-day Turkey was conquered by the Persian\u00a0<\/span>Achaemenid Empire<\/a>\u00a0during the 6th century BC.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>Greco-Persian Wars<\/a>\u00a0started when the Greek city states on the coast of Anatolia rebelled against Persian rule in 499 BC. The territory of Turkey later fell to\u00a0<\/span>Alexander the Great<\/a>\u00a0in 334 BC,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0which led to increasing cultural homogeneity and\u00a0<\/span>Hellenization<\/a> in the area.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The\u00a0Theatre at Halicarnassus\u00a0(modern\u00a0Bodrum) was built in the 4th century BC by\u00a0Mausolus, the\u00a0Persian\u00a0satrap\u00a0(governor) of\u00a0Caria.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
Following Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms, all of which became part of the\u00a0Roman Republic<\/a>\u00a0by the mid-1st century BC.<\/sup>\u00a0The process of Hellenization that began with Alexander’s conquest accelerated under Roman rule, and by the early centuries of the\u00a0Christian Era<\/a>, the local Anatolian languages and cultures had become extinct, being largely replaced by\u00a0ancient Greek language<\/a> and culture.\u00a0From the 1st century BC up to the 3rd century CE, large parts of modern-day Turkey were contested between the\u00a0Romans<\/a>\u00a0and neighbouring\u00a0Parthians<\/a>\u00a0through the frequent\u00a0Roman-Parthian Wars<\/a>.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Library of Celsus in Ephesus was built by the Romans in 114\u2013117.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Early Christian and Byzantine Period:<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 324,\u00a0Constantine I<\/a>\u00a0chose Byzantium to be the new capital of the Roman Empire, renaming it\u00a0New Rome<\/a>. Following the death of\u00a0Theodosius I<\/a>\u00a0in 395 and the permanent division of the Roman Empire between his two sons, the city, which would popularly come to be known as\u00a0Constantinople<\/a>, became the capital of the\u00a0Eastern Roman Empire<\/a>. This empire, which would later be branded by historians as the\u00a0Byzantine Empire<\/a>, ruled most of the territory of present-day Turkey until the\u00a0Late Middle Ages<\/a>;<\/sup>\u00a0although the eastern regions remained firmly in\u00a0Sasanian<\/a>\u00a0hands until the first half of the 7th century CE. The frequent\u00a0Byzantine-Sassanid Wars<\/a>, a continuation of the centuries-long\u00a0Roman-Persian Wars<\/a>, took place in various parts of present-day Turkey between the 4th and 7th centuries CE.<\/p>\n

Several\u00a0ecumenical councils<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0early Church<\/a>\u00a0were held in cities located in present-day Turkey including the\u00a0First Council of Nicaea<\/a>\u00a0(Iznik<\/a>) in 325, the\u00a0First Council of Constantinople<\/a>\u00a0(Istanbul) in 381, the\u00a0Council of Ephesus<\/a>\u00a0in 431, and the\u00a0Council of Chalcedon<\/a>\u00a0(Kad\u0131k\u00f6y<\/a>) in 451.<\/p>\n

Seljuks and the Ottoman Empire:<\/span><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0House of Seljuk<\/a>\u00a0originated from the\u00a0K\u0131n\u0131k<\/a><\/i>\u00a0branch of the\u00a0Oghuz Turks<\/a>\u00a0who resided on the periphery of the\u00a0Muslim world<\/a>, in the\u00a0Yabgu Khaganate<\/a>\u00a0of the O\u011fuz confederacy, to the north of the\u00a0Caspian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Aral Seas<\/a>, in the 9th century.<\/sup>\u00a0In the 10th century, the Seljuks started migrating from their ancestral homeland into\u00a0Persia<\/a>, which became the administrative core of the\u00a0Great Seljuk Empire<\/a>, after its foundation by\u00a0Tughril<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the latter half of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began penetrating into\u00a0medieval Armenia<\/a>\u00a0and the eastern regions of Anatolia. In 1071, the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines at the\u00a0Battle of Manzikert<\/a>, starting the\u00a0Turkification<\/a>\u00a0process in the area; the Turkish language and\u00a0Islam<\/a>\u00a0were introduced to Armenia and Anatolia, gradually spreading throughout the region. The slow transition from a predominantly\u00a0Christian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Greek<\/a>-speaking Anatolia to a predominantly\u00a0Muslim<\/a>\u00a0and Turkish-speaking one was underway. The\u00a0Mevlevi Order<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0dervishes<\/a>, which was established in\u00a0Konya<\/a>\u00a0during the 13th century by\u00a0Sufi<\/a>\u00a0poet\u00a0Celaleddin Rumi<\/a>, played a significant role in the\u00a0Islamization<\/a>\u00a0of the diverse people of Anatolia who had previously been\u00a0Hellenized<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0Thus, alongside the Turkification of the territory, the\u00a0culturally Persianized<\/a>\u00a0Seljuks set the basis for a\u00a0Turko-Persian principal culture<\/a>\u00a0in Anatolia,<\/sup>\u00a0which their eventual successors,\u00a0the Ottomans<\/a>, would take over.