"The gateway between Europe and Asia..."

"A country situated at the heart of the oldest continents of earth..."

"The crossroads of many important routes since centuries..."

"A bridge between ages, nations and civilizations..."

"The cradle of civilization..."

"The heartland of civilizations..."

Turkey is also a paradise of sun, sea, sand, mountains, forests, and lakes. 

Turkey offers the vacationer a complete change from the stress and routine of everyday life. From April to October, most places in Turkey have an ideal climate that is perfect for relaxing on sandy beaches or enjoying the tranquillity of forests, mountains and lakes.

There is no doubt that one visit will not be enough, and you would like to come back again and again as you discover one extraordinary place after another. All of them, no matter how different, have one thing in common: the friendly and hospitable people of this unique country of civilisations.

Turkey is a new country in an old land. The modern Turkish state--beginning with the creation of the Republic of Turkey in the years immediately after World War I--drew on a national consciousness that had developed only in the late nineteenth century. But the history of nomadic Turkish tribes can be traced with certainty to the sixth century A.D., when they wandered the steppes of central Asia. Asia Minor, which the Turks invaded in the eleventh century, has a recorded history that dates back to the Hittites, who flourished there in the second millennium B.C. Archaeological evidence of far older cultures has been found in the region, however.

The term Turkey, although sometimes used to signify the Ottoman Empire, was not assigned to a specific political entity or geographic area until the republic was founded in 1923. The conquering Turks called Asia Minor, the large peninsular territory they had wrested from the Byzantine Empire, by its Greek name, Anatolé (sunrise; figuratively, the East), or Anatolia. The term Anatolia is also used when events described affected both that region and Turkish Thrace ("Turkey-in-Europe") because of the two areas' closely linked political, social, and cultural development.

Anatolia is a bridge connecting the Middle East and Europe, and it shares in the history of both those parts of the world. Despite the diversity of its peoples and their cultures, and the constantly shifting borders of its ethnic map, Anatolia has a history characterized by remarkable continuity. Wave after wave of conquerors and settlers have imposed their language and other unique features of their culture on it, but they also have invariably assimilated the customs of the peoples who preceded them.

The history of Turkey encompasses, first, the history of Anatolia before the coming of the Turks and of the civilizations--Hittite, Thracian, Hellenistic, and Byzantine--of which the Turkish nation is the heir by assimilation or example. Second, it includes the history of the Turkish peoples, including the Seljuks, who brought Islam and the Turkish language to Anatolia. Third, it is the history of the Ottoman Empire, a vast, cosmopolitan, pan-Islamic state that developed from a small Turkish amirate in Anatolia and that for centuries was a world power.

Finally, Turkey's history is that of the republic established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), called Atatürk--the "Father Turk." The creation of the new republic in the heartland of the old Islamic empire was achieved in the face of internal traditionalist opposition and foreign intervention. Atatürk's goal was to build on the ruins of Ottoman Turkey a new country and society patterned directly on Western Europe. He equated Westernization with the introduction of technology, the modernization of administration, and the evolution of democratic institutions.

• Historical Background of Turkey
• Administration of TUrkey
• Geography of TUrkey
• Turkish Society
• Economy of Turkey
• Transportation and Telecommunications in TUrkey
• Turkish National Security

• The UNESCO Award Winning Anatolian Civilisations Museum (Museum of Anatolian Civilizations)
  • Anatolian Civilisations Photo Gallery (Photo Gallery of Ancient Civilizations)
  • Ancient Anatolian Jewellery
• The Archaelogical Museum of Istanbul
• The Selcuk Ephesus Museum, Izmir
• Topkapi Palace Museum (Museum of Topkapi Palace Istanbul)
  • History of Topkapi Palace Museum
  • Guide to Topkapi Palace Museum (Museum of Topkapi)
  • Architecture of Topkapi Palace
  • The Mysterious Ottoman Harem
  • Imperial Treasury at Topkapi Palace Museum
  • Topkapi Palace Attire and Garments
  • Ancient Porcelains at Topkapi Palace Museum
    • Photo Gallery of the Ancient Porcelains at Museum of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul Turkey
• Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) Museum (Museum of Hagia Sophia)
• The Mausoleum and Museum of Ataturk (Ankara Atatürk Museum)
• The Mevlana Museum, Konya
• Turks: A journey of 1000 years-Royal Academy of Arts
• Anatolia and the Caucasus-The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Sabanci Museum
• Pera Museum
• Virtual Museum Tours by Ministry of Culture and Tourism

• Turkish (Anatolian) Carpets: The Art of Turkish (Anatolian) Carpet Weaving

• Anatolian Carpets

• Anatolian Turkish Kilims

  • Pictures of Turkish Kilims

• Turkish Anatolian Carpets, Rugs and Kilims

  • Turkish Anatolian Carpet Kilim Gallery (Photos, Images, Pictures, Designs and Motifs of Turkish Carpets)

