Flags of Ottoman Empire

 

Biography of Ataturk

ATATURK, FOUNDER OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) 

ATATURK, FOUNDER OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in a three-storey pink house at Islahhane Street, Kocakasim District, Salonika in 1881. His father was Ali Riza Efendi and mother was Zübeyde Hanim. His paternal grand father Hafiz Efendi is a member of Kocacik Nomads from Konya and Aydin region, which was settled in Macedonia during 14th-15th centuries. His mother Zübeyde Hanim, also a daughter of an old Turkish family, settled in the town of Langasa near Salonika. Ali Riza Efendi who worked in various areas such as; a military officer, a pious foundation clerk and for some time a timber merchant and got married with Zübeyde Hanim in 1871. Four of Atatürk’s five siblings died at an early age, only his sister Makbule Atadan survived and lived until 1956. 

      Atatürk’s Address to the Youth of Turkey (1.71 MB)

 

Little Mustafa commenced his education in Hafiz Mehmet Efendi’s neighbourhood school, later he was transferred to Semsi Efendi School, because his father wished so (Comparatively modern education at the time.) During his primary education, he lost his father in 1888. For a while he stayed on his uncle’s farm in Rapla, returned to Salonika and completed his primary education. He enrolled to Salonika Junior High School for Civil Servants. After a short time in 1893, he transferred to Military Junior High School. It is at this school his math teacher Mustafa Bey, added Kemal to his name in between 1896-1899, Mustafa Kemal finished Monastir Military Senior High School and commenced Military College in Istanbul. In 1902 he graduated with the rank of lieutenant and continued his education in Military Academy. In January 1905 he completed the Academy and graduated with the rank of a captain. His first appointment was in 5 Army in Damascus in between 1905-1907. He was promoted to adjutant major in 1907 and appointed to 3 Army in Monastery. He was the Chief of Staff of the Army Corps which entered Istanbul on 19 April 1909. He was sent to France in 1910 and took part in Picardie Manoeuvres. In 1911 he was back in Istanbul and started to work under the Command of General Staff. 

Mustafa Kemal and a group of friends took part in Tobruk and Derna Fronts during the war which started in 1911 against the Italians who were attacking Tripoli (Libya). He won the Battle of Tobruk against the Italian forces on 22 December 1911. He was then appointed to Derna Front as the Commander-in-Chief on 6 March 1912. 

When the Balkan War started in October 1912, Mustafa Kemal joined the battle with units in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Bolayir. He greatly contributed to the retrieval of Edirne and Dimetoka (Dhidhimotikhon). In 1913 he was appointed to Sofia as the military attache. During his assignment in Sofia he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. His duty as the military attache ended in January 1915. During his stay in Sofia, the First World War had started and the Ottoman Empire had become obliged to enter in this war. Mustafa Kemal was appointed to Tekirdag to organize the 19 Division. 
It is in the First World War, which started in 1914, that Mustafa Kemal wrote an heroic epic and made the legend of Dardanelles are Impassable against Entente troops in Gallipoli. On 18 March 1915, when British and French navies failed to break in through the Straits of Dardanelles with heavy losses, the decision to land troops on the Gallipoli peninsula had been given. Under the command of Mustafa Kemal, 19 Division halted the enemy forces, which landed in Ariburnu -now called Anzak Koyu (Anzac Cove)- on 25 April 1915 at Conkbayir. Mustafa Kemal was promoted to full colonel after this great success. British forces started attacking again from Ariburnu on 6-7 August 1915. Anafartalar Group Commander Mustafa Kemal won the victory of Battle of Anafartalar on 9-10 August. Following this, he also won the victories of Battle of Kirectepe on 17 August and Second Battle of Anafartalar on 21 August. The Turkish nation defended her honour in Gallipoli (Battle of Canakkale) against Entente States by losing approximately 253,000 of her sons to martyrdom. Mustafa Kemal’s famous order to his soldiers “I do not order you to attack, I order you to die”, had changed the destiny of this Front. 

In 1916 after Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal took duties in Edirne and in Diyarbakir. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1 April 1916. He took part in the battles against Russian forces by which Mus and Bitlis were liberated. After short duties in Damascus and Aleppo, he returned to Istanbul in 1917. He went to Germany with Heir Apparent Prince Vahdeddin Efendi for observations in the European Western Front. He became sick after this trip and received treatment in Vienna and Carlsbad. He returned to the Front on 15 August 1918 as the Commander-in-Chief of the 7 Army in Aleppo. At this front he achieved the most successful defensive battles in history against the British forces. He was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Lightning Army Group on 31 October 1918, just one day after the signing of the truce in Moudros. After the abolishment of this Army Group he was appointed for a duty in the Ministry of War in Istanbul on 13 November 1918. 

After the beginning of the occupation of the country and demobilization of the Ottoman armies according to the Moudros Truce, Mustafa Kemal arrived in Samsun on 19 May 1919 as the Inspector General of the 9 Army. On 22 June 1919, he issued the Amasya Circular, declaring that the nation’s determination and decision will restore the nation’s independence and called for the gathering of Congress in Erzurum and Sivas. Between 23 July and 7 August 1919 delegates from all over the country gathered in Erzurum and then between 4 September and 11 September 1919 in Sivas, determining the path to follow in order to gain nation’s independence. On 27 December 1919 he was welcomed in Ankara with great enthusiasm. 23 April 1920, the first day of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, was one of the very important steps on the way to the founding of the Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal was elected as the first Speaker of the House and the Head of the Government. The Turkish Grand National Assembly started preparing and passing the new laws necessary for implementing the Independence War successfully. 

