Grolier Research and Reference
from Grolier's Lands and Peoples Encyclopedia
Turkey
The People
 Religion and Festivals
Way of Life
Education
The Land
Rivers and Lakes
Climate
The Economy
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Mining and Transportation
Major Cities
Government
History
Byzantine Empire
The Ottoman Empire
Breakup of the Empire
Republic of Turkey
Recent Events
The nation of Turkey is situated on two continents — Asia and Europe. Because
of its location, it has played an important role in both Asian and European history.
For some 600 years Turkey was the center of the great Ottoman Empire. At the height
of its power, the empire stretched from east central Europe to Southwest Asia and
North Africa. The modern Republic of Turkey, which was founded in 1923, retains
only a part of the once vast Ottoman Empire. But it is still a country of considerable
size, about as large in area as Utah, Arizona, and Nevada combined.
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The region that is now Turkey has been inhabited by various peoples since ancient
times. It was the birthplace of the Hittites, one of the earliest civilizations.
Later, Greeks from Europe, Arabs, and other peoples from Asia settled in parts of
the region. The Turks, who came from Central Asia, arrived in the 11th century and
eventually became the dominant people of the region. Today, Turks make up the vast
majority of the population. The Kurds, a non-Turkish people, most of whom live in
the southeastern part of the country, are the largest minority group.
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Turkish,
the official language of the country, is of Asian origin. At one time the Arabic
alphabet was used to write Turkish, but a modified Roman alphabet is now used. Almost
all the people are Muslims, and mosques (Muslim houses of worship) are found throughout
the country. Many of the mosques represent notable examples of Islamic architecture.
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In appearance
and dress most Turks resemble Europeans. Their way of life combines both European
and Asian traditions.
Turkish food, arts and crafts, and folktales reflect Asian influence. Turkish food
often is cooked over charcoal pits. Favorite Turkish foods are shish kebab
— small pieces of meat (mutton or beef) and onions roasted on a spit —
and yogurt. The Turks first learned to make coffee in Yemen during the 16th century,
when they conquered the Arabian Peninsula. They took coffee back to Turkey and later
introduced it to Europe.
Since the Muslim religion frowns on the making of pictures of living beings, Turkish
artists for centuries have concentrated on geometric designs. Turkish art is famous
for its colorful designs in wood carvings, metalwork, carpets, ceramics, tiles,
and buildings.
Turkish music and sports show a strong European influence, but they have retained
their national character. Today soccer and wrestling are the most popular sports.
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After World War
I, religious schools were replaced by state schools patterned after the European
system. Primary, secondary, and college education are free. Primary education is
compulsory for children age 7 to 12. There are high schools in all the larger towns
and cities. Technical schools, teacher-training schools, and colleges provide further
education. Turkey has a number of universities. The largest is the University of
Istanbul, founded in the 15th century.
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About 9,000 square miles (23,000 square kilometers) of Turkey's total area lie
in Europe. Asian Turkey and European Turkey are separated by the strait of Bosporus,
the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles. These narrow strips of water
link the Black Sea in the north to the Aegean Sea in the south. They form one of
the world's most strategic waterways.
Asian Turkey, called Anatolia (Anadolu in Turkish), is often referred to
as Asia Minor. It is a region of mountains and highlands. Two major mountain ranges
cross it in an east-west direction. In the north the Northern Anatolian Mountains
(the Pontic mountain system) follow the Black Sea coast. In the south the Taurus
Mountains follow the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. These two mountain ranges meet
in the eastern Anatolian highland. Earthquakes are frequent in this region. A severe
one occurred in 1976. Mount Ararat, an extinct volcano that is the country's highest
peak, is located there, near the border with Iran and Armenia. South of the eastern
highland, low hills and plains join the plains of Syria and Iraq.
A large central plateau lies between the Northern Anatolian Mountains and the Taurus
Mountains. Several salt lakes, the largest of which is Lake Van, are found in this
region. The plateau, called the Anatolian plateau, is enclosed by mountains on the
north, south, and east. In the west the plateau gives way to a low fertile plain,
one of the best agricultural areas in the country.
Turkey has a long coastline. The western coast is indented and has many excellent
natural harbors. The narrow northern coastal plain along the Black Sea has few such
harbors.
European Turkey, or Thrace, is all that remains of what was once a vast
Turkish empire in Europe. Thrace, an area of low plains and hills, has a rugged
coastline. Low mountains extend from the Bulgarian border along the Black Sea coast.
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The Kizil
Irmak and the Sakarya rivers flow through Asian Turkey into the Black Sea. A shorter,
curving river, flowing into the Aegean Sea, is called Menderes, from the ancient
Greek word meaning "to meander." The Seyhan, Ceyhan, and Orontes rivers in the south
are used for irrigation.
Lake Van and Lake Tuz in Asian Turkey are the largest lakes. Many smaller salt
lakes lie west of Lake Tuz in the Taurus range.