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Topkap\u0131 and Dolmabah\u00e7e palaces were the primary residences of the Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul between 1465 to 1856 and 1856 to 1922, respectively.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 1243, the Seljuk armies were defeated by the\u00a0Mongols<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0Battle of K\u00f6se Da\u011f<\/a>, causing the Seljuk Empire’s power to slowly disintegrate. In its wake, one of the\u00a0Turkish principalities<\/a>\u00a0governed by\u00a0Osman I<\/a>\u00a0would evolve over the next 200 years into the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>. The Ottomans completed their conquest of the Byzantine Empire by\u00a0capturing its capital, Constantinople<\/a>, in 1453: their commander thenceforth being known as\u00a0Mehmed the Conqueror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1514, Sultan\u00a0Selim I<\/a>\u00a0(1512\u20131520) successfully expanded the empire’s southern and eastern borders by defeating Shah\u00a0Ismail I<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Safavid dynasty<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Battle of Chaldiran<\/a>. In 1517, Selim I expanded Ottoman rule into\u00a0Algeria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Egypt<\/a>, and created a naval presence in the\u00a0Red Sea<\/a>. Subsequently, a contest started between the Ottoman and\u00a0Portuguese<\/a>\u00a0empires to become the dominant sea power in the\u00a0Indian Ocean<\/a>, with\u00a0a number of naval battles<\/a>\u00a0in the Red Sea, the\u00a0Arabian Sea<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Persian Gulf<\/a>. The Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean was perceived as a threat to the Ottoman monopoly over the\u00a0ancient trade routes<\/a>\u00a0between\u00a0East Asia<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Western Europe<\/a>. Despite the increasingly prominent European presence, the Ottoman Empire’s trade with the east continued to flourish until the second half of the 18th century.<\/p>\n

The Ottoman Empire’s power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of\u00a0Suleiman the Magnificent<\/a>, who personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law.<\/p>\n

The empire was often at odds with the\u00a0Holy Roman Empire<\/a>\u00a0in its steady advance towards\u00a0Central Europe<\/a>\u00a0through the\u00a0Balkans<\/a>\u00a0and the southern part of the\u00a0Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth.<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ottoman Empire in 1683<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The\u00a0Second Ottoman Siege of Vienna<\/a>\u00a0in 1683 (the\u00a0First Siege<\/a>\u00a0was in 1529) initiated the\u00a0Great Turkish War<\/a>\u00a0(1683\u20131699) between the\u00a0Ottomans<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0Holy League<\/a>\u00a0of European states.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The\u00a0Ottoman Navy<\/a>\u00a0contended with several Holy Leagues, such as those in\u00a01538<\/a>,\u00a01571<\/a>,\u00a01684<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a01717<\/a>\u00a0(composed primarily of\u00a0Habsburg Spain<\/a>, the\u00a0Republic of Genoa<\/a>, the\u00a0Republic of Venice<\/a>, the\u00a0Knights of St. John<\/a>, the\u00a0Papal States<\/a>, the\u00a0Grand Duchy of Tuscany<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Duchy of Savoy<\/a>), for the control of the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the east, the Ottomans were often at war with Safavid Persia over conflicts stemming from territorial disputes or religious differences between the 16th and 18th centuries.