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.
Ephesus - The Roman Pollio Aqueduct at Selçuk
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 3542
To supply the metropolis of Ephesus with fresh water, the Romans built another aqueduct system in the mountains between 7 and 15 AD, which also contained an aqueduct over the Dervenddere River that is still well preserved today.
İzmir: Pearl with palm trees - Turkish gateway to the Aegean
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 2734
Rarely there are such different views and opinions as when asked about “life in the big city”. For some it is simply unimaginable for others it is the dream of life par excellence.
Klaros - ancient oracle site near Selçuk
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 2158
About 16 kilometers west of the city of Selçuk one encounters another oracle place of the god Apollon, the place Klaros (Latin Clarus), which in antiquity belonged to the city of Kolophon, about 13 kilometers away. The ancient, but little-known, city of Notion was also in the immediate vicinity.
The Great Fighters of Selcuk / Turkey
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 7419
Every year there is a well known event near Selcuk / Izmir when the camel fighting championships take place. There is a two-day carnival in the town during which many male camels fight for trophies, money and the honour of being the best in the competition.
Izmir - huge City but Pearl of Aegean
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 14165
A very big town with the welcoming atmosphere of a village. We stayed out of town in a suburb called Buca in the apartment of our Turkish friend's mother. Everybody was very friendly and we experienced the genuine Turkish way of life, with mealtimes especially being a real family occasion.
The Clock Tower • Izmir's Landmark at Konak
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 31373
The Clock Tower (Saat Kulesi), today İzmir’s landmark number one, was built by a Levantine French Architect Raymond Charles Pere in 1901 to commemorate 25th anniversary of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II's accession to the throne.
Gaziemir - developing suburb of Izmir
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 12923
Gaziemir is a district of İzmir Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is one of the metropolitan districts of Greater İzmir and is situated to the south of central İzmir (Konak) on the road to the İzmir harbour, İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport and the export processing industrial park of Aegean Free Zone; which is also home to the fourth space camp in the world, Space Camp Turkey.
Izmir Historico-Cultural
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 4701
Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey, is described as the pearl of the Aegean. It is a major port and commercial centre set dramatically around a huge bay and backed by mountains to the south.
Historical Kemeralti Bazaar of Izmir - the old Smyrna
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 26677
As a port town, İzmir has always been strategically important for trade between Anatolia and other Aegean cities. Not surprisingly, the region of Kemeralti on Izmir's shore is a bustling business centre.
Birdwatching in Sasali
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 6192
Turkey is one of the richest countries in wetlands among the countries in Europe and the Middle East. These wetlands have great importance especially for wildlife as well as local economy.
Wildlife Park in Izmir - newly opened!
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 8009
It was a quick decision during our stay in Izmir to take a day off for visiting to the new opened İzmir Wildlife Park.
İzmir Airport - Adnan Menderes
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 7497
Adnan Menderes Airport (Turkish Adnan Menderes Havalimanı) is the airport at İzmir. It is located about 18 kilometres to the South of the third largest Turkish city, Izmir.
Özdere Camping – Father and Son weekend
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 7291
Early Sunday morning we started our trip back home to Antalya because we had got an invitation from the Director of Camlaralti Private College to come to Özdere, a small less important village on the way from Kusadasi to Seferihisar, for having breakfast together.
Why the Roman spa town of Allianoi must be saved
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 6446
The most recent reports from Turkey about the Roman spa complex of Allianoi, sent by the local Allianoi Initiative led by the archaeologist professor Ahmet Yaras, says that now only the tops of excavated walls and columns poke through sand that workers employed by the Turkish State Waterworks are laying.
Pergamon
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 8509
In ancient times Pergamon was a famous city centre because of it’s well known and huge library. Today you can just visit the ruins of Pergamon (the name today is Bergama), most visible place in the town is the former Acropolis (mountain with castle), the former city centre and the Asklepieion. These sights belong to the ancient Pergamon.
Didem, Hasip and Gizem – paragliding pilots
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 11313
We met Didem Irmak, Hasip Özhan and Gizem Ayhan during our preparations for the XC Paragliding Competition in Mut. They needed to travel a long distance from Izmir to arrive in Mut just for the weekend.
Story of an Alternative Life on the Camping Site
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 76149
Last spring, before we began our travel, we stopped over at the Guzelbahce camping site in Izmir and met Duygu. When we dropped by the same camping site again, we looked around for her and she was there! How nice : ) Now, Duygu is our neighbor in the camping site.
Archaeologists discover a late antique barroom in Ephesus
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 11685
The former metropolis Ephesus was located in a valley between two mountain ridges, whose slopes today are still without firming forests because of the once densely constructions, so the ridges are still in motion.
Metro Izmir - ancient artifacts in Çankaya
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 12680
Whoever has been driving through Izmir in certain years has certainly noticed the worsening traffic conditions in the growing Aegean metropolis. Since the beginning of the 1980s individual traffic on İzmir's roads has increased steadily.
The Agora of Izmir - recent excavations now possible
- Written by Portal Editor
- Category: Aegean Region
- Hits: 20903
Located in the Namazgah district of İzmir, the Agora is built in Roman times (2nd century AD) and was built three floors high near the center of the city called Smyrna according to the Roman city plan of Hippodamos.