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.
The other pleasant part of Istanbul is Adalar (Islands) strewn over the Marmara Sea. They are known as Princes’ Islands by foreigners because the rulers of the Byzantine Empire sent troublesome princes to these islands to rot away.
The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world. It contains more than 4000 shops, restaurants, streets, gates and even two mosques. This old building was built over the remains of the Old Bedesten. The building of the Grand Bazaar has hundreds of silver plated domes with many windows.
The visitor to Istanbul has not only museums and well known historic and natural sights available to him. There is also an extremely exciting night life as well as many chances for shopping, especially for silver, copper and gold jewellery and, of course, carpets.
İstanbul’s Journey to Becoming the European Capital of Culture: The European Capital of Culture concept was launched for the first time in the 1980’s by Melina Mercouri, the Greek Minister of Culture of the period, and approved by the European Union Council of Ministers.
Bursa, the fourth biggest town of Turkey and capital of the district of Bursa in the western part of Turkey, now has 1.6 million inhabitants. About 90 kilometres from Istanbul, and at the foot of the Uludağ, this fast growing town has all that modern towns can offer.
The nature reserve of the National Park next to Bursa stretches all along the southern slopes of the Ulu Dag Mountains next to Bursa. Depending on the height of between 500 and 2500 metres, there are 4 different types of vegetation.
Founded in 756 BC, Trabzon is considered a very old city in the ancient high culture of Asia Minor, making Trabzon even older than Rome. As important as Trabzon was at the time, the city was insignificant many centuries later and played little significant role in history.
Trabzon, known in Greek as Trapezous, is located in the north-east of Turkey and is the easternmost Turkish port city on the Black Sea. Today, as the Greek name suggests, Trabzon was a middle economic center and a transshipment point for the export of hazelnuts, tea and tobacco, and a place steeped in history.
In the very north-east of Turkey is the province of Ardahan with the provincial capital of the same name, which lies on the border with Georgia, has always played a special role in the border traffic between Transcaucasia and Eastern Anatolia.
One of the most interesting Anatolian places is the provincial capital Tokat, which today has about 114,000 inhabitants. The old town on Castle Hill and the district around Hatuniye Camii reflect the decayed splendor of a long history.
The Turkish city of Corum is located about 100 kilometers west of Amasya, a provincial capital with about 210,000 inhabitants, which belongs to the Black Sea region, although the coast is about 300 kilometers away.
On the way to Trabzon we stopped for a short tea break in Gümüshane, a small town of about 26,000 inhabitants.
Shortly after the founding of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), there was a rapid development in industrial terms, which among other things led to the establishment of the first steel mill in Turkey.
Pompeiopolis, sometimes also written Pompeioupolis, was an ancient city in the Paphlagonia region of Asia Minor in the north of today's Turkey.
Ordu is located in northern Turkey, about 900 km from Istanbul and 600 km from Ankara, on the eastern Black Sea coast and at the same time on the edge of the Pontic Mountains.
The centre of the town Ordu stretches along a stony beach on the shores of the Black Sea,running parallel to the highway. Ordu has a small harbour but this can be used by the larger ships too.
One of the historically oldest cities in the Black Sea region is without any doubt Kastamonu, a place that is said to have existed around 1800 BC, well before the Roman occupation.
Coming from Bolu, we approached at the Safranbolu World Heritage Site, which was formerly titled Dadybra or Zalifra.
The city of Bayburt in North-eastern Anatolia can look back to a long and extremely varied history. As one of the cities on the old trade route "Silk Road", Bayburt was a prominent hub in history and thus occupiers and conquerors abounded.
The history of the first settlement of the city of Amasya can be traced back to the Hittite peoples because they founded the first settlements here in the Pontic Mountains.