The History of Turkey

The history of Turkey reports of human inhabitation as early as 7,500 BC. Turkey is located in the region where the meeting points of the three continents Asia, Africa and Europe converge. In the early history, this region was called Anatolia, which is one of the oldest and continually inhabited regions on the globe. This region has been serving as the battleground for foreign powers since early times. Hittites was the earliest tribe that ruled the area from 18th through the 13th century BC. Succeeding them, the Phrygians and Cimmerians ruled the place. In 546 BC, Cyrus the Great led the Persians into Anatolia, who was eventually driven out by Alexander the Great in 334 BC. Thus, in 334 BC Anatolia came under the rule of Alexander the Great. Subsequently, Anatolia was divided into a number of small Hellenistic Kingdoms namely Bithynia, Cappadocia, Pergamum, and Pontus. In the first century BC, all these kingdoms fell into the hands of Rome.

In 130 BC, the Romans incorporated Anatolia as one of the provinces of Asia, controlled from Ephesus. In 324 AD, Constantine I, the Roman emperor made Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) the capital of the Roman Empire, which subsequently became the capital of Byzantine Empire. Seljuks, a group of Central Asiatic Turks conquered Baghdad in 1055 and established a Middle Eastern and Anatolian Empire. On the break of the empire during Mongol invasion, one of the local powers namely the Ottoman dynasty came to prominence even stretching from the northwestern Anatolia and capturing Constantinople in 1453. With this, Constantinople fell and Istanbul was born. Suleyman the Magnificent ruled the Ottoman Empire between 1520 and 1566 controlling a huge and powerful empire pushing the glory of the empire to forefront. After a flourishing time, the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the 18th and the 19th centuries.

During the times that followed, Anatolia became a battleground for rival European powers. As the World War I broke out, the Ottoman Empire had already been divided into spheres of influence by the great European powers. However, the internal reforms that were on the way to improve the condition of life on the region is worth mentioning here. In 1908, a very active and revolutionary group of individuals called The Young Turks championed a revolution in this region with a number of civil and social reforms of great and far-reaching significance. In 1909, Abdul Hamid, the last of the unbroken line of Ottoman Sultans was deposed.

When the Allied planned to carve up Turkey, Ataturk led a strict opposition in 1919. In 1922, the Turks led by Mustafa Kemal and Ismet Inonu defeated the armies and occupied Anatolia. Following this, Inonu won a historic treaty called the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Heralded as the greatest diplomatic victory in history, the treaty recognized Turkey as an independent Republic. Ataturk was elected as the first president who laid the foundation for the modern Republic of Turkey. In 1938, Ataturk died in Istanbul.

Before joining the Allies in 1945, Turkey remained neutral during the World War II. In 1946, it assumed the charter membership of the UN. Following this, in 1952 Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The successive governments proved very ineffective in administration, which led to a military coup led by Kanan Evren. This resulted in a military government that lasted for three years. Eventually in 1983, Turgut Ozal was elected as the prime minister. In 1991 and 1993, Suleyman Demirel and Tansu Ciller followed as the prime ministers respectively. The later years saw the gradual growth of the principles of republic entering the government and administration. Passing through ups and downs, the significant achievement by Turkey in the political and economic spheres as a modern republic cannot be overemphasized.



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