A Brief Account of The History of Turkey

The history of Turkey is littered with fascinating facts, which helped to shape many other parts of the World.

Stretching across most of the southern edge of the Black Sea, Turkey has long been critical in the history and development of the Middle East. And because it is situated uniquely between the East and the West, the North and the South, Turkey's culture, history, and arts are rich and vital, filled with artefacts from all parts of the world that have been fused into the unique place that is Turkey.

Though less famous, the history of Turkey is as long and as deep as that of Egypt, and it has been as influential on the development of the rest of the world. Only because the peoples of Turkey developed writing relatively late has their history been skipped over.

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Potsherds and stone tools from early man are found throughout Turkey. The oldest classical epic, the Odyssey, is set in Turkey; the Trojan Wars were fought here over the Dardanelles, the strait connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas. The first empire to defeat the Egyptians using their high-tech (relatively speaking) war chariots were the Hittites, centered in Turkey. The Phrygians, the Lydians, Caryans, Lyceans, all were succeeding empires and countries in the region that is now Turkey.

Throughout the days of rule by the Alexandrian Greek and Roman empires, Turkey maintained its identity. In Christian times, Constantine established Constantinople (now Istanbul) as the center of the Eastern Christians, who later developed into the Greek Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Egyptian Orthodox Churches. After the fall of Rome, Constantinople was the center of the Byzantine Empire, which later fell to the Muslims as a new chapter in the history of Turkey began.

Ruled by the Muslim Seljuk Turks for nearly two hundred years, Turkey was again invaded, this time by the Mongols. These invaders were more interested in plunder than ruling Turkey, but their victory brought the Turkish civilization crashing down again by about 1300. A small province of the original Seljuks rose to power after this to create the powerful Ottoman Empire, which lasted over six hundred years into modern times.

The downfall of the Ottomans was World War I, when they allied with the Germans and shared in their defeat. The Empire was dismantled by the victorious Allies, and only the Anatolian Peninsula remained for Turkey.

Today's Turkey was born in 1922, when the remains of the Sultanate were wiped away by rebels under the lead of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The new country was a republic, and its leaders set about vigorously eliminating the old ways of the Ottomans and replacing them with shining modern ideas. They allied with Britain and the other Allies in World War II, though the alliance was mostly ceremonial, and joined NATO and the UN. Though the glory days of the Empire are gone, Turkey is an equal partner in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Despite its progressiveness, the history of Turkey is cherished by its people. Ottoman and Byzantine architecture is preserved for visitors who want to see the glories of the old days, and museums dot the country, holding relics from Turkey’s long and complex past. History here is close to the surface, and stepping into a museum or visiting a small village can send you back to the golden days of yesterday, at least in your mind.

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