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.
Canyoying is a new and exciting outdoor activity. By Canyoning (also called Schluchteln or Schluchting) you can understand committing a gulch from above to down (in the early time of the sport canyonings from below upwards) in the most different variations.
The desire for recognition and conquering nature is what attracts humanity to nature for centuries. Movement is the essence of life and in this geography, the desire to challenge nature with the custom-made 4x4 off-road vehicles is increasing day by day.
In different, international travelogues of users of the Lycian trail and backpackers we have repeatedly heard about the "tree houses" at Olympos, which are made of simple, nailed boards lodgings offering cheap accomodation.
From Kas, our journey was leading along the coast road D400 in direction to Kumluca and nearly into the center of Finike, when we turned right to the national road 635 towards Elmalı.
If you believe or not, there has been a real Saint Nicholas, to whom we owe so much pre-Christmas entertainment today.
In the past weeks we have already reported about the mount Tahtali, near Olympos with its beautiful sandy beach as part of our reports on XC Turkey.
Coming from Xanthos, when we crossed highway 400, which connects Fethiye and Kas. It is just a few kilometers away from the road to the imposing fields of ruins with the holy grave of the goddess Leto, whose official religious burial place is said to be in Letoon, the oracle and “the” festival site of the Lycian Federation is placed.
Skiing in the Taurus Mountains? And ski resorts in Turkey? Nearly nobody who travels to Turkey to spend their summer vacation on the beach will suspect that there are large ski areas not far from Antalya.
Adada was an ancient Roman city in Pisidia, about 40 km southeast of Egirdir and 80 km northeast of Antalya, near the present-day village of Sagrak in the Sütçuler district of the Turkish province of Isparta, which is probably just known to hikers on St. Paul's Way.
We have heard of the ancient city of Trebenna several times, but so far without any concrete information about the historical background or even the exact location of the city near Antalya.
Adana, situated in the middle of the Cukurova Plain, is the fourth largest city of Turkey and the centre of a thriving agricultural area. The city is also known for its textile industry.
We leave Adana on road 815 in the direction of Kazan, as our acquaintances in Tarsus told us about some historical buildings and interesting castle complexes on site.
We are on the way from Sanliurfa in the direction of Konya when we have to leave the highway D 21 coming from the direction of Adana at Pozanti in order to follow the course of the road 750 in the direction of Nigde / Karapinar.
In the southeast of Turkey, as part of our project, we followed the traces of the Roman road from Samosata towards Militene and came across the ancient Roman arched bridge over the Chabinas River near the town of Eski Kahta.
After a few years, acquaintances that arose during the Travel Turkey trade fair in Izmir led us to travel again to Cappadocia, this incredibly fascinating landscape that has been shaped over thousands of years by volcanoes, soil erosion and erosion in the interaction of the natural forces of water and wind were created.
We were coming from Niğde / Cappadocia in the direction of Aksaray, when we probably had chosen the wrong junction in the village of Bor, which had now led us along the mountains of Hasan Dağı to the village of Altunhisar.
In the history of human settlements, there have been a wide variety of structures in the creation of village communities, all of which have by no means been explored and thus known.
Once again, the cloudless sky on the Turkish Riviera near Alanya promises good weather conditions for a trip across the Taurus Mountains towards Konya. Since winter is over in the high mountains too, we decide again to take the Mahmutlar route in the direction of Taskent.
Especially in the last 5 years, the provincial capital of Konya (the province of Konya is as big as Switzerland) has developed at breakneck speed.
In the immediate vicinity of the city of Kırşehir, which now also has around 110,000 inhabitants, there is an important local recreation destination for the city, which is now also attracting a lot of attention among friends of bird watching and nature conservation, the Seyfe Lake.