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.

Didim - Altınkum - sandy beaches and yacht harbor

Altınkum is a district of Didim and is a small popular resort situated on the Aegean Coast of Turkey. The name of the resort "Altınkum" which means golden sand in Turkish is a beautiful place with three long smooth golden beaches, with a shallow sea for quite a long way out which is ideal for families with children.

Karine Lagoon (Dil Lake)

The marsh area created where piedmonts of Samsun Mountain and Büyük Menderes, which is the longest river of Western Anatolia, extend to meet the sea is one of the most important wetlands of the world today.

Miletus at the Bay of Milet

Miletus is located (an hour away from Didim) in the city of Soke's Balat village. In ancient times it was on the western coast of Anatolia (currently the province of Aydın), near the Maeander River in ancient Caria.

Priene Ancient City of Carian settlers

Miletus is located (an hour away from Didim) in the city of Soeke's Balat village. In ancient times it was on the western coast of Anatolia (currently the province of Aydın), near the Maeander River in ancient Caria.

14,000 year old settlement discovered on the west coast

During a rescue excavation by the German Archaeological Institute in the province of Izmir, layers from the post-Paleolithic period (Epipalaeolithic) were discovered for the first time in a cave between the modern locations of Dikili and Bergama (UNESCO World Heritage Site Pergamon-Bergama).

Saint Nicholas of Myra - a Christian Character in Demre

Each year between 4th and 6th December, the village of Demre (whose historic name is Myra), well known usually for the quality and the taste of their delicious tomatoes and oranges, faces an invasion of scientists and amateur historians.

St. Nicholas in the church of Myra

Myra, located in the south-west of Turkey, in the magical landscape of Lycia, was the city where St. Nicholas had worked as a bishop in the fourth century.

Italy contacts - camper visit from Pinneberg in Germany

We met Silvia and Anselm at a campsite near Venice as part of our project "Comprehension and Cultural Trip along Roman Roads" and were able to experience their experience and knowledge of the city of Venice on a shared city tour. For the first time with the two of them, the idea of wintering for campers on the Turkish Riviera was pushed so strongly that we subsequently looked more and more into this possibility.

Dağ Pazarı - Lebanon Cedars and basilica from Roman times

We drove through the foothills of the Taurus over wonderful pass roads near Ermenek to the apricot town of Mut and then continued our way towards Karaman. Patrick, our paragliding friend from Strasbourg, had reported courageously about the ruins of a basilica and a wonderfully shimmering lake during a sightseeing flight in the region, which he had seen from the air near the town of Dağ Pazarı.

Cistern "Illos" in Akkale, the "White Castle" near Kizkalesi

Kumkuyu, the modern Turkish name of the ancient settlement area of the semi-nomadic Tirtar ethnic group, is located in the south of Erdemli County on the D-400 highway, about 15 kilometres southwest of the district town of the same name and about 50 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital Mersin.

Hamaxia - lost city near Alanya

A few years have passed since we were last on the 400-meter-high mountain right next to the new road tunnels near Alanya to visit the Helenistic ruined city of Hamaxia, which is just over half an hour's walk and within sight of Cleopatra's beach.