Turkey Travel Guide - History

The Phrygians were the next group to take over the now Turkish areas south of the Black Sea and the area stretching into present-day Armenia farther east – a kingdom that was ended by the Cimmerians, horse-based nomads, in the 7th century BC. Up until the birth of Christ, the country fell into competing hands on numerous further occasions.

The ancient Greek Ionians came next only to be overran by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Their control lasted until 334 BC when Alexander the Great took over Anatolia, which was then sub-divided into self-contained Hellenistic territories that by the first century BC had come under the control of Rome.

In the 10th century, Turkic nomads from Central Asia moved to east Anatolia and in 1071 defeated the Byzantine Empire before settling in the region. The Keljuk Empire, as it was known, is considered one of the main origins of modern-day Turkish culture. Their reign in the area last just short of 200 years following defeat by the marauding Mongols; however, the vacuum left as a result allowed the original seed of the Ottoman empire to grow under Osman I, considered its founder.

The Ottoman Empire continued to grow steadily until the 16th century at which time it was the most powerful civilisation on the earth. By the 18th century, the Ottomans saw their influence slowly waning as other European powers came to the fore; and by the beginning of the 20th century this once all-conquering power was beginning its very end. Joining World War I on the side of the Germans in 1914 resulted in defeat four years later and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in treaties with the allies.

The new state of Turkey was introduced and accepted by the international community a year later. The new republic was secular and immediately went about staying out of trouble and becoming a fully-fledged member of the international community, a move that was officially achieved with admission as a UN member in 1945 shortly after WWII when it offered token support to the victorious allies.

Turkey became in embroiled in the US-Soviet face-off shortly after the war due to its geopolitical location close to the USSR. However, it largely avoided any serious complications as a result while benefiting from US economic aid and military support.