The Anatolian peninsula, located between the longtitudes 26°45°
and latitudes 36°36° north and
consisting of 7 climatic areas and on which the Repuclic of Turkey is
situated, is "Anaudala" in the language of the Turquoise, that is, Scythian,
Etruscan and Luwian branches, meaning "passageway land with light/sun".
There are cities named Anau in Anatolia and in all the geographies where the
Etruscan tribes which came to Anatolia dwelled.
 The Anatolian peninsula
located in the Asian part of Turkey with the Black Sea in the north,
Aegean and Marmara Seas in the west and the Mediterranean in the south
covers %98 of the country's lands and Thrace located on the European
continent 2% thereof.
The Anatolian Peninsula was, throughout the
historical process of the world , a passage between Asia and Africa, and
Europe. Geographically, it is in the form of a plateau at an altitude of one
thousand metres. Black Sea Mountains in the north and Taurus Range of
Mountains in the South which are extensions of the Alps, running parallel to
the seas, join in the Eastern Anatolia and forming the Anatolian plateaux,
meet, over Iran, the Himalayan Mountains.
Therefore, the Anatolian Plateau features long, fertile plains and valleys
in the west. The lands of the southeastern Anatolia are irrigated through
the dams and irrigation systems established according to the world standarts
on the rivers Euphrates / Firat and Tigris / Dicle , the most important
rivers of the country, springing from the Eastern Anatolian Plateau.
These rivers which , approaching each other, create the fertile soil of
Mesopotamia, in Iraq, run into the sea at the Gulf of Basra. Halys/Kizilirmak
, the longest river in Turkey. Yesilirmak, Coruh and Sakarya run into the
Black Sea. The river Meric (Maritsa) which flows into the Aegean Sea in
Thrace draws a natural border between Turkey and Greece.
 The Major and Minor
Menderes and the river Gediz from the plain of Menderes in the west and the
rivers Seyhan and Ceyhan from the fertile plain of Cukurova in the south. They are thus among the major plains in Turkey for industrial plants,
primarily being cotton, tobacco and fig.
Cotton production rendered Turkey a worldwide established center of textile
and textile products. The largest lakes of Turkey are Van in the east,
Tuz Golu (Salt Lake) in Central Anatolia and the Beysehir and Egridir Lakes.
There are numerous bird and plant sanctuaries in the lakes and rivers. In
the northeast of the Anatolian Peninsula, on which Turkey is located there
are tea plantations and on the south shores of the Taseli Plateau there are
agricultural fields where all types of agricultural products are cultivated
in addition to the banana plantations, avocado, citrus fruits plantations,
greenhouse gardens and cut-flower growing. 60 percent of the population is
engaged in agriculture. Agricultural products industry is according to the
world standards.
HISTORY
The Anatolian Peninsula on which the Repuclic of Turkey of today is
located is home to the oldest settlements in the world. The first
settlements such as Cilvegozu, Karains Cave, Sakcagozu and Tel Acana of
prehistorical era are on the Anatolian lands.
The famous Catalhoyuk where there were Megaron type houses dated back to
7000s B.C. was here and exhibits the first unbanization characteristics of
the history. Starting from 4000s B.C. fort cities were founded by the
various branches of the hoseback riding , nomadic Turquuoise, that is,
Scythians, Pelasgians, Lelegians, Etruscans and Luwis with faith in Asana
who came to Anatolia and were called Nordic.
They were urbanized with the increasing immigration during the historical
process. The first empire of Anatolia, cradle of civilizations , is the
State of the Hittites, of the Scythian branches, established in Central
Anatolia during 2000s B.C. During the subsequent eras tens of tribes of the
same origin such as Khattis, Phrygians, Lydians, Lycians, Galatians came to
Anatolia and settled down. As of the 7th century B.C. Cimmerians, Persians
and Macedonians existed in Anatolia. Subsequently, Anatolia was dominated by
the Roman Empire and upon Pax Romana went through a period of peace and
prosperity.
As of the 4th century A.D. Anatolia where the Byzantine Empire reigned was
settled down by the Christianized Pecheneks, Cumans, Kipchaks, Gagauz coming
Anatolia from over the Balkans and the Jew-converted Khazar Turkish clans.
In 1071 the gates of Anatolia was for the first time opened to Seljuks, of
the Moslem Turkish tribes and thus, Anatolia became Turkish.
Subsequently came the Moghul an Timur dominations followed by the Ottoman
Empire era from 1299 until 1923. During Ottoman era, Anatolia, Arabia, North
Africa and the European lands up to Vienna were annexed to the empire and
Ottoman-Islamic works of art were built there. The Ottomans which was a
world empire of its era had a theocratic order.
The empire was governed by people of every nationally and the Ottomans
ensured a vast religious freedoom.
It was as a result of this freedom that it began to be betrayed and was set
on a downward trend starting from the 18th century onwards.
THE TURKISH CULTURE AND ETHNOGRAPHY
The Turks speak a language of the Ural-Altaic language group and is related
to Hungarian , Finnish and Korean.
The Turks used the Gok Turk alphabet throughout theis histories of thousands
of years. Even though the Uygur Turks invented the Uygur alphabet, they
passed to the Arabic alphabet after the adoption of muslim religion . The
new Republic of Turkey adopted the Latin alphabet after the used today
on November 1, 1928 under the leadership of M.K. Ataturk.
The geography of Turkey lying upon Anatolia, the land of gods, goddesses,
faiths, cultures and civilizations, is culturally diversified also as
parallel with the climatic conditions.
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