HISTORY

Prehistoric period 100.000 - 2000 BC
First signs of inhabitation in Anatolia are from the Paleolithic period (500.000 - 12.000 BC). Most important cave inhabitations are those that have been discovered in the area of Kemer and Antalya. The first known settlement of the world, Catalhöyuk, northeast from Konya, dates back to 6500 BC. Houses were built of mud bricks and the entrance was through the roof. Houses were decorated by wall paintings and the first known landscape painting has been found there. In the beginning of the Bronze period there were several towns in Anatolia. Alacahöyuk and Hattusas were important religious and administrative centres of the Hattis in the Central Anatolia. Troy was the most important town in the Aegean region. Around 2300 BC Troy was destroyed by fire and the whole of Anatolia went through great many changes.

Hittite period 2000 - 1250 BC
Hittites arrived in Anatolia in 2000 BC from Caucasus and settled in Kussara and Hattusas. They ruled the entirety of Turkey. They mainly concentrated on wars and they had very high level of culture. During Hittites Troy was the most important city of the west Anatolia. In the 1200s Troy was destroyed again and the Hittite state broke into small states.

Anatolian small states 1250-494 BC
In the 1200s Greeks gained more power in western Anatolia. Ionia was established around Smyrna (Izmir). Ionians also lived in Miletos, Ephesus and Priene in the 1000s. Many famous western poets and philosophers lived in Ionia. Caria was established south of Ionia, near the area where Bodrum, Fethiye and Marmaris are located today. The most well known of the Carian kings was King Mausolus who built an enormous monument in Halikarnassos (Bodrum).
Lycia was located east of Caria and Pamphylia, around Antalya. In the 1200s Urartu Kingdom was developed around Lake Van. Urartian colonies covered wide areas in the eastern Anatolia. Urartian Kingdom was destroyed by the Medians in 500 BC.
Phrygians came into the country in the 1200s and established a kingdom. Its capital was Gordion and Midas was the most famous king. When Phrygians disappeared in 700 BC, Lydians who made Sart their capital replaced them. The most famous Lydian king, King Kroisos conquered almost all of the Ionian areas.

Persians 494 - 334 BC
Persia was the first conqueror that ruled the whole area of the present-day Turkey. Continuous wars with the Greeks hampered the welfare of Persians. The culture was kept inside the palaces so the Persian influence in the region was not very significant.

Hellenistic period 334 - 133 BC
Macedonian king Alexander the Great first conquered Greece, Anatolia and then in 331 BC the whole of Persia. The Hellenes ruled regions from the western Greece to the border of the present-day Pakistan. During the Hellenistic period, towns were developed strongly. They had their own laws, autonomy and defence and they lived on agriculture.

Roman Empire 133 BC - 395 AD
Romans conquered all Anatolian states during 133 - 129 BC. Roman Empire brought Pax Romana, the period of peace. Roman Emperor Constantin made Constantinople the capital in 330 AD and declared Christianity as the official religion. Gradually the western and eastern parts of the Empire were driven further from each other and in 395 the Empire was divided into two.

Byzantium 395-1453 AD
Byzantines ruled in the mid 500s the whole Mediterranean from Palestine to the Iberian Peninsula. However, the borders changed continuously. In the east Persians, Arabs and Turks were the threats and in the west it was from Bulgarians and Slavics. In 1071 Turkish Seljuks conquered Byzantium. As a result of the crusades relationships between the eastern and western Christians became worse and in 1201 the western army conquered Constantinople. The city was under the Latin rule until year 1261 when Emperor Micael I conquered it back to Byzantium. Byzantium collapsed totally when Ottoman Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet the Conqueror) conquered Constantinople in 1453.

Seljuk state 1038 - 1318
Islam that was born in the Arab Peninsula in the 600s tried to conquer the Middle East but with no success before year 1071, when Seljuks won Byzantine troops in Manzikent. After this victory several small Turkish states were established in Anatolia. In addition to Turkish language and Islamic religion, Seljuks also left behind high-standard architecture.

