Where East meets West
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Where East meets West
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General Information: (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook)
Capital: Ankara
Population: 65,599,206
Life expectancy: 73
Official Language: Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic (82% Literacy)
Religions: 99.8% Muslim
Economy: Iron and Steel Manufacturing, traditional agriculture, carpets and textiles
National GDP (gross domestic product): 425.4 billion dollars
GDP Per Capita - $6, 600
Currency: Turkish Lira (500,000 = $1.00)
Location: Southeast Europe/Southwest Asia
Area: 780,580 square kilometers (slightly larger than Texas)
Climate: Hot summers, mild winters
History
Turkey is often called the "cradle of civilization." It was in Catal Huyuk, the plains of modern day Konya, during the 7th millennium B.C. that the first permanent agricultural settlement was established. In successive years Anatolia (modern day Turkey) was dominated by the Hurrians, Hittites, Greeks, and Romans. Their cultural legacies are visible in the ruined cities of Troy, Ephesus and Constantinople among many others.
When the Roman Empire split in two around 330 A.D., the Emperor Constantine founded the city of Byzantium, which he later called Constantinople, (modern day Istanbul) as his capital to rule the eastern half of the empire. It was also Constantine who decreed Christianity the official state religion, contributing to the spread of Christianity throughout the Western World (see Religion). The Byzantine Empire was continually attacked by outside forces, but it was not until 1071 when the Seljuk Turks entered Anatolia from the east, introducing Islam, that the Empire was grievously threatened. The Seljuks continued westward, and only the Bosporus (or "European" part of Byzantium) remained unconquered. What the Seljuks couldn't accomplish was later achieved by Christian Crusaders. The Crusades were called by Pope Urban II to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslims. Passing through Constantinople during the fourth crusade (1202-1204) the crusaders pillaged and destroyed the city. The Byzantines were to regain the city but only briefly.
An invasion by Mongol hordes in the late 13th century left Anatolia in a state of confusion, ruled by small states. One of these states was headed by Osman Gazi (1281-1326) and eventually developed into the Ottoman Empire. In 1453 Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople and in less than a century the Ottoman Empire, under Suleyman the Magnificent, controlled large parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. The decline of the Ottoman Empire began with the surge of nationalism sweeping through Europe and the Middle East after the American and French Revolutions. The Western European powers also had designs on the Ottoman's vast holdings and began to overtly undermine the Sultan's power. The end of the empire came with the conclusion of World War I; the Ottoman Empire had sided with the Germans, and, as losers in the war, were stripped of all of their colonial lands.
The Greeks, who were promised large parts of Anatolia proper, began to invade Anatolia and claim large portions of land. They were met with fierce resistance led by Mustafa Kemal. Kemal, later named Ataturk and recognized as the father of modern Turkey, crushed the Greeks and their allies in the War of Independence and was able to renegotiate the treaties imposed after W.W.I. After establishing a state with internationally recognized boundaries, Ataturk implemented a rapid program of modernization built upon the foundation of a secular democracy, equal rights for women, and universal education.
Presently, Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and seems to be on the fast track to membership in the European Union in the near future. However, a great disparity still exists between the industrialized and modern Bosporus region and the much poorer and agricultural southeast. Another problem that exists is the tension between the dominate Turks who comprise over 80% of the population and the Kurds of the Southeast, some of whom have expressed a desire for an independent homeland. There has also been a resurgence in recent years of Islamic Fundamentalism, as some people, disenchanted with growing inequality and what they see as the decay of traditional values as a result of Western influences, have called for the establishment of an Islamic state.
Religion
Known as "the cradle of civilization", Turkey has also given birth to the rise and development of many religions. One of the earliest religious cults was devoted to the Earth Goddess, called Anna Tanrica in Anatolia, she assumed different names, including Artemis, depending on which culture identified her. Clay sculptures of this fertility goddess, depicting her as a large and bountiful woman, have been found throughout the ancient world, but they appear to have first emerged from Anatolia as early as 30,000 years ago, according to some reports.