The Turkish Independence War was started when the first bullet was fired against the enemy during the occupation of Izmir by the Greek forces on 15 May 1919. Victors of the First World War, by signing of the Sevres Agreement, started the occupation of their shares of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning, resistance against occupation forces started with militia forces, namely Kuva-i Milliye (National Forces). The Turkish Grand National Assembly established the regular army and successfully led the Independence War to victory by integrating the militia forces into the regular army. 
The important stages of the Independence War under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal were, 

• Liberation of Sarikamis (20 September 1920), Kars (30 October 1920) and Gümrü (7 November 1920). 

• Defences of Cukurova, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Kahraman Maras (1919-1920). 

• Victory at the First Battle of Inönü (6-10 January 1920)

• Victory at the Second Battle of Inönü (23 March-1 April 1920). 

• Victory at the Battle of Sakarya (23 August-13 September 1921). 

• Great Offensive, Battle of Dumlupinar (Battle of Commander-in-Chief) and the Great (Final) Victory (26 August-9 September 1922). 

After the victory at the Battle of Sakarya, the Turkish Grand National Assembly promoted Mustafa Kemal to the rank of Field Marshal and granted him the title of Gazi-the Victorious Fighter. The Independence War was ended by the Lausanne Peace Treaty on 24 July 1923. Thus, all the impediments of the Sevres Agreement had been removed and integrity of the Turkish land had been accomplished by the signing of the Lausanne Agreement. There were no obstructions left on the way to establish the new Turkish State based on national solidarity. 

Founding of the Turkish Republic had been heralded by the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 23 April 1920. National Assembly’s successful administration during the Independence War had secured the founding of the new Turkish State. Caliphate and Sultanate (monarchy) separated and Sultanate was abolished on 1 November 1922. Therefore, the administrative ties with the Ottoman Empire were broken. The declaration of Republic was made on 29 October 1923 and Mustafa Kemal was unanimously elected as the first President of the Republic. Ismet Inönü formed the first government of the Republic on 30 October 1923. Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to Nation and Peace at home, peace in the world are the raising fundamentals of the Turkish Republic. 

Atatürk made many reforms in order to bring Turkey to the level of contemporary civilizations. Those reforms can be put under five main topics:
 
1. Political Reforms 

- Abolishment of the Sultanate (1 November 1922) 
- Declaration of the Republic (29 October 1923) 
- Abolishment of Caliphate (3 March 1924) 

2. Social Reforms 

- Women were given equal rights with men (1926-1934) 
- The Revolution of Headgear and Outfit (25 November 1925) 
- Closing of dervish lodges and shrines (30 November 1925) 
- The surname law (21 June 1934) 
- Abolishment of nicknames, pious and royal titles (26 November 1934) 
- Adoption of the International calendar, time and measurements (1925-1931)
 
3. Juridical Reforms 

- Abolishment of the Canon Law (1924-1937) 
- Instating the new Turkish Civil Code and other legislation to suit secular order (1924 - 1937) 

4. Educational and Cultural Reforms 

- Integration of education (3 March 1924) 
- Adoption of the new Turkish alphabet (1 November 1928) 
- Establishment of the Turkish Language and Historical Societies (1931-1932) 
- Organization of the university education (31 May 1933). 
- Innovations in fine arts 

5. Economical Reforms 

- Abolishment of old taxation laws. 
- Encouragement of the farmers. 
- Establishment of model farms. 
- Legislation of the Encouragement of the Industry Law and establishment of Industrial Corporations. 
- Implementing First and Second Development Plans (1933-1937), construction of new highways to reach every corner of the country. 

In accordance with the new surname law, Turkish Grand National Assembly granted Mustafa Kemal with the surname Atatürk on 24 November 1934. 
Atatürk had been elected twice as the Speaker of the House (National Assembly), on 24 April 1920 and 13 Augustus 1923. His chairmanship at that time, was equal to the Head of State and the Government combined. On 29 October 1923 Republic was declared and Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic. According to the Constitution Presidential elections held for every four years. Atatürk had been re-elected as the President of the Republic in 1927, 1931 and 1935 by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. 

Atatürk very frequently used to go for fact-finding trips in the country. He kept in contact with local authorities and directed them personally in every occasion. In the capacity of the President of the Republic, he received the visiting foreign presidents, premiers, ministers and commanders with great respect and authority. 

Atatürk gave his Great Speech on 15-20 October 1927 in which he described the Independence War and Founding of Republic, he then made his 10th Year Speech on 29 October 1933.

Atatürk was very modest in his private life. He married with Latife Hanim on 29 January 1923. Together they had many trips around the country. Their marriage lasted until 5 August 1925. As a great lover of children, Atatürk adopted his daughters Afet (Inan), Sabiha (Gökcen), Fikriye, Ülkü, Nebile, Rukiye, Zehra and his son Mustafa, a young shepherd boy. He also had two children under his protection, Abdurrahim and Ihsan. He secured a good life and future for these children who survived. 

In 1937, he donated his farms to the State Treasury and some of his real estate to Ankara and Bursa Municipality Councils. He divided his inheritance among his sister, his adopted children and the Turkish Language and Historical Societies. He enjoyed reading, listening music, dancing, horse riding and swimming. He was very much interested in the Western Anatolian folk dance Zeybek, wrestling and listening to Rumelia songs. He had great pleasure in playing black-gammon and billiards. He valued very much his horse Sakarya and his dog Fox. He had made up a very rich library of his own. He used to invite statesmen, scholars and scientists to dinners and discuss state affairs with them. He was very particular about his appearance and was smartly dressed all the times. He was also a nature lover. He very often used to visit his farm Atatürk Orman Ciftligi-Atatürk Forest Farm and took part at works in person. Atatürk was proficient in French and German. 