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Ottoman wars with Persia<\/a>\u00a0continued as the\u00a0Zand<\/a>,\u00a0Afsharid<\/a>, and\u00a0Qajar<\/a>\u00a0dynasties succeeded the Safavids in Iran, until the\u00a0first half of the 19th century<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1568\u20131575, designed by Mimar Sinan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even further east, there was an extension of the Habsburg-Ottoman conflict, in that the Ottomans also had to\u00a0send soldiers<\/a>\u00a0to their farthest and easternmost vassal and territory, the\u00a0Aceh Sultanate<\/a><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0in\u00a0Southeast Asia<\/a>, to defend it from European colonizers as well as the\u00a0Latino invaders<\/a>\u00a0who had crossed from\u00a0Latin America<\/a>\u00a0and had Christianized the formerly Muslim-dominated\u00a0Philippines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From the 16th to the early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire also\u00a0fought twelve wars<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0Russian Tsardom<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Empire<\/a>. These were initially about Ottoman territorial expansion and consolidation in southeastern and eastern Europe; but starting from the\u00a0Russo-Turkish War (1768\u20131774)<\/a>, they became more about the survival of the Ottoman Empire, which had begun to lose its strategic territories on the northern\u00a0Black Sea<\/a>\u00a0coast to the advancing Russians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul (1609\u20131616, designed by Sedefk\u00e2r Mehmed A\u011fa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

From the second half of the 18th century onwards, the\u00a0Ottoman Empire began to decline<\/a>. The\u00a0Tanzimat<\/a>\u00a0reforms, initiated by\u00a0Mahmud II<\/a>\u00a0just before his death in 1839, aimed to modernise the Ottoman state in line with the progress that had been made in Western Europe. The efforts of\u00a0Midhat Pasha<\/a>\u00a0during the late Tanzimat era led the Ottoman\u00a0constitutional movement of 1876<\/a>, which introduced the\u00a0First Constitutional Era<\/a>, but these efforts proved to be inadequate in most fields, and failed to stop the\u00a0dissolution of the empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the empire gradually shrank in size, military power and wealth; especially after the\u00a0Ottoman economic crisis and default<\/a>\u00a0in 1875<\/sup>\u00a0which led to uprisings in the Balkan provinces that culminated in the\u00a0Russo-Turkish War (1877\u20131878)<\/a>; many Balkan Muslims migrated to the Empire’s heartland in Anatolia,<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0along with the\u00a0Circassians<\/a>\u00a0fleeing the\u00a0Russian conquest<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Caucasus<\/a>. The decline of the Ottoman Empire led to a\u00a0rise in nationalist sentiment among its various subject peoples<\/a>, leading to increased ethnic tensions which occasionally burst into violence, such as the\u00a0Hamidian massacres<\/a> of Armenians.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kaiser Wilhelm II with Sultan Mehmed V and Enver Pasha in Constantinople (Istanbul), 1917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0The loss of\u00a0<\/span>Rumelia<\/a>\u00a0(Ottoman territories in Europe) with the\u00a0<\/span>First Balkan War<\/a>\u00a0(1912\u20131913) was followed by the arrival of millions of Muslim refugees (<\/span>muhacir<\/a><\/i>) to Istanbul and Anatolia. <\/span><\/sup>Historically, the\u00a0<\/span>Rumelia Eyalet<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia Eyalet<\/a>\u00a0had formed the\u00a0<\/span>administrative<\/a>\u00a0core of the Ottoman Empire, with their governors titled\u00a0<\/span>Beylerbeyi<\/a>\u00a0participating in the Sultan’s\u00a0<\/span>Divan<\/a>, so the loss of all Balkan provinces beyond the\u00a0<\/span>Midye<\/a>–<\/span>Enez<\/a>\u00a0border line according to the\u00a0<\/span>London Conference of 1912\u201313<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>Treaty of London (1913)<\/a>\u00a0was a major shock for the Ottoman society and led to the\u00a0<\/span>1913 Ottoman coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>. In the\u00a0<\/span>Second Balkan War<\/a>\u00a0(1913) the Ottomans managed to recover their former capital\u00a0<\/span>Edirne<\/a>\u00a0(Adrianople) and its surrounding areas in\u00a0<\/span>East Thrace<\/a>, which was formalised with the\u00a0<\/span>Treaty of Constantinople (1913)<\/a>. The 1913 coup d’\u00e9tat effectively put the country under the control of the\u00a0<\/span>Three Pashas<\/a>, making sultans\u00a0<\/span>Mehmed V<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Mehmed VI<\/a>\u00a0largely symbolic figureheads with no real political power.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Armenian civilians being deported during the\u00a0Armenian genocide<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