The early settlers of Catal Huyuk, in 7,500 B.C. also worshiped a fertility goddess but adopted a whole host of other gods and goddesses that represented the various forces of nature and the cosmos. The Hittites also had many gods, but instead of a female goddess of fertility, they worshipped the "God of Storms and War" as their principal deity. After the collapse of the Hittite empire, the Greeks of the "Golden Age" came to inhabit eastern Anatolia and were greatly influenced by their predecessors as well as other cultural influences. Zeus was identified with the Great God of the Hittites, while Artemis, the principal deity in many city states, was seen as representative of the tradition of the Great Mother Goddess of Earthly Bounty. The Romans later conquered this area and imposed their religion, a Greek adaptation - the principle difference being that the emperor was deified - on the local population.
It was in the second half of the 1st century A.D. that Saul, known to the world as the apostle Paul, began preaching Christianity. Upon his conversion, Paul devoted the rest of his life converting people to the new faith. He spent most of his time in Anatolia and many of his letters to "the Seven Churches in Asia" are directed to communities of Christians in these lands. At first this new religion was greatly persecuted and Christians were thrown to wild animals in grotesque public games. However, Christianity continued to grow despite harsh oppression by the Roman authorities. Some of the underground cities and cave dwellings in Cappadocia were built during this time by believers trying to escape religious persecution. However, things changed quickly; during the reign of Emperor Constantine, Christianity was decreed the official state religion of the Empire. Under the patronage of Constantine and future emperors Christianity grew dramatically and traces of the "pagan idols" were attacked and defaced.
Christianity remained the dominate religion of the land until invading Arabs introduced Islam to eastern Anatolia during the 7th to 13th century. The Seljuk Turks who followed in their footsteps and conquered the Byzantine empire established Islam as the dominate religion throughout their territory. Their successors, the Ottomans, were also Muslims and while they were relatively tolerant of religious minorities, over time, most of the population converted to Islam. Today Turkey is officially 99.8% Muslim.
The word Islam literally translates as "submitting to God." Muslim means "one who submits." A practicing Muslim partially expresses his faith through the five pillars of Islam.
1. The creed- "There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet."
2. Ritual Prayer- Five times daily: sunrise, midday, late-afternoon, sunset and evening.
3. Almsgiving - Charity to the poor and needy according to financial ability.
4. Fasting - No eating, drinking, or smoking from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan.
5. The Haj - Sacred pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime, finances permitting.
Education
Eight years of education are mandatory in Turkey beginning at age seven, and everywhere we went, we saw packs of UNIFORMED PUBLIC school children on their way to and from school. As in many of the other countries we've visited, students must decide at an early age, usually about 14, what they would like to do with their future. There are several high school options available including classic or college prep, science and technology, non specialized/comprehensive, or trade and occupation; the options are similar to choosing a magnet or comprehensive program in Minneapolis. Deciding which high school to attend, along with post high test scores determine whether a student will achieve one of the highly competitive seats at the university, or whether he or she will pursue a trade, or work in industry, retail, agriculture, or textiles, etc. Many students who attend a college prep high school do not receive high enough scores on university entrance exams to win a coveted university slot; annually, only about 35% of students who take the exam are offered admission. Consequently, there are expensive test preparation courses which many wealthy students attend for up to an entire year after high school in order to prepare for the exams, especially if they did poorly on them immediately after high school. For those students who still do not qualify for a public university slot where the only costs are books and nominal enrollment fees, there is the option of a private college, but at $3000 - $5000 a year, this is more than the average Turk (average per capita income $6,600 - see above) can afford.
Clothing
Styles of dress vary greatly in Turkey from ultraconservative Muslim full-coverage chadors to tight and stretchy, mid-drift baring, platform-heeled western wear for women, and shorts and jeans to dress slacks and long sleeved dress shirts with jackets for men. Ankara and Istanbul are cosmopolitan modern cities where the entire spectrum is visible. Near the beach towns along the Mediterranean, clothing is skimpy and baring. Residents of small towns and many people in eastern Turkey tend to dress much more conservatively and according to typical Muslim requirements; for example, men never expose their arms or legs, and women are always covered in public. Many western women, who are used to wearing shorts and T-shirts when it is hot, find themselves the objects of unwanted attention from Muslim men who associate not being covered in public with having loose morals. This can cause quite a culture clash between a western woman who feels she is dressing appropriately for the weather, and a Turkish man who may feel her dress is indicative of other intentions!