On 10 November 1938 at 9.05 in the morning, in Istanbul, Dolmabahce Palace, he died of the liver ailment he was suffering from. He was buried with a ceremonial funeral in a temporary place of rest at the Ethnographical Museum in Ankara on 21 November 1938. After the building of Anitkabir (Atatürk Mausoleum) he was taken to his permanent place of rest with a grand ceremony on 10 November 1953.

 

Culture is the foundation of Turkish Republic. 
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1936 

Atatürk’s 10th Year Speech

Canakkale - Gallipoli Campaign Results

The Dardanelles failure has put an end to the British Empire’s apogee. From then on Britain’s influence in her dominions had gradually declined. Despondent Africa and India have revolted. A period of awakening had begun in the dominions with the sense of national identity. In 20-30 years time, the British Empire has came to an end. The British has sailed for the world sovereignty but the Dardanelles campaign has misled their route.

After the Dardanelles Campaign, the course of history had been changed not only for Britain but also for Russia. Russia has entered a period of progression and this progression reached its highest point in the Second World War.

On the other hand, the Ottoman Government has closed the straits until the end of First World War and banned any passage through. Doubtless, this closure had very negative effects on international trading and especially on the countries neighbouring the Black Sea.

Military Assessment
.

According to the Turkish sources, the Allies’ total casualties are 187.000 soldiers. The Turkish causality is 57.084 soldiers in the land attacks and 179.000 soldiers in The Naval Attack and totally 211.000 soldiers.
.
The Allied Navy had failed to open the straits and to capture Istanbul; thus, the fear of losing Istanbul disappeared.
.
The worthiest tribute of this war to the Turkish nation is the birth of Mustafa Kemal’s military genius.
d- Both 18 March Naval and Gallipoli landing victories restored the Turkish Army’s prestige.
.
When the allies has decided to make an expedition to the Dardanelles, one of their objectives was to leave the Ottoman Empire off the war for an easier defeat of Germany. However, the Turkish victory in Gallipoli caused the Great War to continue two more years, until Germany’s withdrawal.
.
The closure of the straits cut Russia’s connection off with her allies and deprived her from their aids. Because, more than half million allied soldiers were engaged in Gallipoli, Germany led her eastern operations easily.
.
Turkish soldiers showed great courage in defending the Dardanelles and they became an example for the Turkish Independence War.
.
In these wars, many educated, intellectual Turkish people had died. Their loss had negatively effected Turkey in coming years.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet

“Fatih Sultan Mehmet” redirects here. For the bridge that spans the Bosphorus strait, see Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.
Mehmed II Khan
Ottoman Sultan
Conqueror Sultan Mehmed Khan,Kaizer-i Rum,Roman Emperor
Reigned: Ottoman Period
Full name Mehmed II Khan
Predecessor Murad II
Successor Murad II
Reign 1444–46
2nd Predecessor Murad II
2nd Successor Bayezid II
2nd Reign 1451–81

Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد الثانى Meḥmed-i sānī, Turkish: II. Mehmet), (also known as el-Fatih (الفاتح), “the Conqueror”, in Ottoman Turkish, or, in modern Turkish, Fatih Sultan Mehmet) (March 30, 1432, Edirne – May 3, 1481, Hünkârcayırı, near Gebze) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Rûm until the conquest) for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople, bringing an end to the medieval Byzantine Empire. From this point onward, he claimed the title of Caesar in addition to his other titles. Therefore, he was also claiming the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Wives and children

He had several wives: Mehmet Aştı, Valide Sultan (1481) Amina Gul-Bahar, Gulbahār Khātun or Gulbahar Hatun, a Greek Orthodox woman[1] of Noble birth from the village of Douvera, Trabzon,[1] who died in 1492, Greek, the mother of Bayezid II, and Gevher Sultana; Gulshah Hatun; Sitti Mukrime Hatun[2]; Hatun Cicek; Helene Hatun, who died in 1481, daughter of Demetrios II Palaiologos, the Despot of Morea; briefly Anna Hatun, the daughter of the Emperor of Trebizond; and Hatun Alexias, a Byzantine princess. Another son of his was Djem Zizim, who died in 1495.

[edit] Early reign

Mehmed II was born in Edirne, the then-capital city of the Ottoman state, on March 30, 1432. His father was Sultan Murad II (1404–51) and his mother Valide Sultan (1432) Hüma Hatun, born in Devrekani county of Kastamonu province, was a daughter of Abd’Allah of Hum, Huma meaning a girl/woman from Hum. When Mehmed II was 11 years old he was sent to Amasya to govern and thus gain experience, as per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time. After Murad II made peace with the Karaman Emirate in Anatolia in August 1444, he abdicated the throne to his 12-year-old son Mehmed II.

During his first reign, Mehmed II asked his father Murad II to reclaim the throne in anticipation of the Battle of Varna, but Murad II refused. Enraged at his father, who had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed II wrote: “If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies.” It was upon this letter that Murad II led the Ottoman army in the Battle of Varna in 1444.

It is said Murad II’s return to the throne was forced by Chandarli Khalil Pasha, the grand vizier at the time, who was not fond of Mehmed II’s rule, since Mehmed II’s teacher was influential on him and did not like Chandarli. Chandarli was later executed by Mehmed II during the siege of Constantinople on the grounds that he had been bribed by or had somehow helped the defenders.

He married , the mother of Bayezid II.