The Ottoman Empire entered <\/span>World War I<\/a>\u00a0on the side of the\u00a0<\/span>Central Powers<\/a>\u00a0and was ultimately defeated. The Ottomans successfully defended the\u00a0<\/span>Dardanelles<\/a>\u00a0strait during the\u00a0<\/span>Gallipoli campaign<\/a>\u00a0(1915\u20131916) and achieved initial victories against British forces in the first two years of the\u00a0<\/span>Mesopotamian campaign<\/a>, such as the\u00a0<\/span>Siege of Kut<\/a>\u00a0(1915\u20131916); but the\u00a0<\/span>Arab Revolt<\/a>\u00a0(1916\u20131918) turned the tide against the Ottomans in the Middle East. In the\u00a0<\/span>Caucasus campaign<\/a>, however, the Russian forces had the upper hand from the beginning, especially after the\u00a0<\/span>Battle of Sarikamish<\/a>\u00a0(1914\u20131915). Russian forces advanced into northeastern Anatolia and controlled the major cities there until retreating from World War I with the\u00a0<\/span>Treaty of Brest-Litovsk<\/a>\u00a0following the\u00a0<\/span>Russian Revolution<\/a>\u00a0(1917). During the war, the empire’s Armenians were\u00a0<\/span>deported<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>Syria<\/a>\u00a0as part of the\u00a0<\/span>Armenian genocide<\/a>. As a result, an estimated 600,000<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0to more than 1 million,<\/span><\/sup> or up to 1.5 million<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Armenians<\/a>\u00a0were killed. The Turkish government has\u00a0<\/span>refused to acknowledge<\/a>\u00a0the events as\u00a0<\/span>genocide<\/a>\u00a0and states that Armenians were only\u00a0<\/span>relocated<\/a> from the eastern war zone.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Genocidal campaigns were also committed against the empire’s other minority groups such as the\u00a0<\/span>Assyrians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Greeks<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0Following the\u00a0<\/span>Armistice of Mudros<\/a>\u00a0on 30 October 1918, the victorious\u00a0<\/span>Allied Powers<\/a>\u00a0sought to\u00a0<\/span>partition the Ottoman state<\/a>\u00a0through the 1920\u00a0<\/span>Treaty of S\u00e8vres<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Republic of Turkey:<\/span><\/h3>\n
The\u00a0occupation of Istanbul<\/a>\u00a0(1918) and\u00a0\u0130zmir<\/a>\u00a0(1919) by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the\u00a0Turkish National Movement<\/a>. Under the leadership of\u00a0Mustafa Kemal<\/a>\u00a0Pasha<\/a>, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the\u00a0Battle of Gallipoli<\/a>, the\u00a0Turkish War of Independence<\/a>\u00a0(1919\u20131923) was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the\u00a0Treaty of S\u00e8vres<\/a>\u00a0(1920).<\/sup><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk, founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, with the\u00a0Liberal Republican Party\u00a0leader\u00a0Fethi Okyar\u00a0(right) and Okyar’s daughter in\u00a0Yalova, 13 August 1930.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
By 18 September 1922 the Greek, Armenian and French armies had been expelled,<\/span> and the\u00a0<\/span>Turkish Provisional Government<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Ankara<\/a>, which had declared itself the legitimate government of the country on\u00a0<\/span>23 April 1920<\/a>, started to formalzse the legal transition from the old Ottoman into the new Republican political system. On 1 November 1922, the Turkish Parliament in Ankara formally <\/span>abolished the Sultanate<\/a>, thus ending 623 years of monarchical Ottoman rule. The\u00a0<\/span>Treaty of Lausanne<\/a> of 24 July 1923, which superseded the Treaty of S\u00e8vres, <\/span>led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed “Republic of Turkey” as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on 29 October 1923 in Ankara, the country’s new capital.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>Lausanne Convention<\/a>\u00a0stipulated a\u00a0<\/span>population exchange between Greece and Turkey<\/a>, whereby 1.1 million Greeks left Turkey for Greece in exchange for 380,000 Muslims transferred from Greece to Turkey.