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.

Kayseri - Centre of Trade in Turkey

Kayseri (first name was Mazaka, later name was Caesarea) ist he capital city of the region of the same name in Cappadocia in Turkey of about 500.000 inhabitants. Kayseri is one of the very few capitals of Turkey which number of inhabitants is not increasing rapidly during the last years.

Old town and surroundings of Kayseri

The city of Kayseri, the Roman Caesarea, extends at the foot of the Erciyes Mountains (3,916 meters), an extinct volcano and well-known winter sports centre with good hotels and slopes.

Madrasas in Sivas

Madrasa comes from ancient Latin and, directly translated, means 'place of education', ie. a school or training centre for skills. Used in this way, it means higher education in the Islamic religion.

Ankara Airport - Esenboğa International

Esenboğa International Airport (IATA: ESB, ICAO: LTAC) Turkish: Ankara Esenboğa Havalimanı, is an airport in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It has been operating since 1955. The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa, which literally means "healthy bull".

Hair Museum Avanos - idea origns in a pottery

The bizarre Avanos Hair Museum: a small cave containing hair samples, names and addresses of more than 16,000 women from all around the world. It was founded by Chez Galip, a talented potter from Avanos, a town famous for its pottery.

We follow the traces of the Hittites to Hattusa / Ankara

Near the village of Bogazkale, around 150 kilometres east of Ankara, you can visit the remains of Hattusa, the former capital of the Hittite empire, which was the ruling force in the 2nd millennium BC all over Anatolia and the northern part of today's Syria.

Sivas - The Congress Heyet-i Temilye

Sivas is a town in Central Anatolia, about 250 kilometres east of Ankara in the province of the same name. It's old Greek name was Sebasteia. The number of inhabitants was 278.000 in 1997.

Our way takes us from Kirikkale to Yozgat

We wanted to cover the few kilometres to Yozgat during this time tour through Central Anatolia to Konya and Kirikkale, because according to our information there are also very attractive landscapes and cultural-historical backgrounds that also go back to the Hittites.

Kırıkkale and the Kızılirmak Nehri

About 80 kilometers east of the gates of the Turkish capital Ankara is the city of Kırıkkale, which is also the capital of the Turkish province of Kırıkkale and accordingly has its own vehicle number 71 at the beginning of the identification of the license plates.

Nigde - the Hittite town of Nahita

Whenever you travel to the Cappadocia region, you shouldn't just pass by Niğde, so strong is the progress in the city and so strong are the changes in the entire region.

Tinaztepe Cave on the way to Konya

Like so many before us, we are on our way to an increasingly popular destination: the Tinaztepe Caves, because a trip to the Tinaztepe Cave (Tinaztepe Mağarsı) is worthwhile just because of the drive through the wild and romantic mountains of the Taurus Mountains.

Tuzköy - Village ravaged by cancer in Cappadocia

The caves, rock houses and grand stone formations in Turkey's Cappadocia region draw tourists from around the world. Nestled among these natural wonders, however, lies a village where the earth is believed to deliver death rather than rewards.

Excavations in Karahan Tepe - 8,500 years before our time

During our extensive tours through southeastern Anatolia and the multiple visits to the now world-famous excavation site of Göbeklitepe, we also visited other excavation sites, including the one at Karahan Tepe, which is located around 55 kilometres to the southeast.