[edit] Conquest of Constantinople

Main article: Fall of Constantinople

Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro

In 1451 Mehmed II reclaimed the throne upon his father’s death. Two years later he brought an end to the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital during the siege of Constantinople.[3] After this conquest, he conquered the Despotate of Morea in the Peloponnese in 1460, and the Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia in 1461. The last two vestiges of Byzantine rule were thus absorbed by the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople bestowed immense glory and prestige on the country; the Ottoman state was internationally recognized as an Empire for the first time.

Steven Runciman recounts a story by the Byzantine historian Doukas, known for his colorful and dramatic descriptions,[4] in which Mehmed II, upon the conquest of Constantinople, was said to have ordered the 14-year old son of the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras brought to him for his personal pleasure. When the father refused to deliver his son to such a fate he had them both decapitated on the spot. [5] Some modern scholars believe that this tale by Doukas is merely one of a long series of attempts to portray Muslims as morally inferior, and point to the story of Saint Pelagius as its probable inspiration.[6] The real reason for Loukas Notaras’ execution was probably the distrust of the Ottoman élite for the Byzantine officials.[7]

In another story, told by the Byzantine chronicler Laonicus Chalcondyles, Mehmed II is said to have taken Radu cel Frumos, at the time a hostage at the Ottoman court answering for his father, Vlad II Dracul’s good behavior, as beloved. Later, in 1462, Mehmed installed Radu as ruler of Wallachia after overthrowing the rule of his brother, Vlad III the Impaler.[8]

It is said that when Mehmed stepped into the ruins of the Boukoleon, known to the Ottomans and Persians as the Palace of the Caesars, probably built over a thousand years before by Theodosius II, he uttered the famous lines of Persian poetry:

The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars;
the owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab.

After the Fall of Constantinople, Mehmed claimed the title of Caesar of Rome (Kayser-i Rûm), since Byzantium was what had become of the Roman Empire after the transfer of its capital to Constantinople in 330 AD. Mehmed also had a blood lineage to the Byzantine Imperial family, as his predecessors like Sultan Orhan I had married a Byzantine princess. He was not the only ruler to claim such a title, as there was the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, whose emperor, Frederick III, traced his titular lineage from Charlemagne who obtained the title of Roman Emperor when he was crowned by Pope Leo III in 800 - although never recognized as such by the Byzantine Empire.

Reference is made to the prospective conquest of Constantinople in an authentic hadith, attributed to a saying of the Prophet Muhammad. “Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will he be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!”[9] Ten years after the conquest of Constantinople Mehmed II visited the site of Troy and boasted that he had avenged the Trojans by having conquered the Greeks (Byzantines)[10].

[edit] Conquests in Asia

The conquest of Constantinople allowed Mehmed II to turn his attention to Anatolia. Mehmed II tried to create a single political entity in Anatolia by capturing Turkish states called Beyliks and the Greek Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia and allied himself with the Golden Horde in the Crimea. Uniting the Anatolian Beyliks was first accomplished by Sultan Bayezid I, more than fifty years earlier than Mehmed II but after the destructive Battle of Ankara back in 1402, the newly formed Anatolian unification was gone. Mehmed II recovered the Ottoman power on other Turkish states. These conquests allowed him to push further into Europe.

Another important political entity which shaped the Eastern policy of Mehmed II was the White Sheep Turcomans. With the leadership of Uzun Hasan, this Turcoman kingdom gained power in the East but because of their strong relations with the Christian powers like Empire of Trebizond and the Republic of Venice and the alliance between Turcomans and Karamanoğlu Tribe, Mehmed saw them as a threat to his own power. He led a successful campaign against Uzun Hasan in 1473 which resulted with the decisive victory of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Otlukbeli.

[edit] Conquests in Europe

Mehmed II advanced toward Eastern Europe as far as Belgrade, and attempted to conquer the city from John Hunyadi at the Siege of Belgrade in 1456. Hungarian commanders successfully defended the city and Ottomans retreated with heavy losses but at the end, Ottomans occupied nearly all of Serbia.

In 1463, after a dispute over the tribute paid annually by the Bosnian kingdom, Mehmed invaded Bosnia and conquered it very quickly, executing the last Bosnian king Stefan Tomašević.

He also came into conflict with and was defeated by his former vassal, Prince Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia in 1462 at the Night Attack. Then, Mehmed II helped Radu, the brother of Vlad, to take the revenge of the Ottoman military losses and Radu managed to take the control of Wallachia in the same year. Vlad lost all his power and escaped from his country.

In 1475, the Ottomans suffered a great defeat at the hands of Stephen the Great of Moldavia at the Battle of Vaslui. In 1476, Mehmed won a victory against Stephen at the Battle of Valea Albă and nearly destroyed all of the relatively small Moldovian army. Then, he sacked the capital of Suceava, but could not take the castle of Piatra Neamţ, nor the citadel of Suceava. With a plague running in his camp and food and water being very scarce, Mehmed was forced to retreat as Stephen was reinforcing his army and Dracula, turning from exile, was marching with a 30,000-strong army to aid the Moldavians.

Mehmed II invaded Italy in 1480. The intent of his invasion was to capture Rome and “reunite the Roman Empire”, and, at first, looked like he might be able to do it with the easy capture of Otranto in 1480 but Otranto was retaken by Papal forces in 1481 after the death of Mehmed.

A rebellion in Albania between 1443 and 1468 led by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg (İskender Bey), an Albanian noble and a former member of the Ottoman ruling elite, prevented the Ottoman expansion into the Italian peninsula. Skanderbeg had been sent to Albania as the highest representative of the Ottoman Empire in the region by Mehmed’s father Murad II, but he rebelled and united the Albanian princes in a fight against the Empire.