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Eighteen female deputies joined the Turkish Parliament with the 1935 general elections<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mustafa Kemal became the republic’s first\u00a0President<\/a>\u00a0and subsequently introduced\u00a0many reforms<\/a>. The reforms aimed to transform the old\u00a0religion-based and multi-communal<\/a>\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0constitutional monarchy<\/a>\u00a0into a Turkish\u00a0nation state<\/a>\u00a0that would be governed as a\u00a0parliamentary republic<\/a>\u00a0under a\u00a0secular constitution<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0With the\u00a0Surname Law<\/a>\u00a0of 1934, the\u00a0Turkish Parliament<\/a>\u00a0bestowed upon Mustafa Kemal the honorific surname “Atat\u00fcrk” (Father Turk<\/i>).[89]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Montreux Convention<\/a>\u00a0(1936) restored Turkey’s control over the\u00a0Turkish Straits<\/a>, including the right to militarize the coastlines of the Dardanelles<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bosporus<\/a>\u00a0straits and the\u00a0Sea of Marmara<\/a>, and to block maritime traffic in wartime.<\/p>\n

Following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, some\u00a0Kurdish<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Zaza<\/a>\u00a0tribes, which were\u00a0feudal<\/a>\u00a0(manorial<\/a>) communities led by\u00a0chieftains<\/a>\u00a0(agha<\/a><\/i>) during the Ottoman period, became discontent about certain aspects of\u00a0Atat\u00fcrk’s reforms<\/a> aiming to modernize the country, such as secularism<\/a>\u00a0(the\u00a0Sheikh Said rebellion<\/a>, 1925) and\u00a0land reform<\/a>\u00a0(the\u00a0Dersim rebellion<\/a>, 1937\u20131938),<\/sup>\u00a0and staged armed revolts that were put down with military operations.<\/p>\n

\u0130smet \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc<\/a>\u00a0became Turkey’s second President following Atat\u00fcrk’s death on 10 November 1938. On 29 June 1939, the\u00a0Republic of Hatay<\/a> voted in favor of joining Turkey with a referendum. Turkey\u00a0remained neutral<\/a>\u00a0during most of\u00a0World War II<\/a>, but entered the closing stages of the war on the side of the\u00a0Allies<\/a>\u00a0on 23 February 1945. On 26 June 1945, Turkey became a\u00a0charter member<\/a>\u00a0of the United Nations.<\/sup>\u00a0In the following year, the\u00a0single-party period<\/a>\u00a0in Turkey came to an end, with the\u00a0first multiparty elections in 1946<\/a>. In 1950 Turkey became a member of the\u00a0Council of Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Roosevelt, \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference, 1943.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The\u00a0Democratic Party<\/a>\u00a0established by\u00a0Cel\u00e2l Bayar<\/a>\u00a0won the\u00a01950<\/a>,\u00a01954<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a01957<\/a>\u00a0general elections and stayed in power for a decade, with\u00a0Adnan Menderes<\/a>\u00a0as the Prime Minister and Bayar as the President. After fighting as part of the United Nations forces in the\u00a0Korean War<\/a>, Turkey joined\u00a0NATO<\/a>\u00a0in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the\u00a0Mediterranean<\/a>. Turkey subsequently became a founding member of the\u00a0OECD<\/a>\u00a0in 1961, and an\u00a0associate member<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0EEC<\/a> in 1963.<\/sup><\/p>\n

The country’s tumultuous transition to\u00a0multiparty democracy<\/a>\u00a0was interrupted by military\u00a0coups d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a01960<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a01980<\/a>, as well as by military memorandums in\u00a01971<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a01997<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0Between 1960 and the end of the 20th century, the prominent leaders in Turkish politics who achieved multiple election victories were\u00a0S\u00fcleyman Demirel<\/a>,\u00a0B\u00fclent Ecevit<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Turgut \u00d6zal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following a decade of\u00a0Cypriot intercommunal violence<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0coup in Cyprus on 15 July 1974<\/a>\u00a0staged by the\u00a0EOKA B<\/a> paramilitary organization, which overthrew President Makarios<\/a>\u00a0and installed the pro-Enosis<\/a>\u00a0(union with Greece)\u00a0Nikos Sampson<\/a>\u00a0as dictator,\u00a0Turkey invaded Cyprus<\/a>\u00a0on 20 July 1974 by unilaterally exercising Article IV in the\u00a0Treaty of Guarantee (1960)<\/a>, but without restoring the\u00a0status quo ante<\/a>\u00a0at the end of the military operation.