 Turkey |
Republic of Turkey is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and Eastern Thrace, located in southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. |
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Turkey Ancient and modern, and infused with the exotic, Turkey offers a refreshing escape from the ordinary. Essentially, though, Turkey is a land which wears its beauty lightly – yes, you could be spent exploring its ancient sites and striking natural wonders but, unlike other ancient hotspots, in Turkey, history is alive, infectious and all around.
Istanbul is Turkey's most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. Many of Istanbul's top sights such as Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome, are in Sultanahmet.
One of the world’s most strategic waterways, Bosphorus is the strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara; it is an inundated valley that follows an irregular northeast-southwest course |
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Turkey >>
About Turkey |
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Turkey known officially as the Republic of Turkey, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. |
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| The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia. |
| Source: wikipedia.org |
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| Turkish lifestyle is a vivid mosaic; juxtaposing the West and the East, the modern and the ancient |
| Life in Turkey is a rich variety of cultures and traditions, some dating back centuries and others or more recent heritage. The visitor to Turkey will find a great deal that is exotic, and also much that is reassuringly familiar. The intriguing blend of East and West makes up the Turkish lifestyle. |
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| Language |
The official language of the country, Turkish is spoken by 220 million people and is the world's 5th most widely used language. Today's Turkish has evolved from dialects known since the 11th century and is one of the group of languages known as Ural-Altaic which includes Finnish and Hungarian.
Turkish is written with the Latin alphabet with the addition of 6 different characters. Turkish is completely phonetic - each letter of the alphabet has only one sound-, so each word sounds exactly how it is written. |
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| Hospitality |
| Visitors to Turkey are often pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the Turkish people, who will go out of their way to assist and happily spend time chatting. Hospitality is a cornerstone of Turkish culture, and Turks believe that visitors should be treated as “Guests sent by God”. This attitude has survived to the 21st century and does not appear to have been diminished by mass tourism. In fact, quite the reverse, most Turks welcome the opportunity to meet foreign visitors, learn about different cultures and practice their language skills. It is usual for Turks - even the men - to greet each other by kissing on both cheeks. As a tradition, Turkish people treat their national flag as sacred. Therefore one should avoid insulting or showing disrespect to the Turkish flag. |
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| Food |
Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world's best. It is considered to be one of the three main cuisines of the world because of the variety of its recipes, its use of natural ingredients, its flavours and tastes which appeal to all palates and its influence throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The cuisine originated in central Asia, the first home of the Turks, and then evolved with the contributions of the inland and Mediterranean cultures with which Turks interacted after their arrival in Anatolia.
Turkish cuisine is in a sense a bridge between far-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, with the accent always on enhancing the natural taste and flavour of the ingredients. There is no one dominant element in Turkish cuisine, like sauces in French and pasta in Italian cuisines.
While the Palace cuisine was developing in İstanbul, local cuisines in Anatolia were multiplying in several regions, all displaying different geographical and climactic characteristics. These cuisines, after remaining within regional borders for centuries, are now being transplanted to the big cities and their suburbs as a consequence of large scale urbanisation and migration towards new urban centres. As a result, the national Turkish cuisine has been enriched by the contribution of a great number of local recipes. |
| Source: www.goturkey.com |
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