These military conflicts between the Ottomans and the European forces showed that the Ottoman presence in Europe was not a temporary situation. During the reign of Mehmed II, the Balkan forces were not completely surpassed by the Ottoman war machine, but could not stop it either.

[edit] Administrative actions
A profile that has been attributed to both Gentile Bellini and Costanzo da Ferrara.

Mehmed II amalgamated the old Byzantine administration into the Ottoman state. He first introduced the word Politics into Arabic “Siyasah” from a book he published and claimed to be the collection of Politics doctrines of the Byzantine Caesars before him. He gathered Italian artists, humanists and Greek scholars at his court, kept the Byzantine Church functioning, ordered the patriarch to translate the Christian faith into Turkish and called Gentile Bellini from Venice to paint his portrait.[3] He was extremely serious about his efforts to continue the Roman Empire, with him as its Caesar, and came closer than most people realize to capturing Rome and conquering Italy. Mehmed II also tried to get Muslim scientists and artists to his court in Constantinople, started a University, built mosques e.g. the Fatih Mosque, waterways, and the Topkapı Palace.

Mehmed II’s reign is also well-known for the religious tolerance with which he treated his subjects, especially among the conquered Christians, which was very unusual for Europe in the Middle Ages. However, his army was recruited from the Devshirme. This group took Christian subjects at a young age. They were split up: those regarded as more able were destined for the sultans court, the less able but physically strong were put into the army or the sultan’s personal guard - the Janissaries.

Within the conquered city, Mehmed established a millet or an autonomous religious community, and he appointed the former Patriarch as essentially governor of the city. His authority extended only to the Orthodox Christians of the city, and this excluded the Genoese and Venetian settlements in the suburbs, and excluded the coming Muslim and Jewish settlers entirely. This method allowed for an indirect rule of the Christian Byzantines and allowed the occupants to feel relatively autonomous even as Mehmed II began the Turkish remodeling of the city, eventually turning it into the Turkish capital, which it remained until the 1920s.

[edit] Details

Mehmed II spoke seven languages (including Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Latin) when he was 21 years old (the age at which he conquered Constantinople).[11][12] After the fall of Constantinople, he founded many universities and colleges in the city, some of which are still active. Mehmed II is also recognized as the first Sultan to codify criminal and constitutional law long before Suleiman the Magnificent (also “the Lawmaker” or “Kanuni”) and he thus established the classical image of the autocratic Ottoman sultan (padishah). Mehmed II’s tomb is located at Fatih Mosque in Istanbul; the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge is also named after him.

He was poisoned by his doctors at Hünkârcayırı, near Gebze.

[edit] Mehmed II’s Firman on the Freedom of the Bosnian Franciscans

“I, the Sultan Khan the Conqueror,

hereby declare the whole world that,

The Bosnian Franciscans granted with this sultanate firman are under my protection. And I command that:

No one shall disturb or give harm to these people and their churches! They shall live in peace in my state. These people who have become emigrants, shall have security and liberty. They may return to their monasteries which are located in the borders of my state.

No one from my empire notable, viziers, clerks or my maids will break their honour or give any harm to them!

No one shall insult, put in danger or attack these lives, properties, and churches of these people!

Also, what and those these people have brought from their own countries have the same rights…

By declaring this firman, I swear on my sword by the holy name of Allah who has created the ground and sky, Allah’s prophet Mohammed, and 124.000 former prophets that; no one from my citizens will react or behave the opposite of this firman!”

This oath firman, which has provided independence and tolerance to the ones who are from another religion, belief, and race was declared by Mehmed II the Conqueror and granted to Angjeo Zvizdovic of the Franciscan Catholic Monastery in Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 28th of 1463.[13][14] The firman has been recently raised and published by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey for the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Ottoman State. The edict was issued by the Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror to protect the basic rights of the Bosnian Christians when he conquered that territory in 1463. The original edict is still kept in the Franciscan Catholic Monastery in Fojnica.

It is one of the oldest documents on religious freedom. Mehmed II’s oath was entered into force in the Ottoman Empire on May 28, 1463. In 1971, the United Nations published a translation of the document in all the official U.N. languages.

Ephesus - Izmir - Turkiye

Neolithic age

The area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age (about 6000 BC) as was revealed by the excavations at the nearby hoyuk (artificial mounds known as tells) of Arvalya and Cukurici.

Bronze age

Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at the Ayasuluk Hill. In 1954 a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (1500-1400 BC) with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. [5] This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi (as they were called by Homer) settled in Ahhiyawa during the 14th and the 13th centuries BC. Scholars believe that Ephesus was founded on the settlement of Apasa (or Abasa), a Bronze Age-city noted in 14th century BC Hittite sources as in the land of Ahhiyawa. [6]

Dark age
Site of the Temple of Artemis in the town of Selçuk, near Ephesus

The city of Ephesus itself was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on the Ayasuluk Hill, three kilometers from the center of antique Ephesus (as attested by excavations at the Seljuk castle during the 1990s). The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, king Kadros. According to legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality (”A fish and a boar will show you the way”). Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a successful warrior and, as king, he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper. He died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League. [7] Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the second century. Later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and the poet Kallinos, and the historian Herodotos however reassigned the city’s mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons.

The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The many-breasted “Lady of Ephesus”, identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world according to Pausanias (4.31.8). Pausanius mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caystrus. [8] before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains.

[edit] Archaic period

About 650 BC Ephesus was attacked by Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. A few small Cimmerian artifacts can be seen at the archaeological museum of Ephese.