<\/sup>\u00a0In 1983 the\u00a0Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus<\/a>, which is recognized only by Turkey, was established. The\u00a0Annan Plan<\/a>\u00a0for reunifying the island was supported by the majority of\u00a0Turkish Cypriots<\/a>, but rejected by the majority of\u00a0Greek Cypriots<\/a>, in separate\u00a0referendums in 2004<\/a>. However, negotiations for solving the\u00a0Cyprus dispute<\/a> are still ongoing between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot political leaders.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0conflict<\/a>\u00a0between Turkey and the\u00a0PKK<\/a>\u00a0(designated a\u00a0terrorist organisation<\/a>\u00a0by Turkey, the\u00a0United States<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0the\u00a0European Union<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0NATO<\/a><\/sup>) has been active since 1984, primarily in the southeast of the country. More than 40,000 people have died as a result of the conflict.\u00a0In 1999 PKK’s founder\u00a0Abdullah \u00d6calan<\/a>\u00a0was arrested and sentenced for\u00a0terrorism<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0treason<\/a> charges.<\/sup>\u00a0In the past, various\u00a0Kurdish<\/a>\u00a0groups have unsuccessfully sought\u00a0separation<\/a>\u00a0from Turkey to create an independent\u00a0Kurdish state<\/a>, while others have more recently pursued provincial\u00a0autonomy<\/a>\u00a0and greater\u00a0political and cultural rights<\/a>\u00a0for Kurds in Turkey. In the 21st century some reforms have taken place to improve the cultural rights of ethnic minorities in Turkey, such as the establishment of\u00a0TRT Kurd\u00ee<\/a>,\u00a0TRT Arabi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0TRT Avaz<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0TRT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
An\u0131tkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk in Ankara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since the liberalization of the Turkish economy in the 1980s, the country has enjoyed stronger economic growth and greater political stability.\u00a0Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, joined the\u00a0EU Customs Union<\/a>\u00a0in 1995 and started\u00a0accession negotiations<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0European Union<\/a> in 2005. In a non-binding vote on 13 March 2019, the\u00a0European Parliament<\/a> called on the EU governments to suspend EU accession talks with Turkey, citing violations of human rights and the rule of law; but the negotiations, effectively on hold since 2018, remain active as of 2020.<\/p>\n

In 2013,\u00a0widespread protests<\/a>\u00a0erupted in many Turkish provinces, sparked by a plan to demolish\u00a0Gezi Park<\/a>\u00a0but soon growing into general anti-government dissent.<\/sup>\u00a0On 15 July 2016, an\u00a0unsuccessful coup attempt<\/a>\u00a0tried to oust the government.<\/sup>\u00a0As a reaction to the failed coup d’\u00e9tat, the government carried out\u00a0mass purges<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Between 9 October \u2013 25 November 2019, Turkey conducted a\u00a0military offensive into north-eastern Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Geography:<\/h2>\n

Turkey is a <\/span>transcontinental country<\/a>\u00a0bridging\u00a0<\/span>Southeastern Europe<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Western Asia<\/a>. Asian Turkey, which includes 97 percent of the country’s territory, is separated from\u00a0<\/span>European Turkey<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0<\/span>Bosphorus<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Sea of Marmara<\/a>, and the\u00a0<\/span>Dardanelles<\/a>. European Turkey comprises only 3 percent of the country’s territory.<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Turkey covers an area of 783,562 square kilometres (302,535 square miles),<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0of which 755,688 square kilometres (291,773 square miles) is in\u00a0<\/span>Asia<\/a>\u00a0and 23,764 square kilometres (9,175 square miles) is in\u00a0<\/span>Europe<\/a>.<\/span> The country is encircled by seas on three sides: the Aegean Sea to the west, the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara in the northwest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Topographic map of Turkey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Turkey is divided into seven geographical regions:\u00a0Marmara<\/a>,\u00a0Aegean<\/a>,\u00a0Black Sea<\/a>,\u00a0Central Anatolia<\/a>,\u00a0Eastern Anatolia<\/a>,\u00a0Southeastern Anatolia<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Mediterranean<\/a>. The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately one-sixth of Turkey’s total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
