Startseite That’s Turkey. Startseite Facts Name: Republic of Turkey Capital: Ankara (6 million inhabitants) Population: 73 million inhabitants National.

That’s Turkey

FactsName: Republic of Turkey

Capital: Ankara (6 million inhabitants)

Population: 73 million inhabitants

National Language: Turkish

National Days: 29 December, 30 August, 19 May and 23 April

System of Government: Democratic and Social system

Administrative structure: Parliamentary Representative Democracy

Neighbouring Countries: Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, Iran

Area: 780 576 sqkm

History

The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey was an empire that lasted from 1299 to 1923. It was succeeded by the Republic of TURKEY which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923. At the height of its power (16th–17th century), it spanned three continenets, controlling much of SoutheasternEurope, Western Asia and North Africa.

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms.

The Turkish Language

Turkish belongs to the Altay branch of the Ural-Altaic linguistic family, same as Finnish and Hungarian. It is the westernmost of the Turkic languages spoken across Central Asia and is generally classified as a member of the South-West group, also known as the Oguz group.

Other Turkic languages, all of which are closely related, include Azerbaijani (Azeri), Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkmen, Uighur, Uzbek, and many others spoken from the Balkans across Central Asia into northwestern China and southern Siberia. Turkic languages are often grouped with Mongolian and Tungusic languages in the Altaic language family. Strictly speaking, the "Turkish" languages spoken between Mongolia and Turkey should be called Turkic languages, and the term "Turkish" should refer to the language spoken in Turkey alone.

It is common practice, however, to refer to all these languages as Turkish, and differentiate them with reference to the geographical area, for example, the Turkish language of Azerbaijan.

Religions inTurkey

99% of the Turkish population is Moslem. The remaining is composed of Orthodox Christians, Gregorian Christians, Catholic, Suryani and Protestant Christians, and Jews. Although most of the population is Moslem, Turkey is a secular country and everyone has freedom of religion and beliefs. Turkey is the only country among the Islamic countries which has included secularism in her Constitution and practices it.

Anatolia is the birthplace of historic legends, such as

Homer (the poet), King Midas, Heredotus (the father of history), St. Paul the Apostle, and ThalesMevlana is the one of well known Turkish philosopher

St. Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, was born in Patara and became the bishop of Demre, on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast.

Cybele was the Great Mother Goddess of the Phrygians in Anatolia and later the Greeks and Romans.

Nazım Hikmet is the most famous Turkish poet abroad and one of the all-time greatest literary figures of the 20th century.

Leyla Gencer, known as "La Regina" (The Queen) in the opera world, was one of the greatest sopranosPekinel sisters, famed Turkish pianist twins

-

Cultural highlights of Turkey

1. Mevlana - Whirling Dervishes The order of Mevlevi, better known in the west as the Whirling Dervishes, was founded by the 13th century Sufimystic, Celaleddin Rumi, who was also known as Mevlana. “Come, come, whoever you are, come! Heathen, fire-worshipper or idolator, come! Come even if you have broken your penitence a hundred times, Ours is the door of hope, come as you are”.

2.Grease Wrestling- Grease Wrestling is the Turkish national sport and every year, in July, wrestling championships are held in Kırkpınar, outside Edirne. The contest is made more difficult by the fact that the wrestlers smear themselves with oil. For 630 years the celebrated Kırkpınar oil wrestling tournament has commenced with this chant.

3. Festival of sacrifice- one of the religious holidays in Turkey, has its roots in the story of Abraham and Isaac/Ismail.

4. The Candy Festival-After thirty days of fasting, there is a three days of festivities where traditionally lots of candies are consumed

Turkish food

Recognised as one of the major cuisines of the world, Turkish food comes in a great variety and every region of the country has its own specialities. Because of the trade route which passed through its heart the people of Anatolia were constantly being exposed to new foodstuffs and herbs and spices, and new dishes were constantly created.

The fertility of the land meant, and still does, that fresh fruit and vegetable were available in abundance for preparing delicious dishes. Generally speaking the cuisine of the eastern regions is hot and spicy and meat-dominated reflecting its proximity to the Middle East while the further west you are more likely to find seafood and olive oil vegetable dishes.

-Shish Kebab, Pieces of lamb grilled over charcoal...A delicious Turkish dish, well known by  people who have visited Turkey.

-Döner Kebab, A roll of lamb on a vertical skewer turning parallel to a hot grill is a typical Turkish dish.

-Mantı is a paste meal which is very popular in Kayseri city From Turkey and it is served with yoghurt and garlic sauce

Turkish Stereotypes

-Hospitality is second nature to the Turks and visitors to Turkey are often pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the people and how they will go out of their way to assist and spend time chatting.

-Sincerely, Cooperative, Brave

-Discipline, charitable, hard-working

-One being the equestrian sport known as cirit or jereed is the stereotypes of Turkish.

-There have been hammams or public bath houses in Turkey since medieval times, used both as a place to relax, get clean and as a social spot.

-Camel wrestling, Grease wrestling

-Big Moustache

-The Turkish bath

1. Turkish Population. The Turkish population is very young with only 6 percent aged 65 and over, and 65 percent between the ages of 15 and 65. Youngest in Europe, 15 million kids are going to the scohool.

2. Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector. But Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK), shows that the unemployment rate in Turkey jumped to 13.6 percent in December 2008.

3. Turkey has very strong political pressure groups contrary known, Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK; Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD ; Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is; Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is; Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK; Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB.

Interesting about Turkey