Turkey

From Imakoopedia

Located in Eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, Turkey (Türkiye) is a country that spans these two continents. The Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles) divides Europe from Asia. That portion of Turkey to the west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe while the rest of Turkey is part of the Middle East.

With the the Black Sea to the north and the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea to the southwest, Turkey is surrounded by Bulgaria and Greece to the west, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the northeast, Syria, Iraq and Iran to the southeast.

There is evidence that the bed of the Black Sea was once an inhabited plain, before it was flooded in prehistoric times by rising sea levels. The biblical flood may be an account of this event. Mount Ararat, at 5,166 m, is the country's highest point and the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, lies in the mountains on the far eastern edge of the country.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Other destinations 3 Understand 4 Get in 4.1 By plane 4.2 By train 4.3 By car 4.4 By bus 4.5 By boat 5 Get around 6 Talk 7 Buy 8 Eat 9 Drink 10 Sleep 11 Learn 12 Work 13 Stay safe 14 Stay healthy 15 Respect 16 Contact 17 External links

Regions

Turkey can be divided geographically into:

• Aegean Turkey (Ege)
• Black Sea Turkey (Karadeniz)
• Central Anatolia (Ic Anadolu)
• Eastern Anatolia (Dogu Anadolu)
• Marmara
• Mediterranean Turkey (Akdeniz)
• Southeastern Anatolia (Guney Dogu Anadolu)

Administrative divisions which are also the cities: 81 provinces (iller, singular - il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Duzce, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak

• Ankara
• Istanbul
• Izmir
• Marmara

Other destinations

• Gallipoli - Site of First World War battlefields and memorials on the Gallipoli peninsula on the north bank of the Dardanelles. The 1915 landings and battles are commemorated by Australians and New Zealanders on ANZAC Day, 25 April, each year.
• Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi or Mount Agri)

Understand

Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined the UN, and in 1952 it became a member of NATO.

Turkey occupied the northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island; relations between the two countries remain strained but have begun to improve over the past three years.

In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-Leninist, separatist group, initiated an insurgency in southeast Turkey, often using terrorist tactics to try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan. The group - whose leader, Abdullah OCALAN, was captured in Kenya in February 1999 - has observed a unilateral cease-fire since September 1999, although there have been occasional clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000 armed PKK militants, most of whom currently are encamped in northern Iraq. The PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) in April 2002.

Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with Armenia and has closed the land border with Armenia for over a decade. The Turkish government refuses to admit that there was a genocide of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire (during WWI) and is still hypersensitive to this fact. In 2003, the film Ararat (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JLR5) by Atom Egoyan was not allowed to be shown, after initial unprecedented consent. The Armenian Genocide issue remains a taboo topic in Turkey to this day, which the official ministry websites below take the time to refute (poorly).

Get in

Visitors from Western European countries do not need a visa. German visitors can enter even with their identity card (Personalausweis) unless they arrive at the non-European land border crossings (i.e. to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria).

By plane

By train

By car

From Central Europe getting to Turkey is not too difficult. In any case you'll need your International Insurance Card (Green Card) when willing to enter Turkey. Pay attention to "TR" not being cancelled and be sure your insurance is valid for the Asian part of Turkey, too. Otherwise you will have to buy a Turkish car insurance.

By bus

By boat

Get around

Talk

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

• Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (http://www.mfa.gov.tr/) http://www.mfa.gov.tr/
• Ministry of Culture and Tourism (http://goturkey.turizm.gov.tr/) http://goturkey.turizm.gov.tr/
• http://www.turizm.net/
• Comprehensive site about the ruins of Ani on the border with Armenia: http://www.virtualani.freeserve.co.uk/ (also has info on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van and other Armenian monuments in Turkey)