Türkiye – broad history and mass tourism today

Since the founding of the republic in 1923 as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey has been secular and Kemalist in orientation. The country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, initiated a modernization of Turkey through social and legal reforms modelled on various European nation states.

The current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been at the helm of the country since 2003. Since around 2012, he has led the country in an increasingly authoritarian manner. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press in particular are considered to be severely restricted. The currency and debt crisis triggered by its economic policies as well as high inflation have continued since 2018, which makes Turkey quite attractive from a tourist perspective.

The culture of today's Turkey is a fusion of the ancient Turkish nomadic culture of Central Asia and Siberia, the Greco-Roman era, the culture in the Ottoman Empire with its Byzantine, Persian, Arabic, Caucasian, Armenian and Kurdish influences, as well as the strong European direction since the founding of the Republic Ataturk. The cultural centre of the country is the metropolis of Istanbul.

With the political changes, the content of Turkish literature also changed. Early representatives include Fakir Baykurt, Sabahattin Ali, Sait Faik Abasıyanık and Yaşar Kemal, who put ordinary people at the centre of their work. With the turn to describing living conditions, social and political criticism of the state is inevitable. The state reacts with censorship and political violence. Authors like Nâzım Hikmet, Yaşar Kemal and Aziz Nesin spend many years in Turkish prisons because of the persecution of their publications. Kemal therefore referred to the prison as a “school of Turkish literature”.

Turkish cuisine has also influenced Greek and the rest of the Balkan cuisine - including etymology. For example, tzaziki comes from the Turkish cacık, and Ćevapčići comes from kabapcik. Yogurt also comes from Turkish Yoğurt. Doner kebab is made from beef, veal or poultry. In Turkey, but also in other countries, the kebab is also served on a plate.

Exploring Turkey - from Taurus to Cappadocia

Holidays at the beach - lonely mountains and lakes - relics from thousands of years of history. From the North to the South the roads lead across the forest-covered Taurus Mountains from the Black Sea, across the huge Anatolian steppes and the lunar landscape of Cappadocia, before reaching the beaches of the southern Mediterranean coast.

Tour Companies exploring Turkey

Lots of big travel companies and their special offers to Turkey are well known through radio and TV advertisements. Most of them prefer to put their effort into mass tourism using big hotels with an all-inclusive service.

Guesthouse and Boutique Hotels

Guesthouse or Pension are accommodations offer limited service but less expensive than a full-service hotels. They are a type of accommodation that is mostly operated by family-run companies.

The Classification of Hotels in Turkey

The classification of hotels is a great chance for all accommodation companies to show their detailed offers to the customer and, with the help of this list, to develop their business. People from all over theworld ask for an honest list of criteria to find suitable hotels for their next holiday or even for business reasons, especially middle-class enterprises in the hotel business.