History of Turkey

The beautiful peninsula is sited between the continents of Europe and Asia.  Historically, Turkey has a rich background and although it is modern you can see its traditions and ethnicity here. Ancient buildings and walls although stand high continue to wane, the Turkish government is trying to preserve its historical reminiscences. 

History of Turkey 

                                                         Photo by Anna on Unsplash

Turkey is positioned uniquely on the globe. The beautiful peninsula is sited between the continents of Europe and Asia.  Historically, Turkey has a rich background and although it is modern you can see its traditions and ethnicity here. Ancient buildings and walls although stand high continue to wane, the Turkish government is trying to preserve its historical reminiscences. Here’s the history of Turkey in a nutshell: Ancient Turkey The first inhabitants of Turkey settled in the Mediterranean region in 7500 BC. 

CatalHyuk. 

One of the first towns formed in 6,500 BC was CatalHyuk.  This is the same town on which modern Turkey now stands. CatalHyuk was amongst the first towns in the world. CatalHyuk had a population of 6,000 and they lived in houses. However, the town was abandoned in 5,000 BC. 

Hittites  

The Hittites established their empire in Anatolia in 1600 BC.  It was founded by Labarna. The Hittites often went to war and were always looking forward to expanding their kingdom boundaries. 

They called their capital Hattushah. The people worshiped many gods and goddesses; they believed in the powers of nature. 

The last king of Hittites was Suppiluliuma II. By 1200 BC they were being attacked by the ‘Sea Peoples’ – they were Aegean and to add to their misery Assyria was also on their tail. 

The Phrygians, Kaskas and Bryges all invaded the Hittite lands. 

Hattushah was burned down in one of these invasions. Soon the Hittites were lost in history. 

Smaller Civilizations 

      The Phrygians ruled over Turkey and were quite powerful in the 8th century. Famous King Midas was a Phrygian. From 650 to 546 BC the Lydians were dominant in Western Turkey. Meanwhile, the Persians were also emerging as a new power. Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire and he soon defeated Lydia and several Greek cities. 

        In 334 BC Alexander the Great conquered the Persians and took Turkey under his control. But when he died in 323 BC Turkey was divided between his generals.  Western Turkey was invaded by the Celts in 279 BC and they established their kingdom. From 133 BC the Romans slowly began extending their rule to the whole of Turkey. 

This they accomplished in about the next 100 years. Christianity took roots in Turkey in the 1st century but the Christians were persecuted widely. 

It was only in 313 after Emperor Constantine became a Christian that the persecution ended. Emperor Constantine made Byzantium his new capital and named it Constantinople which is present-day Istanbul. By the 4th century, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern and the Western Empire. The Eastern Empire of Rome was known as the Byzantine Empire and Turkey was a part of it. 

Middle Ages 

In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian of the Byzantine Empire built the famous Hagia Sophia Church. The Arabs tried to overturn Constantinople several times in the 7th century but failed. The Seljuk Turks attacked Baghdad in 1055 and in 1071 took Byzantine in the Battle of Manzikert. In 1243 Turkey was taken over by the Mongols but they left soon and after that Turkey was divided into many states. In 1288 one of these states of Turkey became the foundation of the Ottoman Empire. In 1453 they captured Constantinople which brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. 

Ottoman 

The Ottoman renames Constantinople – Istanbul. The Turks fought many battles and extended their boundaries. They even captured Egypt in 1517. Although the Turks were powerful their kingdom slowly diminished in the 17th century. The Europeans proved to be more powerful and they had to surrender to them. Russia battled Turkey in the 18th century and took many lands from them. Nationalism struck Turkey and in 1832 Greece broke away from them. Romania and Serbia claimed their independence in 1878 while Bulgaria made its way to independence in 1908. In 1908 the Sultan of Turkey had to abdicate and elections took place in Turkey. 

Modern Turkey 

After World War I France, Greece, Britain, and Italy occupied Turkey but Mustafa Kemal fought the war of independence between 1920 and 1922 and drove all foreigners out of their lands. Sultanate was abolished in 1922 and Kemal became the President of Turkey. Since then it has seen many reforms and modernism. It is a beautiful tourist attraction and has its capital as Ankara.