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The climate of European
Turkey and coastal Asian Turkey is mild, with cool, rainy winters and warm, dry
summers. Winter temperatures seldom fall below freezing, and frost and snow are
rare. Summer temperatures average 75°F (24°C). The western coast gets
about 25 inches (600 millimeters) of rain annually. In the east, rainfall is much
greater.
The Anatolian plateau has cold winters, with more than 100 days of frost every
year. Summer days are hot, but the nights are cool. Annual rainfall is between 10
and 17 inches (250 and 430 millimeters). April and May are usually the wettest months
in this area.
The eastern part of Asian Turkey has one of the most extreme climates in the world.
Winter temperatures of -40°F (-40°C) often have been recorded. Snowfall
is very heavy. Summers are hot, with daytime temperatures rising to over 100°F
(38°C).
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About half of
the work force is engaged in agriculture. Wheat, grown mainly on the Anatolian plateau,
is the major crop. Other important cereals are corn, barley, and rice. The chief
export crops are cotton, grown on the Mediterranean coast, and tobacco, grown on
the coasts of the Aegean and Black seas. Other commercial crops include figs, raisins,
olives, hazelnuts, pistachio nuts, and citrus fruits.
Large parts of the country, especially in the Anatolian plateau, are used only
as grazing land. The raising of sheep and goats is an important part of the economy.
Sheep are a major source of meat in Turkey. Goat's milk is used to make white, cured
cheese. Sheep wool is used in the textile industry, and goat hair is made into mohair.
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Although it
employs only about 12 percent of the labor force, Turkish industry, encouraged by
government investment, has grown rapidly in recent years. Exports of industrial
goods (including processed agricultural products) now exceed agricultural exports
in value. Textiles and clothing are the most important manufactured products, followed
by iron and steel and processed foods and other agricultural products.
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Copper and iron ore have been mined in Turkey since ancient times. Chromium and
manganese (used for hardening steel), coal, sulphur, and some petroleum are also
produced. Turkey's petroleum deposits supply only a fraction of its needs; the rest
must be imported. One Turkish mineral specialty is meerschaum, used in making a
kind of smoking pipe. Other mineral resources remain to be more fully developed.
Railroads are state-owned. There are connections with all parts of Europe and the
Middle East. All of Turkey's importantcities are linked by rail. Many all-weather
roads have been built in recent years. Because of Turkey's long coastline, travel
along the coast by regular steamship is also very popular. Air transportation is
growing in importance. A Turkish airline connects all large towns, and international
flights stop at both Istanbul and Ankara.
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Istanbul is situated on either
side of the Bosporus, in both Europe and Asia. It is the largest city in Turkey.
For nearly 400 years Istanbul was the capital of Turkey. Although no longer the
capital, it has remained the country's major port and most important commercial
center.
Once called Byzantium, Istanbul became the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern
Roman Empire) in A.D. 330. The name "Byzantium" later was
changed to Constantinople in honor of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. The
Turks conquered the city in 1453 and changed the name to Istanbul.
Ankara is the capital of Turkey
and the nation's second largest city. Once known as Angora, the city is situated
in the central part of the Anatolian plateau. The older part of the town was an
ancient trading center. The newer town was built by Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938),
the Turkish republic's first president. Outside the new town is a magnificent monument
marking Atatürk's burial place.
Izmir (Smyrna) is located
on the Aegean Sea. It is the second most important port in Turkey, exporting mainly
agricultural products, such as tobacco and cotton.
Adana, the center of the cotton
industry, is located on the Seyhan River in the southern part of Asian Turkey.
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Turkey is a republic, governed under a constitution approved in 1982, which replaced
the previous constitution of 1961. The adoption of a new constitution followed a
two-year period in which the country was governed by the National Security Council,
a five-member body of military officers.
The constitution provides for a parliamentary form of government, consisting of
a president, a prime minister who heads the Cabinet, and a legislature, the National
Assembly. The National Assembly is elected by the people for a 5-year term.
The president, who is elected by the National Assembly for seven years, is head
of state and commander in chief of the armed forces and has wide executive powers.
The president appoints the prime minister from among the members of the National
Assembly. The prime minister leads the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet, and heads
the day-to-day activities of the government.
Turkey is divided into 80 provinces. Each has a governor appointed by the president
and an elected council.
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About 3,000 years ago the country now known as Turkey was divided into several
kingdoms. The most important of these was the Hittite Kingdom. Another kingdom was
ruled from the city of Troy. Around 1200 B.C. many Greeks
began to migrate to Turkey. They settled along the coasts and established their
own states there. These ancient Greeks conquered the people of Troy during the Trojan
War, one of the most famous wars in history.
Subsequently, both Asian and European Turkey were conquered by the Persians, who
in turn were driven out by the Macedonian Alexander the Great in 333 B.C.