When the Cimmerians had been driven away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. After a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a council called the Kuretes. The city prospered again, producing a number of important historical figures, such as the iambic poets Callinus [9] and the satirist Hipponax, the philosopher Heraclitus, the great painter Parrhasius and later the grammarian Zenodotos, the physicians Soranus and Rufus.

About 560 BC Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under the mighty king Croesus. He treated the inhabitants with respect, despite ruling harshly, and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis.[10] His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple (now on display in the British Museum). Croesus made the populations of the different settlements around Ephesus regroup (synoikismos) in the vicinity of the Temple of Artemis, enlarging the city.

Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus invaded Persia. The Ionians refused a peace offer from Cyrus the Great, siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians defeated Croesus the Ionians offered to make peace but Cyrus insisted that they surrender and become part of the empire.[11] They were defeated by the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547 BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the Achaemenid Empire. Those cities were then ruled by satraps.

[edit] Classical period

Ephesus continued to prosper. But when taxes continued to be raised under Cambyses II and Darius, the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus (498 BC), an event which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens and Sparta, were able to oust the Persians from Anatolia. In 478 BC, the Ionian cities entered with Athens and Sparta the Delian League against the Persians. Ephesus did not contribute ships, but only participated with financial support by offering the treasure of Apollo to the goddess Athena, protector of Athens.

During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens[citation needed] but sided in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or the Ionian War with Sparta, which also had received the support of the Persians. As a result, the rule over the kingdoms of Anatolia was ceded again to Persia.

These wars didn’t affect much the daily life in Ephesus. In those times, Ephesus was surprisingly modern in their social relations. They allowed strangers to integrate. Education was much valued. Through the cult of Artemis, the city also became a bastion of women’s rights. Ephesus even had its female artists. In later times Pliny mentions having seen at Ephesus a representation of the goddess Diana by Timarata, the daughter of a painter.

In 356 BC the temple of Artemis was burnt down, according to legend, by a lunatic called Herostratus. By coincidence, this was the night that Alexander the Great was born. The inhabitants of Ephesus started at once with the restoration and even planning a larger and grander temple.
Historical Map of Ephesus, from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888

[edit] Hellenistic period

When Alexander the Great defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were liberated. The pro-Persian tyrant Syrpax and his family were stoned to death and Alexander was greeted warmly in Ephesus when he entered it in triumph. When he saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to finance the temple and have his name as an inscription of the front. But the inhabitants of Ephesus refused, claiming that it was not fitting for a god to build a temple for another god. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Ephesus came under the rule of Lysimachus, one of Alexander’s generals, in 290 BC.

As the river Cayster was silting up the harbour, the resulting marshes were the cause of malaria and many deaths among the inhabitants. The people of Ephesus were forced to move to a new settlement 2 kilometers further on, when the king flooded the old city by blocking the sewers. [12] This settlement was called after the king’s second wife Arsinoe II of Egypt. After Lysimachus had destroyed the nearby cities of Lebedos and Colophon in 292 BC, he relocated their inhabitants to the new city. The architectural layout of the city would remain unchanged for the next 500 years.

Ephesus revolted after the treacherous death of Agathocles, giving the Syrian king Seleucus I Nicator an opportunity for removing and killing Lysimachus, his last rival, at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. After the death of Lysimachos the town took again the name of Ephesus.

Thus Ephese became part of the Seleucid Empire. After the murder of king Antiochus II Theos and his Egyptian wife, pharao Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian fleet swept the coast of Asia Minor. Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263-197 BC.

When the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great tried to regain the Greek cities of Asia Minor, he came in conflict with Rome. After a series of battles, he was defeated by Scipio Asiaticus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. As a result, Ephesus came under the rule of the Attalid king of Pergamon Eumenes II (197-133 BC). When his grandson Attalus III died without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the Roman Republic.
The Roman Theater at Ephesus.
The Temple of Hadrian.

[edit] Roman Period

Ephesus became subject of the Roman Republic. The city felt at once the Roman influence. Taxes rose considerably and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. In 88 BC Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, when he conquered Western Anatolia. This led to the Asiatic Vespers, the slaughter of 80,000 Roman citizens in Asia Minor, or any person who spoke with a Latin accent. Many had lived in Ephesus. But when they saw how badly the people of Chios had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. Zenobius was invited into the city to visit Philopoemen (the father of Monima, the favorite wife of Mithridates) and the overseer of Ephesus. As the people expected nothing good of him, they threw him into prison and murdered him. Mithridates took revenge and inflicted terrible punishments. However, the Greek cities were given freedom and several substantial rights. Ephesus became, for a short time, self-governing. When Mithridates was defeated in the First Mithridatic War by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Ephesus came back under Roman rule in 86 BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes, which left Asian cities heavily in debt for a long time to come. [13]

When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus instead of Pergamum the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered the western part of Asia Minor. Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. It became the seat of the governor, growing into a metropolis and a major center of commerce. It was second in importance and size only to Rome. [14] Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100, making it the largest city in Roman Asia and of the day. Ephesus was at its peak during the first and second century AD.

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (Diana) [15], who had her chief shrine there, the Library of Celsus, and its theatre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators. This open-air theater was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage, with the first archaeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard found in May 2007.[16] The population of Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts.

The city and the temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263. This marked the decline of the splendour of the city.

[edit] Byzantine era (395-1071)

Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. The emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected a new public bath. In 406 John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, ordered the destruction of the Temple of Artemis. [17] Emperor Flavius Arcadius raised the level of the street between the theatre and the harbour. The basilica of St. John was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the sixth century.

The town was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614.

