About Turkey | Aegean Coast | History of Turkey

The great reformer and Turkish hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk undertook a sweeping programme of modernisation following the War of Independence - which ended in 1922 with the Republic of Turkey established the following year. During his Presidency, a constitution was adopted, polygamy abolished, European dress encouraged and the wearing of the fez prohibited! Women gained the vote, Constantinople became Istanbul and Islam was removed as the state religion. The switch to the Latin alphabet was also made during his time.

Although the majority of its people are Muslims, Turkey continues to be a secular and democratic state with faith a matter of personal choice. Mosques, Christian churches and Jewish synagogues abide together. The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) is made up of 550 deputies elected every five years and the nation is governed by its Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, with the President elected by the TGNA.

In 1963, Turkey signed an association agreement with the EC and membership talks to join the EU began in October 2005. The Bosphorus Bridge linking Europe and Asia, both physically and symbolically, opened in 1973.

Turkey’s first known human inhabitants appeared almost 10,000 years ago, and in 6,500 BC the world’s first known settlement was established at Catalhoyuk in central Anatolia. The history that followed is as rich a tapestry as the patterns on its intricately woven carpets. A few of its highlights are mentioned here.

The Hittites, who worshipped a sun goddess and a storm god, were the first great civilisation dominating Anatolia (Asian Turkey, also known as Asia Minor) during the middle Bronze Age (1900-1600BC). Later came the Persians under their emperor Cyrius (550-530BC), who in turn were overthrown by Alexander the Great.

Relative peace and prosperity endured under a long period of Roman (Byzantine) rule, which created conditions allowing the spread of Christianity - St Paul wrote his letters to the Ephesians here - but then came the Islamic conquests challenging the power and status of Byzantium. The Great Seljuk Turkish Empire of the 11th century ruled what is now Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Rattled by the Crusades and overrun by the Mongols, the Seljuks clung to power until the arrival of the Ottomans, whose empire sprang from the banding together of Turkish warriors fleeing the Mongols in the late 13th century.

One name stands above all others in Ottoman rule, that of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66) who brought many successes and projects to fruition. Marvellous public buildings, including mosques, hospitals and baths, as well as tombs and bridges, were part of his lasting legacy. The long decline of the Ottoman empire began some years after his demise with the final throes after the First World War, in which Turkey had been on the losing side. Britain and France took control of the remaining Ottoman possessions, with the support of the League of Nations (forerunner of the United Nations), and when the dynasty was finally overthrown in the 1920s by Ataturk’s revolutionary movement, the foundations for modern Turkey were laid.