General History | Geography of Turkey | Seven Wonders
Did jou know that Turkey...

  
   The republic of Turkey, founded in 1923, has it’s roots in two sources way back in history. One of these which the modern Turkey has inherited is the successful and glittering turkish history over a period of more than 4,000 years. The other is the fact
that the Turkish people have been living in Anatolia since the 11th century.
Most visitors think of Anatolia as being a treeless, non-welcoming, wide-spanning countryside representing the unendlessness of Asia.
This vision may in a way be partially true, however the tourist areas offer an amazingly diversive agriculture which most impresses the visiting tourist.
As well as the documentation of many cultures and fervent assidiuousness one above all experiences the heartily warmthness on the part of the turkish people, whose hospitality speak for itself. Whoever should visit this country will, wherever he may go, be offered a cup of tea or invited into a local’s house or into a conversation which can, from time to time, be simply limited to an exchange of friendly gestures.
3% of the country is on the European continent and the remaining 97% is in Asia Minor. It has served as a bridge between the Orient and the West.
The visitor to Turkey will, on old worn out paths which were are even described in the bible, be witness to a country which has, over centuries, been permeated by it’s role as connecting link between the Orient and the West which has earned it a special place in the European curiosity cabinett.
The country’s name as well as it’s regions has appear somewhat confusing. The name Turkey, which is often mistakenly used for the Osmanic Empire, stands for the current-day national territory, the Reuplic of Turkey. The name “Asia Minor” has historically been used to describe the semi-island between the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.
The term arose in the antiquity and has it’s origins in the pre-greek Name Asia which was originally used for the eastern part of the Aegean Sea. During Roman times (Asian Province = West Anatolia) it was extended to incorporate the whole half-island, which earned the name Asia Minor. In a similar way, the term Anatolia shifted from East to West.
The original term Anatolic “Country of the rising (sun)” was used to describe the eastern neighbouring country of the Greeks.

Turkish people and the Islam

Contacts between turkish people and moslems began in the 8th century and some turkish people started preferring Islam. However, the pro-Arabic politics of the Omayaden (661-750 a.D.) limited these connections somewhat. Later, many moslem turks took up office under the Abbside government and as a consequence, there was a more widespread interest in the islamic world on the far side of the Ceyhun river. Trade also played a major role in the spreading of islam to the door to central Asia.
In the 10th century the turks were completely Islamized. Thereafter, a political unity was able to be established.



The Ottomans
The ottomanic principality was founded by a turkomanic race which lived on the turkish-byzantinic border. The geographical location of the principality, coupled with the weak state of the Byzatines, made the ottomanic principality the most powerful state in the islamic world of the 14th century.
After Fatih Sultan Mehmet II had invaded the byzantinic capital, the ottomanic state become the most powerful of its time. The tolerant stance on the part of Fatih Sultan Mehmet II towards other religions and their supporters become a tradition which his successors also adopted. Following the invasion of Istanbul, the orthodox church was freed of its duty to obey the catholic church and was awarded independence. The ottomanic kingdom was able to assume further territory by the mid 17th century.
In 1683, it witnessed ist first major defeat at the siege in Vienna.
The ottomanic state joined ist allies as losers in the war and on 30th October 1918 was forced to sign of Mudrow disarmement treaty.
Under the conditions of the armistice there was also a decree that said that the occupying powers could occupy any territory which was seen to be stargegically significant; according to these conditions the powers began to occupy Anatolia on 1st November 1918.
The resistance movement was, up until Mustafa kemal landed in Samsun, sporadic and unorganised. Under his leadership, the resistance was formed, an organised army was set up and the result was an encompassing war of independence.