Earthquakes
We experienced the most recent of Turkish earthquakes in a restaurant in Istanbul. Not coming from a seismically active part of the world, we were both a little unsure about why the windows were rattling and the ground was shaking. Thankfully, these were the only affects of Turkey's most recent earthquake that we felt. Unfortunately, other areas did not fare so well. Much of the town of Duzce, was left without electricity, running water, heat, or fresh food. Touring many of the areas devastated by August's earthquakes, we felt terrified by the destruction, and amazed by the resiliency of those whose homes, families and lives had been destroyed by the disaster. Pitching tents near accordion folded buildings, people somehow managed to conduct their lives with dignity, despite having to cart water from relief trucks and use temporary latrines.
Driving 
For many Minnesotans, just driving on the East Coast of the United States, where people actually use their car horns, can be a nerve-rattling experience, never mind taking to the roads in a foreign country. But, that is exactly what we decided to do in Turkey. Having negotiated traffic in Naples, the Italian city where drivers consider traffic laws a "mild suggestion at best," Michael felt confident that he could handle the worst that Istanbul and the rest of the country had to offer. One week and almost 2,300 kilometers later, we raced each other to be the first one out of the car, thankful to be alive and still married!
Within moments of entering Istanbul traffic, we realized that this was the closest to pure chaos that either of us had ever been. It didn't help matters much that we decided to leave the city on the same day that President Clinton was arriving. Traffic was rerouted and armed military personnel were stationed every hundred feet along the route that he would travel - unfortunately, this also happened to be our exit route. We quickly decided that not every horn on every car could be malfunctioning at the exact same time, but that drivers applied simultaneous and equal pressure to both the gas pedal and the horn continuously while enroute to their destination. We couldn't find the horn on our rental car, and felt at a distinct disadvantage.
The road between Istanbul and Ankara had collapsed in certain spots due to the November earthquake, and so we were detoured through Duzce, the epicenter, where much of the population, recently homeless, milled inconsolably about in the cold rain waiting for news of loved ones from the search and rescue teams. We both felt humbled by the pain evident on the faces of the people and also by nature's awesome and horrible ability to collapse concrete and steel buildings as if they were made of paper.
At dusk we discovered another unique aspect of Turkish "road rules." We dutifully turned on our low beams, and as darkness fell, every oncoming motorist flashed us - something they had to turn ON their lights to do! After several hours of nighttime driving, we finally realized that Turkish drivers use their lights mainly to indicate that they are passing the car in front of them; the oncoming drivers were not used to staring into headlights and were only letting us know that our lights, even our low beams, were inappropriately and unnecessarily illuminated! Even in complete darkness, many city drivers did not use their headlights. Thankfully, they felt them necessary on dark country roads. However, slow moving, and animal powered farm machinery had little use for lights or reflectors, and more than once, we found ourselves nearly on top of a hay wagon, or in the midst of a herd of sheep or cows with no prior warning.
Upon our return, the people who rented us the car laughingly told us that if we had survived Turkish driving conditions, we could survive anything. They seemed surprised to see us. We also had come to a new understanding of each other; no longer would Michael ask me to read a map, and, in exchange, I promised to take a vow of silence on our next car trip...
Driving is so dangerous in Turkey that the United Sates Department of State issues a three page Driving warning that states, "...the cardinal rules of safety to survive Turkish driving are: drive very defensively, avoid driving at night, and never let emotions affect what you do." To look at their Travel warning go to http://travel.state.gov/turkdrv.html.
Fortunately, the drive did little to detract from the wonders of central Turkey, particularly Cappadocia. Please see the PHOTO GALLERY for images and explanations of some of these amazing sites!
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