East Thrace; the European portion of Turkey, is located at the easternmost edge the\u00a0<\/span>Balkans<\/a>. It forms the border between Turkey and its neighbours Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country mostly consists of the peninsula of\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia<\/a>, which consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, between the\u00a0<\/span>K\u00f6ro\u011flu<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Pontic<\/a>\u00a0mountain ranges to the north and the\u00a0<\/span>Taurus Mountains<\/a>\u00a0to the south.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The\u00a0Eastern Anatolia Region<\/a>\u00a0mostly corresponds to the western part of the\u00a0Armenian Highlands<\/a>\u00a0(the\u00a0plateau<\/a>\u00a0situated between the\u00a0Anatolian Plateau<\/a>\u00a0in the west and the\u00a0Lesser Caucasus<\/a> in the north) and contains\u00a0Mount Ararat<\/a>, Turkey’s highest point at 5,137 metres (16,854 feet),<\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0Lake Van<\/a>, the largest lake in the country.<\/sup>\u00a0Eastern Turkey has a mountainous landscape and is home to the sources of rivers such as the\u00a0Euphrates<\/a>,\u00a0Tigris<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Aras<\/a>. The\u00a0Southeastern Anatolia Region<\/a>\u00a0includes the northern plains of\u00a0Upper Mesopotamia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

Turkey is a\u00a0newly industrialized country<\/a>, with an upper-middle income economy, which is the\u00a0twentieth-largest in the world<\/a>\u00a0by nominal GDP, and the\u00a0eleventh-largest<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0PPP<\/a>. According to\u00a0World Bank<\/a> estimates, Turkey’s GDP per capita by PPP is $32,278 in 2021, and approximately 14.4% of Turks lived\u00a0below the national poverty line<\/a>\u00a0in 2018.<\/sup>\u00a0Unemployment in Turkey was 13.6% in 2019,<\/sup>\u00a0and the middle class population in Turkey rose from 18% to 41% of the population between 1993 and 2010 according to the World Bank.<\/sup> The\u00a0EU\u2013Turkey Customs Union<\/a> in 1995 led to an extensive liberalization of tariff rates, and forms one of the most important pillars of Turkey’s foreign trade policy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Turkey Exports Treemap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0automotive industry in Turkey<\/a>\u00a0is sizeable, and produced over 1.3\u00a0million motor vehicles in 2015, ranking as the\u00a014th largest producer in the world<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Turkish\u00a0shipyards<\/a>\u00a0are highly regarded both for the production of chemical and\u00a0oil tankers<\/a>\u00a0up to 10,000\u00a0dwt<\/a>\u00a0and also for their\u00a0mega yachts<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Turkish brands like\u00a0Beko<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Vestel<\/a>\u00a0are among the largest producers of\u00a0consumer electronics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0home appliances<\/a> in Europe, and invest a substantial amount of funds for research and development in new technologies related to these fields.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Turkish automotive companies like\u00a0TEMSA,\u00a0Otokar\u00a0and\u00a0BMC\u00a0are among the world’s largest van, bus and truck manufacturers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
Other key sectors of the Turkish economy are <\/span>banking<\/a>, construction, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel, and\u00a0<\/span>machine industry<\/a>. However, agriculture still accounted for a quarter of employment.<\/span><\/sup> In 2004, it was estimated that 46 percent of total disposable income was received by the top 20 percent of income earners, while the lowest 20 percent received only 6 percent.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Transportation:<\/span><\/h2>\n
