Türkiye – broad history and mass tourism today

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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.

Cendere Köprüsü - the bridge over the Chabinas

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Cendere Köprüsü - the bridge over the Chabinas

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.

Stopover in Göreme - fairy chimneys and hot air balloons

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Stopover in Göreme - fairy chimneys and hot air balloons

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.

Kecikalesi - Anatolian village in the shadow of Hasan Dagi

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Kecikalesi - Anatolian village in the shadow of Hasan Dagi

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.

Lystra and Isauria Vetus - places steeped in history

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Lystra and Isauria Vetus - places steeped in history

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.

Seyfe Lake near Kırşehir in Central Anatolia

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Seyfe Lake near Kırşehir in Central Anatolia

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.

Ihlara valley and its Byzantine cave churches

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Ihlara valley and its Byzantine cave churches

Coming from Güzelyurt (Province of Aksaray) we stop at the parking lot of the Ihlara Valley (Ihlara Vadisi), which is known for its numerous rock-cut churches, which is cleverly framed by several restaurants at the entrance area.

Karamanli

Karamanli

Having been involved in the activities and surroundings of Karaman city lately and as we tried to learn the history of the city, we discovered that there is an ethno/religious side to her name "Karaman".

The Formation of Cappadocia

Entstehung Kappadokiens

UNESCO-World Cultural and Natural Heritage Cappadocia is located at the centre of a region which used to have intense volcanic activity and it added a lot of value to the lay of the region. While Anatolia basically consists of big lakes and tropical swamps, it can be seen that animals, plants and carnivores dating to very old times were dominant in the region.

ARCHENCLOS Keşlik Monastary

Archenclos - das Keşlik Kloster

After we returned to our vehicle from the venture we made into the stream, we came to “Keşlik Monastery”, which is also known as “Archenclos”, residential area of stone houses near Cemilköy.Read MoreThese rocks were partially carved out and only thin walls were left.

Eskişehir - Turkish Capital for Lületaş

Eskişehir und der Meerschaum

Eskisehir (in ancient times it's name was Dorylaion) has got about 706.000 inhabitants and because of that is one of the biggest cities of Anatolia and as well capital city of the region of the same name. Today there is a well known university called Anadolu University and a huge air craft base of NATO.Read More

Kırşehir

Kırşehir - gemstone

Kırşehir is one of our most important cities in the Anatolian region. Kırşehir is located 156 km south-east of Ankara. The city’s beginning point leads to Hethitern. During the excavations 5000 year old settlementRead Moreregions Hashöyük (3500-2000 v. Chr.) and Kalehöyük (1700-600 v. Chr.) were found in our today’s province Kırşehir.

Nevşehir - Gate to Cappadocia

Nevşehir - das Tor nach Kappadokien

Nevşehir, the gate to Cappadocia, is a traffic key point and since a short time a market and administration centre, that was founded in 1954. The name derives from the Persian Nau (translated intoRead MoreTurkish as Nev) for New and Schahr (translated into Turkish as Şehir) for City and means New City.

The visual feast of nature; Üzengi Valley

Üzengi Tal - visueller Augenschmaus der Natur

If you keep going through the alleyway after passing the Karakuş facilities through the Mustafapaşa Road at the west of Ürgüp, after a while you can reach Üzengi Stream which runs in parallel to the valley and where the water level isn’t so high. The valley also has an entrance from the direction of Ortahisar.

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