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Interesting and
little-known facts about Turkey.......................
Turkey is the only secular Muslim
country among all the Muslim
countries in the world.
In 1923 the democratic Republic
of Turkey was established under
the leadership of Kemal Atatürk.
Turkey is a young country in more
ways than one: over two-thirds of
the Turkish population is under
age thirty.
Turkey is physically one of the
highest countries in the world, the
average height is 6,000 feet.
Turkey is one of the few
agriculturally self-sufficient
countries in the world.
More than two-thirds of Turkey's
borders are coastline, these
stretch for fully 6,000 km (3,730
miles) along the Aegean, eastern
Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Turkey is one of the riches
countries in species of flowers
due to its varied landscape and
climate. There are approximately
9,000 species of which 3,000 are
native. In Europe there are only
11,500 species.Turkish History
The Turkish people trace their
ethnic origins to a group of Ural-
Altaic tribes who were located in
the 2nd c. BC in what is today
Mongolia.
Esperanto is based on the
structure of the Turkish language.
The majority of Turks were
converted to Islam in the 9th c.
AD.
The Ottoman Navy brought the
Jewish people who were expelled
from Spain to safety in the
Ottoman lands in 1492.
Tulips are not native to Holland.
They were actually introduced
from Anatolia in the 16th c.
Christian History in Turkey
St. Paul was born in Tarsus (
located in southern Turkey). His
missionary journeys signalled the
arrival of Christianity in Asia
Minor from 47 AD.
Christianity first bloomed in
Anatolia with the first church of
Christianity dedicated to St. Peter
in Antioch.
Early Christians fleeing from
Roman persecution found refuge
in Cappadocia's underground
cities.
Anatolia became the heartland of
the eastern realm of the Roman (
Byzantine) Empire.
The Greek Orthodox church is still
located in Istanbul.
The Garden of Eden was said to
be watered by a river which
separated into four streams as it
left the garden. Two of them, the
Tigris and the Euphrates, are
found in the mountains of eastern
Turkey.
Mount Ararat, the highest
mountain in Turkey, is believed to
be the place where Noah's Ark
landed.
The Seven Churches of the
Apocalypse were all located in
Anatolia - Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea.
St. Nicholas - today's Santa Claus,
was born in Patara (next to
Kalkan) and lived as the bishop of
Myra in Demre (also near Kas).
Followers of Jesus were first
called 'Christians' in today's
Antakya.
All Ecumenical Councils were held
in western Anatolia.
Over one hundred Christian
churches of many different sects
are found in the city of Istanbul.
'Anatolia' means 'east' in Greek.
In the Turkish language it means
'the land full of mothers'.
The oldest known shipwreck was
excavated near Kaş (a coastal
town next to Kalkan).
King Midas, son of Gordius, the
last and the most famous of the
Phrygian kings, ruled over the
whole of Asia Minor in the 6th
century BC.
Many city names originated in
Anatolia such as Philadelphia,
Paris, Antioch, Troy and the
continental name 'Europe'.
Alexander the Great embarked on
a campaign against the Persians
in 334 BC crossing the
Dardanelles, occupying Gordium (
this is where the fabled cutting of
the Gordian knot took place) and
defeating Darius the Third.
Two of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World stood in Anatolia -
the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
and the Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus.
The words 'Veni, vidi, vici (I
came, I saw, I conquered)' were
said by Julius Caesar when he
went to Anatolia in 47 BC.
The Lycian federal system of
government with proportional
representation was used as a
model by the authors of the
United States constitution.
I HOPE THESE FACTS ARE TRUE PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF MY RESEARCH WAS OT ACURATE AND ADD YOUR OWN Did you know?
Take Care & Happy Holiday's
Byesssssssssssssssssssssss
Peace & Happiness & Love
Tsarevna Stacia
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