Ottoman Empire 1299 - 1923
While the Christians in west and east fought with each other, Ottoman Empire was established around Nikea (Iznik) and grew stronger and stronger and it gradually spread to the whole Anatolia. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople it became the capital of the whole Empire. In its widest, Ottoman Empire covered areas from the Gulf Bay in the east to Algeria in the west and from Vienna in the north to Egypt in the south. In the 1400s and 1500s the Empire was the mistress of the Mediterranean.
Ottoman Empire was for hundreds of years just and tolerant and arts and sciences flourished. During the times the Empire fell into decay and the Emperors were untalented. In 1870 a constitution was materialised and the country got a parliament. The reformation was brought about, however, it was too late and the power fell into the hands of the British, French and Germans. Turkey was an ally of Germany in the First World War and lost the war. The Allies occupied Istanbul and planned the division of the country.
Greece occupied western Anatolia with the permission of England. In the Sevres Treaty in 1920 the country was divided between England, Italy, France, Greece and Armenia. Istanbul belonged to the British and Turkey only governed Central Anatolia and the Black Sea coast. General Mustafa Kemal set off for Samsun and collected local representatives from all over the country and founded a government. He also formed an army from the Ottoman troops and peasants and threw away the Greeks, who formed the troops of occupation by the Allies. In the Lausanne Treaty in 1923 Turkey got her present-day borders.

Republic of Turkey
Turkey was declared a republic on 29 October 1923 and Mustafa Kemal became the first president. Atatürk died in 1938 and Ismet Inönü followed him as president.

Turkey today
Turkey is a parliamentary republic that is lead by the President and the Prime Minister. Parties vary from nationalist conservatives to socialists. The country has looked forward to Europe. It has been a member of the European Council since 1949 and a member of NATO since 1952 and an allied member of the EU (formerly European Economic Council) since 1963. In 1996 Turkey entered a customs agreement with the EU and is engaged in endeavours to become a full member of the EU. In May 2000 Mr Ahmet Necdet Sezer was elected as the new President.

RELIGIONS
The area Turkey covers today has been influenced by a number of religions starting with Hattis and Hittites' worship of nature to modern Islam. Many antique Gods originate from the Middle East. Christianity spread very early in Anatolia with St. Paul. St. Paul established seven Christian churches in the central and western Anatolia: Efes, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sart, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Islam settled in Anatolia in 1071 when Turkish Seljuks defeated Christian Byzantine troops. Armenian historian Mateo tells that some Seljuk sultans treated Christians so well that they converted to Islam. Mosques, churches and synagogues have always been next to each other in Turkey. In 1942 thousands of Jews escaped from Spain to Turkey. During the Second World War Turkey received Jews from Germany. Turkey practises the freedom of faith. However, 99 per cent of the population are Muslims. Islamic culture can be seen and heard all over the country. Unlike other Islamic countries Turkey is a secular country. Religious affairs have been separated from the state and openings at schools, universities and government organs are not conducted with religious ceremonies. Muslims pray five times a day and a tour to Mecca should be made at least once in a lifetime according to Islam. Muezzins sing the prayer invitations from minarets, nowadays it is often done with the help of loudspeakers.

Religious festivals
Religious fasting month Ramadan lasts for 30 days and it follows the Islamic calendar. During the fasting month Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sunset. Children, pregnant women and travellers don't have to fast, as well as those who do have a medical condition that prevents them from fasting. Three days after the Ramadan is 'Seker Bayrami' when children are given cotton handkerchiefs and sweets or small amount of money and when everyone visit and pay respects to the elderly and older relatives. Two months and 10 days after the Ramadan is 'Kurban Bayrami'. People who can afford to sacrifice a cow or a sheep. One third of the meat is kept home, one third of it is given away to friends and one third is given away to poor people.