.

The history of Anatolia (Turkey) is very rich. The
world's oldest city was discovered here, at Catal
Hoyuk in 7500 B.C. The Hittite Empire rivaled the
ancient Egypt and left behind captivating works of art.

The oldest archaeological remains in Turkey date
from about 7000 B.C. In about 2000 B.C. the
Hittite civilization flourished in Anatolia. Other people
and civilizations followed them, including the
Phrygians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines
and finally the Turks.

Ephesus

The heartland of classical Hellenic culture is actually in Turkey, including cities such as Troy, Pargamum, Ephesus, Miletus and Halicamassus. Most modern Turkish cities have historical pasts.

The ethnic group known as the Turks, together with the Mongols, Manchus, Bulgars and others, was one of the Altaic peoples who lived in Mongolia in the 2nd millenium B.C. and later migrated into Central Asia. During the Arab conquest of Central Asia in the 7th century A.D., the Turks came into contact with Islam. By the 10th century, most Turks were Muslim.

The first Turkish state in Anatolia was
the Seljuk Empire, established when
the Seljuk Turks defeated the
Byzantines in the 11th century. This
empire fell apart in the 12th century,
but in the 13th century, another
group of Turks conquered Anatolia
and established the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire expanded over the next centuries. At its peak in the 17th century, the Ottoman Empire dominated the Balkans, present day Hungary, Romania, most of the area around the Black Sea, the Middle East, parts of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire declined. Many of the Ottoman territories gained their independence and a political group known as the Young Turks demanded political reforms in the Empire. The empire fell apart after the First World War and the seeds of a Turkish Republic were planted with the freedom movement called “Kurtuluş Savaşı”. The new Turkish Republic was born in 1923.