Turkey
Turkey Destinations Travel Guide
Language: Turkish
Currency: Turkish lira (TRY)
Calling Code: 90
Turkey is an intercontinental sovereign country 5
located in Asia and Europe that spans the entire Anatolian and
Thracian peninsula in the Balkan area.
It is bordered on the northeast by Georgia, on the east by Armenia,
Iran and Azerbaijan, on the north by the Ukrainian territorial
waters on the Black Sea, on the northwest by Bulgaria and Greece, on
the west by the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea, on the south by the
Cypriot waters of the Mediterranean Sea and with Syria, and to the
southeast with Iraq. The separation between Anatolia and Thrace is
formed by the Sea of Marmara and the straits of Turkey (the
Bosphorus and the Dardanelles), which serve to delimit the border
between Asia and Europe, which is why Turkey is considered
transcontinental.
Due to its strategic position, located between Europe and Asia as
well as between three seas, Turkey has been a historic crossroads
between Eastern and Western cultures and civilizations. Its
territory has been the home of several great civilizations such as
the Hittites, Urartu, Cimmerians, Assyrian Empire, Persian Empire,
Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Seljuk Empire,
Ottoman Empire and the place where many battles between those
civilizations had place throughout history. The country influences
the area between the European Union in the west and Central Asia in
the east, Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south, so
it has acquired more and more strategic importance.
Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary and constitutional
republic, whose political system was established in 1923 under the
leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the most prominent member of
the Turkish National Movement, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire,
with the Occupation of Constantinople, as consequence of the First
World War and the partition of the Ottoman Empire. Since then,
Turkey has been increasingly linked to the West through membership
of organizations such as the Council of Europe (1949), NATO (1952),
the OECD (1961), the OSCE (1973) and the G20. (1999). Turkey began
negotiations for full accession to the European Union in 2005, after
having been an associate member since 1963, and having reached a
customs union agreement in 1995. Meanwhile, Turkey has continued to
foster close political and economic relations with all the world,
especially with the States of the Near East, with the Turkic
countries of Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan) and East Asia. In terms of gross domestic
product, its economy is ranked 17th in the world according to the
International Monetary Fund. Due to its strategic location, it is
classified as a regional power by politicians and economists from
all over the world.
Travel Destination in Turkey
Adıyaman Province (Turkey) |
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Stone Heads of
Anatolia
Stone Heads of Anatolia is a group of carved heads of animals and humans at the base of the Mount Nemrut in Turkey. It was constructed in 62 BC by King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. |
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Afyonkarahisar Province (Turkey) |
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Hieropolis
Hieropolis or 'sacred city' got its name from Eumenes II of Pergam who undertook large rebuilding project of the city that originally dates as early as 2000 BC. |
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Aksaray Province (Turkey) |
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Ihlara
Valley
Ihlara Valley was formed after volcanic eruption and it is famous for its ancient and medieval Christian monasteries and cells of the monks. |
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Antalya Province (Turkey) |
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Perga is a ruined ancient Hellenistic city that lies 18 km (11 mi) Northeast of Antalya, Antalya Province in Turkey. |
Saklıkent Canyon is a beautiful natural formation situated 30 km East of Fethiye. In Turkish its name is translated as a 'hidden city'. |
Ruins of ancient city of Termessos are situated in the Antalya province on a Western slope of the Gulluk Dag mountain. |
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Aydın Province (Turkey) |
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Aphrodisias is an ancient archeological site located 40 km (24 mi) South of E87 highway to Geyre in Caria region of Turkey. |
Miletus is an ancient Greek city in the Western part of Turkey those ruins are fairly well preserved despite years of disrepair. |
Ancient ruins of Priene on the Eastern shore of Turkey is famous for its temple of goddess Athena Polios. |
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Bursa Province (Turkey) |
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Uludağ National Park
Uludag National Park is famous nature reserve that includes the highest mountain in the Western Anatolia region of Turkey. |
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Çanakkale Province (Turkey) |
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Gallipoli Peninsula became famous during World War I as a site for bloody battle between Ottoman Turkish army and joint armies of the British commonwealth. |
Ancient ruins of Troy became famous by ancient Greek poet Homer who wrote his Iliad that was dedicated to events of the Troyan War.
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Çorum Province (Turkey) |
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Boğazkale
Boğazkale is famous for ancient ruins of the Hittite city of Hattusa situated in Çorum province of Turkey. |
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Denizli Province (Turkey) |
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| Pamukkale
Pamukkale is a beautiful geological formation situated in Denizli Province of Turkey. Its name in Turkish means "Cotton Castle" after its appearance. |
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Edirne Province (Turkey) |
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Edirne
Edirne is a beautiful historic town in the Edirne Province of Turkey. It is famous for its majestic Muslim mosques that define city scape. |
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Istanbul (Turkey) |
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Beylerbeyi Palace is a former Imperial Ottoman summer residence in the Beylerbeyi neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. |
Dolmabahce Palace is a former main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire. It that stands overlooking the Bosporus strait.
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Ancient city of Istanbul preserves ruins of several subsequent civilizations that turned their capital in one of the most important World centers. |
Rumelihisari is a medieval citadel that was erected on the shores of the Bosphorus (at the narrowest part of it) straight on the order of Sultan Mehmed Fatih (the Conqueror) in 1452. |
İzmir Province (Turkey) |
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Pergamum or Bergama is a historic archeological site situated in İzmir Province in Turkey.
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Ephesus is one of the most magnificent and important sites in the Hellenistic World famous for buildings, majestic statues and a house of Saint Mary. |
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Kars Province (Turkey) |
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Ani Ghost Town
Medieval ruins of ghost town of Ani are located in the Kars province. It is famous for its majestic ruins of the Christian churches. |
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Mersin Province (Turkey) |
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Magnificent medieval walls and towers of Mamure Castle are located in Mersin Province overlooking sea coast. |
Silifke Castle is a medieval citadel situated in Mersin Province of Turkey. It is a famous site of death of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. |
Ruins of ancient Hellenistic city of Uzuncaburç are located in the Mersin Province in Turkey. |
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Muğla Province (Turkey) |
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Ruins of the ancient Aspendos is particularly famous for its majestic Hellenistic theatre that survived centuries of neglect and abandonment. |
Medieval Castle of Saint Peter holds a strategic stronghold in the picturesque harbor constructed by the Order of Knights Hospitallers. |
Marmaris Castle is a medieval fortification constructed in 1522 by the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. |
Ancient ruins of Pinara are situated 50 km (31 mi) East of Fethiye in Turkey. |
Nevşehir Province (Turkey) |
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Derinkuyu underground city located in Nevşehir Province of Turkey is a massive city below ground that could house over 20,000 people. |
Goreme Valley is a historic region in Cappadocia that is famous for its underground Byzantine churches and dwellings in the volcano rock.
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Huge religious complex of Zelve Monastery is a series of churches, living cells and passageways that were cut into a soft rock of the mountain. |
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Osmaniye Province (Turkey) |
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| Karatepe
Karatepe is an archaeological site of the Hittite kingdom situated 23 km from Kadirli in the Osmaniye Province in the Southern Turkey. |
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Trabzon Province (Turkey) |
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Sumela Monastery
Sumela Monastery is a massive Christian religious complex perched on the wall of a mountain in the Trabzon Province. |
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