The importance of the city as a commercial centre declined as the harbour slowly filled with silt from the river (today, Küçük Menderes) despite repeated dredges during the city’s history.[18] (Today, the harbor is 5 kilometers inland). The loss of its harbor caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the lowland of the city for the surrounding hills. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Marble sculptures were ground to powder to make lime for plaster.

Sackings by the Arabs first in the year 654-655 by caliph Muawiyah I, and later in 700 and 716 hastened the decline further.

When the Seljuk Turks conquered it in 1071-1100, it was a small village. The Byzantines resumed control in 1100 and changed the name of the town into Hagios Theologos. They kept control of the region until 1308. Crusaders, passing through, were surprised that there was only a small village, called Ayasalouk, where they had expected a bustling city with a large seaport. Even the temple of Artemis was completely forgotten by the local population.

[edit] Turkish era

The town was conquered in 1304 by Sasa Bey, an army commander of the Menteşoğullari principality. Shortly afterwards, it was ceded to the Aydinoğullari principality that stationed a powerful navy in the harbour of Ayasluğ (the present-day Selçuk, next to Ephesus). Ayasoluk became an important harbour, from where the navy organised raids to the surrounding regions.

The town knew again a short period of flourishing during the 14th century under these new Seljuk rulers. They added important architectural works such as the İsa Bey Mosque, caravansaries and Turkish bathhouses (hamam).

They were incorporated as vassals into the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1390. The Central Asian warlord Tamerlane defeated the Ottomans in Anatolia in 1402 and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I died in captivity. The region was restored to the Anatolian Turkish Beyliks. After a period of unrest, the region was again incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by sultan Mehmed II in 1425.

Ephesus was eventually completely abandoned in the 15th century and lost her former glory. Nearby Ayasluğ was renamed Selçuk in 1914.

[edit] Ephesus and Christianity
Photo of a 15th Century map showing Ephesus

Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity from the AD 50s. From AD 52-54, Paul lived here, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands.[19] He became embroiled in a dispute with artisans, whose livelihood depended on selling the statuettes of Artemis in the Temple of Artemis (Acts 19:23–41). He wrote between 53 and 57 A.D. the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the “Paul tower” close to the harbour, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later Paul wrote to the Christian community at Ephesus, according to tradition, while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 A.D.)

Anatolia was associated with John,[20] one of the chief apostles, and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus, c 90-100.[21] Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in Revelation (2:1–7), indicating that the church at Ephesus was still strong.

Two decades later, the church at Ephesus there was still important enough to be addressed by a letter written by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians in the early 2nd century AD, that begins with, “Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory” (Letter to the Ephesians). The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution.

The house of the Virgin Mary (Turkish: Meryem Ana, meaning “Mother Mary”), about 7 kilometers from Selçuk, is believed to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus. It is a popular place of pilgrimage which has been visited by three recent popes.

The Church of Mary close to the harbor of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius. A Second Council of Ephesus was held in 449, but its controversial acts were never approved by the Catholics. It came to be called the Robber Council of Ephesus or Robber Synod of Latrocinium by its opponents.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

After the Peace of Zsitvatorok and the unfavourable result of the wars with Persia, Sultan Ahmed I decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to placate Allah. This would be the first imperial mosque in more than forty years. Whereas his predecessors had paid for their mosques with their war booty, Sultan Ahmed I had to withdraw the funds from the treasury, because he had not won any notable victories. This provoked the anger of the ulema, the Muslim legal scholars.

The mosque was to be built on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, facing the Hagia Sophia (at that time the most venerated mosque in Istanbul) and the hippodrome, a site of great symbolic significance. Large parts of the southern side of the mosque rest on the foundations, the vaults and the undercrofts of the Great Palace. Several palaces, already built on the same spot, had to be bought (at considerable price) and pulled down, especially the palace of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa, and large parts of the Sphendone (curved tribune with U-shaped structure of the hippodrome).

Construction of the mosque started in August 1609 when the sultan himself came to break the first sod. It was his intention that this would become the first mosque of his empire. He appointed his royal architect Sedefhar Mehmet Ağa, a pupil and senior assistant of the famous architect Sinan as the architect in charge of the construction. The organization of the work was described in meticulous detail in eight volumes, now in the library of the Topkapı Palace. The opening ceremonies were held in 1617 (although the gate of the mosque records 1616) and the sultan was able to pray in the royal box (hünkâr mahfil). The building was not yet finished in this last year of his reign, as the last accounts were signed by his successor Mustafa I. Known as the Blue Mosque, Sultan Ahmet Mosque is one of the most impressive monuments in the world. It is one of the elements included in the complex built by Ahmed I to compete with Ayasofya.[3]

Who is Pierre Loti

Viaud was born in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France, to an old Protestant family.[1] His education began in Rochefort, but at the age of seventeen, being destined for the navy, he entered the naval school in Brest and studied on Le Borda. He gradually rose in his profession, attaining the rank of captain in 1906. In January 1910 he went on the reserve list.

His pseudonym has been said to be due to his extreme shyness and reserve in early life, which made his comrades call him after “le Loti”, an Indian flower which loves to blush unseen. Other explanations have been put forth by scholars. It is also said that he got the name in Tahiti where he got a sun burn and was called Roti (because he was all red like a local flower), he couldn’t pronounce the r well so he stuck with Loti. He was in the habit of claiming that he never read books (when he was received at the Académie française, he said, “Loti ne sait pas lire” (”Loti doesn’t know how to read”), but testimony from friends and acquaintances proves otherwise, as does his library, much of which is preserved in his house in Rochefort. In 1876 fellow naval officers persuaded him to turn into a novel passages in his diary dealing with some curious experiences at Istanbul. The result was Aziyadé, a novel which, like so many of Loti’s, is part romance, part autobiography, like the work of his admirer, Marcel Proust, after him. (There is a popular cafe in current-day Istanbul dedicated to the time Loti spent in Turkey.) He proceeded to the South Seas as part of his naval training, and several years after leaving Tahiti published the Polynesian idyll originally named Rarahu (1880), which was reprinted as Le Mariage de Loti, the first book to introduce him to the wider public. This was followed by Le Roman d’un spahi (1881), a record of the melancholy adventures of a soldier in Senegal.