• Explore Turkish Carpets 

• UNESCO Award Winning Anatolian Civilisations Museum (Museum of Anatolian Civilizations)
  • Anatolian Civilisations Photo Gallery
• Ayasofya Museum
• Topkapi Palace Museum (Istanbul)
• Blue Mosque
• Selimiye Mosque (Edirne)
• Dolmabahçe Palace
• Ancient City of Troy
• Ephesus (Efes)
• Aphrodisias
• Pergamum (Bergama)
• Pamukkale (Hierapolis)
• Göreme-Cappadocia
• Mt. Nemrut, Mt. Ararat
• Ancient City of Çatalhöyük (Konya)
• UNESCO Heritage Listed Ancient City of Hattusa (Hattusas)
• Ancient City of Acemhöyük (Aksaray),
• UNESCO Heritage Listed Safranbolu

Genes, Peoples and Languages

• Genetic Distance and Language Affinities Between Autochthonous Human Populations
• Genetic Distance Between Autochthonous Human Populations
• Language Affinities Beween Autochthonous Populations
• Language Affinities
• Human Evolution
• The Semitic and Other Afroasiatic Languages
• World Languages
  • By World Area
  • By Language Size
  • By Language Family
  • By Country
  • By Diversity

• Chronology of Anatolia, Turkey, Türkiye, Asia Minor (Timeline of Anatolia, Chronology of Turkey)
• Overview of Ancient Analotion Civilizations: Sumer, Babylon and Hittites (pdf, 95kb)
• Kings of Sumer and Akkad
• The Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian Periods
• Kings of Babylonia
  • The Canon of Kings
• Kings of Assyria
• Kings of the Hittites
• Kings of Mitanni
• Kings of Urartu
• Kings of Assyria
• Kings of Babylon, Neo-Babylonian Period
• Kings of the Medes
• Kings of Lydia
• Kings of Phrygia
• Great Kings of Persia, Achaemenids
  • Genealogy of the Achaemenids
• Iranian Period
• Hellenistic Period
• Roman Period
• Byzantine Period
• Seljuq Period
• Ottoman Period

• Evolution of Technology in Ancient Anatolia Turkey (Asia Minor-Tűrkiye)

  • Bronze Age Metal Technology in Ancient Anatolia-Turkey
  • Copper and Copper Alloys
  • Smelting
  • Other Metals
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Lead
  • Iron
  • The Production of Metal Vessels
  • Technological Style in Early Bronze Age Anatolia

  • I. The Proto-Urban Period

  • Late Chalcholithic-EB I: c. 3800-2800 BC
    • A. Western Anatolia
    • B. Central and North Central Anatolia
    • C. Eastern Anatolia
    • D. The Amuq (Phases F and G)
  • II. The Early Urban Period
  • EB II: c. 2800-2450/2400 BC

    • A. Western Anatolia

    • B. Central Anatolia
    • C. Eastern Anatolia
    • D. The Amuq (Phases H and Part of I)
    • E. Cilicia
  • III. The Period of Emerging Dynasties
  • EB III: 2450/2400-2100/2000 BC
    • A. Western Anatolia
    • B. Central and North-Central Anatolia
    • C. Cilicia
    • D. Amuq

• Archaeological Settlements Sites of Turkey (Anatolia)-TAY Project
  • Top Archaeological Sites in Anatolia Turkey
• Acemhoyuk (Acemhöyük, Yeşilova, Aksaray)
• Aksaray
• Cappadocia
• Catalhoyuk (Cumra, Konya
• Ancient City of Troy (Ilium) and Trod (Canakkale)
• Hattusa (Hattusha, Hattusas Corum)
• Ephesus (Efes)
• Other Ancient Cities in Anatolia Turkey (Turkish Destinations, Destinations in Turkey)

• The Spread of Indo-European and Turkish Peoples off the Steppe
• Turkish Language

  • Turks, Turkish, Classification of Turkish Languages

  • Turkish Language Map (Map of Turkish-Turkish Language)

  • A Brief History Of Turkish Languages

  • Written Turkish

  • The Evolution of Turkish since the 16th Century

  • The Republican Era, Atatürk and Turkish Language Reform

  • Altaic Languages Family Tree

• Turkish Philosophers (Turkish Humanism and Anatolian Dervishes)
  • Ebu Mansur Maturidi
  • Tarhan B. Uzlug El-Farabi
  • Ahmet Yesevi
  • Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi
  • Haci Bektasi Veli
  • Yunus Emre
  • Nasreddin Hoca
• Outline of Turks
• Huns
• Uighurs (Uigurs-Uygurlar)
• Seljuqs (Selcuks, Selcuqs)
• Timurids
• Emergence of Ottomans
• Ottoman Empire (Ottomans, Osmanli Imparatorlugu)
  • Ottoman Successor States in the Balkans, Europe, Caucasus, Middle East and Africa
• Turks: A journey of 1000 years-Royal Academy of Arts
• Anatolia and the Caucasus-The Metropolitan Museum of Art

TransAnatolie Tour