Turkey's History and Culture

Turkey

• Turkey's history includes invasions by the Romans, Ottomans, and a 20th-century democracy
• Turkish culture is a mix of modern and traditional
• Modern Turkey is a democratic nation seeking economic opportunities and considering European Union membership
• Historically, Turkey has been more Asian than European, but leaders aim to build economic ties with Europe.

Turkey's History

• 8,000 years ago, the region was home to early farming villages
• Powerful empires, like the Romans, shaped the region
• Byzantium, the ancestor of modern-day Istanbul, was strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, making it important for trade
• The Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Romans, establishing the city as Constantinople
• Nomadic Seljuk Turks invaded in the 1000s
• The Seljuk Turks were known as the Ottomans in the 1200s
• Ottomans gained lands from Christian Byzantium and expanded into Eastern Europe, North Africa and Arabia
• The key to Ottoman expansion was the Ottoman army, which included soldiers called janissaries who were trained Christians.
• Ottoman expansion used gunpowder weapons, giving them an advantage over other armies.

Mehmed II

• Mehmed II ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1451 to 1481
• He improved the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, by repairing damage, building palaces, mosques, and a bazaar.
• Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, defeating the Byzantine Empire and making it his capital, which he renamed Istanbul
• He encouraged people to move to the city, growing the population.
• Mehmed II turned the Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine church, into a mosque.

Ottoman Empire (1500s-1600s)

• The Ottoman Empire continued to be powerful, controlling a large territory
• The empire's influence stretched to Northern Africa, Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe through the 1800s.
• The empire reached its height under Suleiman I (the Magnificent) from 1520 to 1566, who expanded the kingdom into the Eastern Mediterranean.