In 1882, Loti issued a collection of four shorter pieces, three stories and a travel piece, under the general title of Fleurs d’ennui (Flowers of Boredom).

In 1883 he entered the wider public spotlight. First, he published the critically acclaimed Mon frere Yves (My Brother Yves), a novel describing the life of a French naval officer (Pierre Loti), and a Breton sailor (Yves Kermadec), described by Edmund Gosse as “one of his most characteristic productions”.[1] Second, while serving in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) as a naval officer aboard the ironclad Atalante, Loti published three articles in the newspaper Le Figaro in September and October 1883 about atrocities that occurred during the Battle of Thuan An (20 August 1883), an attack by the French on the Vietnamese coastal defences of Hue. He was threatened with suspension from the service for this indiscretion, thus gaining wider public notoriety.

In 1886 he published a novel of life among the Breton fisherfolk, called Pêcheur d’Islande (Iceland Fisherman), which Edmund Gosse characterized as “the most popular and finest of all his writings.”[1] It shows Loti adapting some of the Impressionist techniques of contemporary painters, especially Monet, to prose, and is a classic of French literature. In 1887 he brought out a volume “of extraordinary merit, which has not received the attention it deserves”,[1] Propos d’exil, a series of short studies of exotic places, in his characteristic semi-autobiographic style. The novel of Japanese manners, Madame Chrysanthème— a precursor to Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon and a work that is a combination of narrative and travelog — was published the same year.[2]

During 1890 he published Au Maroc, the record of a journey to Fez in company with a French embassy, and Le Roman d’un enfant (The Story of a Child), a somewhat fictionalized recollection of Loti’s childhood that would greatly influence Marcel Proust. A collection of “strangely confidential and sentimental reminiscences”,[1] called Le Livre de la pitié et de la mort, (The Book of Pity and Death) was published in 1891.

Loti was on board his ship at the port of Algiers when news reached him of his election, on May 21, 1891, to the Académie française. In 1892 he published Fantôme d’orient, a short novel derived from a subsequent trip to Istanbul, less a continuation of Aziyadé than a commentary on it. He described a visit to the Holy Land in three volumes, The Desert, Jerusalem, and Galilee, (1895–1896), and wrote a novel, Ramuntcho (1897), a story of contraband runners in the Basque province, which is one of his best writings. During 1898 he collected his later essays as Figures et Choses qui passaient (Passing Figures and Things).

Loti (right) with “Chrysantheme” and friend Yves in Japan, 1885.In 1899–1900 Loti visited British India, with the view of describing what he saw; the result appeared in 1903: L’Inde (sans les Anglais) (India (without the English)). During the autumn of 1900, he went to China, as part of the international expedition set up to fight against the Boxer Rebellion. He described what he saw there, after the siege of Beijing, in Les Derniers Jours de Pékin (The Last Days of Peking, 1902).

Among his later publications were: La Troisième jeunesse de Mme Prune (The Third Youth of Mrs. Plum, 1905), which resulted from a return visit to Japan and once again hovers between narrative and travelog; Les Désenchantées (The Unawakened, 1906); La Mort de Philae (The Death of Philae, 1908), recounting a trip to Egypt; Judith Renaudin (produced at the Théâtre Antoine, 1898), a five-act historical play that Loti presented as based on an episode in his family history; and, in collaboration with Emile Vedel, a translation of King Lear, produced at the Théâtre Antoine in 1904.

He produced a play at the Century Theatre in New York City in 1912, The Daughter of Heaven, which had been written several years before in collaboration with Judith Gautier for Sarah Bernhardt.

He died in 1923 at Hendaye and was interred on the Île d’Oléron with a state funeral.

Loti was an inveterate collector, and married into the money that helped him support this habit. His house in Rochefort, a remarkable reworking of two adjacent bourgeois row houses, is well preserved as a museum. One elaborately tiled room is an Orientalist fantasia of a mosque, including a small fountain and five ceremoniously draped coffins (with the desiccated bodies inside). Another room evokes a medieval banqueting hall. Loti’s own bedroom is rather like a monk’s cell, but mixes Christian and Muslim religious artifacts. The courtyard described in The Story of a Child, with the fountain built for him by his older brother, is still there.

About Turkey

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhichevan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea and Archipelago are to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. Separating Anatolia and Thrace are the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits (the Bosporus and the Dardanelles), which are commonly reckoned to delineate the border between Asia and Europe, thereby making Turkey transcontinental.[4]

Due to its strategic location astride two continents, Turkey’s culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasian landmass with strong historic, cultural and economic influence in the area between Europe in the west and Central Asia in the east, Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south, Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.[5][6]

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, OSCE and the G-20 major economies. Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the EEC since 1963, and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995. Meanwhile, as a Muslim-majority country,[7] Turkey has continued to foster close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the Eastern world, particularly with the states of the Middle East and Central Asia, through membership in organizations such as the OIC and ECO. Turkey is classified as a developed country[8] by the CIA and as a regional power[9][10] by political scientists and economists worldwide.