After the death of Alexander several small kingdoms rose and fell in Turkey. They
all were conquered eventually by the Roman general Pompey (106-48 B.C.)
in 63 B.C. The Romans divided Turkey into several provinces
and built many cities.
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In A.D.
330 the Roman emperor Constantine chose Byzantium as his eastern capital. Byzantium,
renamed Constantinople, became the most important city in the Byzantine, or Eastern
Roman, Empire. For some 200 years, from the 9th to the 11th century, the Byzantine
Empire was a great world power. The Christian religion and much of the ancient Greek
civilization survived here and were passed on to other parts of Europe and Asia.
During the 1000's, the first Turkish tribes, called Seljuks, came from western
Central Asia and settled in what is now central and eastern Turkey. The Seljuks
were followers of the Islamic religion. They attacked the Byzantine Empire and set
up a Muslim state in Asian Turkey. The Seljuks in turn were weakened by the Christian
Crusaders on their way to capture Palestine from its Muslim rulers. Later, Mongol
invaders from Central Asia destroyed the little remaining power of the Seljuks.
But the Seljuk settlements and states survived.
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Another
group of Turkish tribes from Central Asia arrived in the 1200's. They were called
Ottomans, after their legendary first leader, Osman, or Othman (1259-1326). The
Ottomans, or Ottoman Turks, conquered what remained of the Seljuk states. In 1326
they reached the Sea of Marmara. By 1360 the Ottomans had conquered much of what
is now European Turkey. Constantinople held out until 1453, when it, too, fell to
the Ottoman Turks.
The Ottoman Empire reached its height during the 1500's. Under Sultan Suleiman
I (1496-1566), known as the Magnificent, the empire extended across southeastern
Europe and through parts of southern Russia, to Southwest Asia and North Africa.
Under succeeding sultans the empire began to slowly decline. By the late 1800's
and early 1900's, it had lost most of its European territories, including what are
today Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and other parts of the Balkans. Egypt
and other northern African states also became virtually independent.
Many Turks believed that changes in Turkish laws and customs were necessary to
halt further decline. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, known as Abdul the Damned, promised
reforms but did not keep his word. In 1908 he was overthrown by a group of reforming
politicians called Young Turks. They introduced political and social reforms and
established a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Mohammed V.
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It
was too late, however, to stem the decline. The final breakup of the empire came
after World War I (1914-18). As one of the defeated powers, the empire was forced
to give up its remaining non-Turkish lands. The chief victorious powers, France
and Britain, occupied Istanbul for a time, and in 1919, Greek troops invaded Turkey's
Aegean coast.
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With
the Ottoman government helpless, a Turkish general, Mustafa Kemal, organized a temporary
government whose forces expelled the Greeks in 1922. The last sultan, Mohammed VI,
was deposed, and in 1923, Kemal established a Turkish republic, with its capital
in Ankara. Kemal became its first president. Adopting the surname Atatürk ("Father
of the Turks"), he introduced many reforms that helped transform Turkey into a modern
nation.
After Atatürk's death in 1938, his Republican People's Party was led by Ismet
Inönü, who served as president until 1950. From 1950 to 1960, Turkey was
governed by the Democratic Party, with Celal Bayar as president and Adnan Menderes
as prime minister. In 1960 the government was overthrown by the military under General
Cemal Gürsel. A civilian government was restored in 1961, with Gürsel
as president and Inönü as prime minister.
In 1965, Süleyman Demirel, head of the Justice Party, became prime minister.
He governed until 1971, when he was forced to resign by the military. Following
elections in 1973, Bülent Ecevit, leader of the Republican People's Party,
became prime minister.
In 1974, following a military coup in Cyprus, Turkish forces occupied part of the
island nation, which is home to both Greeks and Turks. In 1980, after a series of
weak governments proved unable to cope with the nation's problems, General Kenan
Evren took over the government. He became president under a new constitution in
1982, serving until 1989, when Turgut Ozal was elected president. Ozal was succeeded
after his death in 1993 by Süleyman Demirel. Tansu Ciller became Turkey's first
woman prime minister in 1993.
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In the 1995
elections, the Welfare Party — an Islamic party — won the largest number
of seats. Its leader, Necmettin Erbakan, took office the following year, becoming
Turkey's first Islamic prime minister since independence. But tensions mounted between
Islamic fundamentalists and members of the military, who objected to Erbakan's pro-Muslim
policies. Erbakan was forced to resign, and Mesut Yilmaz succeeded him briefly.
In 1998 the Welfare Party was banned. In 1999, after a year of political instability,
a new coalition government, headed by former prime minister Bülent Ecevit,
took power. Other major events of 1999 included the capture and sentencing to death
of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who had led violent rebellions against the Turkish
army since 1985. Also, two devastating earthquakes claimed the lives of more than
15,000 people.
In May 2000 Ahmet Necdet Sezer succeeded Demirel as president. He backed democratic
reforms that would help Turkey gain entry into the European Union.
Alexander Melamid
Author, Turkey
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