About Turkey

We love Turkey, we love the country and the people, and we want to find you the right home so you love it to.

The lands of Turkey are located at a point where the three continents making up the old world. Asia, Africa and Europe are closest to each other, and straddle the point where Europe and Asia meet. Geographically, the country is located in the northern half of the hemisphere at a point that is about halfway between the equator and the north pole, at a longitude of 36 degrees N to 42 degrees N and a latitude of 26 degrees E to 45 degrees E. Turkey is roughly rectangular in shape and is 1,660 kilometres wide.

RELIGION

Although many different religions were practised throughout the years, including Christianity, the Turks became fully Moslem by the 10th century. However one must be fully aware that since Ataturk, the country is secular. Some women can still be seen wearing the headscarf, but young people in the towns and cities will be indiscernible from any other European counterpart going about their business and enjoying themselves in clubs and bars in their leisure time. Like in so many countries at this time religion is usually practised by the older generation who follow the calls to prayer drifting melodically from the turrets and domes of the local mosques.

CLIMATE

You can pretty much guarantee blue skies, sunshine and warm water on the South Coast in the summer. The coastal areas in general have mild winters and good summers, the southern coast hitting the high 30's in June and staying high until well into the autumn. The Black Sea coast follows along about 10 degrees behind. Inland it's a different story with the Anatolian plateau suffering extremes of heat and cold related to its altitude and the lay of the land.

Istanbul is part of Europe and the weather reflects that. You'll find a wet cold winter slowly turning into a damp warm spring and a mild summer that doesn't hang around any longer than it feels is necessary.

The coasts of the Marmara and Aegean gradually warm up as you head south. By the time you reach Izmir the sun begins to blaze and air conditioning engineers start to proliferate. Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye are green and sunny. There's a fair amount of water coming down from the mountains for most of the year and this region is many peoples favourite part of the country.

HISTORY

Because of its geographical location the mainland of Anatolia has always found favour throughout history, and is the birthplace of many great civilizations. It has also been prominent as a centre of commerce because of its land connections to three continents and the sea surrounding it on three sides.

Turkish history is fascinating, convoluted and bloody. Suffice it to say that the first inhabitants came in 7,500 B.C., became the great Hittite civilisation and since then Turkey has been a seething mass of invasion, uprisings and wars up until the early 20th century. Greeks, Romans Mongols have all had their hand in the building and demolishing of the Turkish Empires. After the Crusades the Ottoman Empire came to the fore, famously taking Constantinople in 1453. The Empire gradually declined from 1595 and after a disastrous WW1 the country was ripe for their national hero to come to the fore.

Mustafa Kemal began to organise resistance, for the Turkish people. The War of Independence lasted 1920-22, ending in a bitterly won Turkish victory and the abolition of the sultanate. Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk or Father Turk) completely revised Turkish society. By the time he died in 1938, a constitution had been adopted, polygamy abolished and the fez, mark of Ottoman backwardness, was prohibited. Islam was removed as the state religion, Constantinople became Istanbul and women obtained the right to vote. Atatürk remains a true hero in Turkey. He made it relevant to the modern world.

CUISINE

The Turkish cuisine is thought by many to be some of the best in the world. The flavours are fantastically varied and invariably fresh. You will have absolutely no problem at all being a vegetarian here! For meat eaters there are wonderful stews and bakes, stuffed vegetables and meatballs, wonderful sizzling barbeques and of course the kebab! There will be the freshest softest breads and the puffiest pittas, the hot sauces and the crispest calamari. All in all you can't fail to find something you like. Please don't eat English food in Turkey; you will be missing a tremendous treat!

Wines are good and serve their purpose, some can be excellent, some so cheap you can't believe it, all in all, though tasty enough nothing to give the French a sleepless night.

PEOPLE

The Turkish people are unfailingly kind and generous. It is part of their culture to entertain and indulge the guest, which will be the visitor to their country. I have often met with fairytale acts of unselfish and giving behaviour from the moment I first came to Turkey in the early 90's and so they continue.

Maybe the onslaught of so many new visitors will stem this attitude, but I do hope not. However it is still a patriarchal society and although women rule in the home the man is still the 'cock about town'. He is rarely seen in a domestic role and an often be found propping up the local teahouse with his cronies or playing backgammon with his mates. Try to recognise that certain behaviour although appropriate on a beach will not be judged kindly in the street, dress accordingly, no one will do anything, but respect works both ways.

Most people who visit Turkey agree on one thing... It is the best kept secret on two continents, and people are just starting to discover the historical and natural wonders of Turkey. It carries many colors from very ancient times. Hittites, Phyrgians, Urartians, Lycians, Lydians, Ionians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ottomans have all held important places in Turkey's history and her people's culture.  No wonder it is called the cradle of civilizations.

A number of excellent pages on Turkey are also available on the web. The following list, although far from comprehensive, can be used as a starting point.

Ministry of Tourism and Culture