In 2013 there were 98\u00a0airports in Turkey<\/a>, including 22\u00a0international airports<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0\u0130stanbul Airport<\/a> is planned to be the largest airport in the world, with a capacity to serve 150 million passengers a year.\u00a0As well as\u00a0Turkish Airlines<\/a>,\u00a0flag carrier<\/a>\u00a0of Turkey since 1933,\u00a0several other airlines operate in the country<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey, is the largest carrier in the world by number of countries served as of 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As of 2014, the country has a roadway network of 65,623 kilometres (40,776 miles).\u00a0Turkish State Railways<\/a>\u00a0started building\u00a0high-speed rail<\/a>\u00a0lines in 2003. The\u00a0Ankara-Konya line<\/a>\u00a0became operational in 2011, while the\u00a0Ankara-Istanbul line<\/a> entered service in 2014.<\/p>\n

Opened in 2013, the\u00a0Marmaray tunnel<\/a>\u00a0under the\u00a0Bosphorus<\/a>\u00a0connects the railway and\u00a0metro<\/a>\u00a0lines of Istanbul’s European and Asian sides; while the nearby\u00a0Eurasia Tunnel<\/a> (2016) provides an undersea road connection for motor vehicles.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
A\u00a0TCDD HT80000\u00a0high-speed train\u00a0of the\u00a0Turkish State Railways<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
The <\/span>Bosphorus Bridge<\/a>\u00a0(1973),\u00a0<\/span>Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge<\/a>\u00a0(1988) and\u00a0<\/span>Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge<\/a>\u00a0(2016) are the three suspension bridges connecting the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus strait. The\u00a0<\/span>Osman Gazi Bridge<\/a>\u00a0(2016) connects the northern and southern shores of the\u00a0<\/span>Gulf of \u0130zmit<\/a>. The\u00a0<\/span>\u00c7anakkale 1915 Bridge<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a0<\/span>Dardanelles<\/a>\u00a0strait, connecting Europe and Asia, will become the\u00a0<\/span>longest suspension bridge in the world<\/a> upon completion.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Flag of Turkey:<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0flag of Turkey, officially the\u00a0Turkish flag, is a red\u00a0flag<\/a>\u00a0featuring a white\u00a0star and crescent<\/a>. The flag is often called\u00a0al bayrak<\/i><\/i>\u00a0(the red flag), and is referred to as\u00a0al sancak<\/i><\/i>\u00a0(the red banner) in the\u00a0Turkish national anthem<\/a>. The current design of the Turkish flag is directly derived from the late Ottoman flag, which had been adopted in the late 18th century and acquired its final form in 1844. The measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red of the flag of Turkey were legally standardized with the Turkish Flag Law on 29 May 1936.\"\"<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The\u00a0star and crescent<\/a> design appears on Ottoman flags beginning in the late 18th or early 19th century. The white star and crescent moon on red as the flag of the Ottoman Empire was introduced 1844.<\/p>\n

After the declaration of the\u00a0Republic of Turkey<\/a>\u00a0in 1923, the new state maintained the last flag of the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>. Proportional standardizations were introduced in the Turkish Flag Law of 1936.<\/p>\n

In accounting for the crescent and star symbol, the Ottomans sometimes referred to a legendary dream of the eponymous founder of the Ottoman house,\u00a0Osman I<\/a>, in which he is reported to have seen a moon rising from the breast of\u00a0Sheikh Edebali<\/a>\u00a0whose daughter he sought to marry. “When full, it descended into his own breast. Then from his loins there sprang a tree, which as it grew came to cover the whole world with the shadow of its green and beautiful branches.” Beneath it Osman saw the world spread out before him, surmounted by the crescent.<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag, is a red flag featuring a white star and crescent. The flag is often called al bayrak (the red flag), and is referred to as al sancak (the red banner) in the Turkish national anthem. The current design of the Turkish flag is directly derived from the late Ottoman flag, which had been adopted in the late 18th century and acquired its final form in 1844. The measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red of the flag of Turkey were legally standardized with the Turkish Flag Law on 29 May 1936.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[36,48,59,26,5,6,7,87,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9572,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9076\/revisions\/9572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}