Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0378/03785.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 26KB | 508 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03785}
$Pretitle{280}
$Title{Turkey
Welcome to the New World of Turkey-and the Old}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Turkish Tourist Society}
$Affiliation{Turkish Embassy, Washington DC}
$Subject{turkey
turkish
city
turkey's
ancient
world
coast
new
ephesus
industrial}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Beach*0378501.scf
}
Country:     Turkey
Book:        Focus on the New Turkey
Author:      Turkish Tourist Society
Affiliation: Turkish Embassy, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Welcome to the New World of Turkey-and the Old

[See Beach: Courtesy of Turkish Embassy, Washington DC.]

     Turkey's relations with the West have known a long and chequered history.
In the 16th century Ottoman armies stood at the gates of Vienna, threatening
to kick in the back door of a terrified Europe. In the 19th century, despite
extensive efforts to reform and modernise, Turkey was dismissed as the `Sick
Man of Europe'. From Lepanto to Gallipoli the images have all too often been
of confrontation rather than understanding.

     But even now, how many of us know anything of the abundant riches of
Turkey's history, culture, art and literature? How many know that the Turks in
the 15th and 16th centuries created a world empire extending over three
continents and stretching from the gates of Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from
the Crimea to the sources of the Blue Nile, and from Gibraltar to the
Levant  encompassing the Black and Red Seas, as well as the Mediterranean, as
`Turkish Lakes'?

     How many know that the arts and scholarship flourished in 16th century
Istanbul as grandly as in Renaissance Italy? Witness the recent Suleyman the
Magnificent exhibition in Britain and America, whose treasures dazzled all who
saw them. (And this from a time when Istanbul, `enchantress of Europe and
Asia' was the greatest city in the world.)

     For that matter, how many of us know of the visionary plans for a modern
secular state of Turkey, on Western democratic lines, laid down by Kemal
Ataturk, the father of today's Turkey and one of the most remarkable
statesmen of modern times? In many quarters Turkey still awaits the lifting of
a veil of ignorance. This booklet attempts to do just that.

     As a longtime traveller to Turkey perhaps I may add a personal word
here. As anyone knows who has visited the country regularly over the last two
decades, Turkey is modernising fast. But it is still one of the most striking
and interesting places to visit.

     One thinks of the wonderful variety of landscape, from Lake Van to the
highlands of northeastern Anatolia to the lush valleys of Aegean Turkey in
the west, and the spectacular and magical scenery of the southwestern corner,
ancient Lycia.

     Here in western Turkey are some of the greatest classical sites in the
Mediterranean  Ephesus, Pergamon, Miletus, Didyma  memorials of the cultures
of classical Anatolia which left such a mark on later Turkey.

     Here the traveller will feel that this is the country with everything:
wonderful landscapes, rare wildlife, haunting seascapes, trackless mountains,
and marvellous historical sites, where Hittites, Phrygians, Ionians, Lycians,
Karians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Selcuks and Ottomans have all left
their legacy.

     To cap it all there is the superb Turkish cuisine, an irresistible blend
of Mediterranean influences.

     But last of all, and most important, there is the genuineness and
hospitality of the people  much more used to meeting foreign travellers off
the beaten track than they were twenty years ago.

     The ordinary Turks have had a long struggle to fulfil Ataturk's
dream  and no doubt there are still battles to be fought. But the modern
state is still on the road for which Ataturk hoped, and is finally shedding
its old image in Western eyes.

     I recall the words of a British officer who spent two years in an Ottoman
jail in the First War. Writing after Kemal Ataturk's young state had overcome
its birth crises, and impressed by this dynamic new leader, he wrote `Turkey
lived  as in the last resort all people and nations live  by virtue of her
inner strength; and she is now working out her own contribution to the common
culture of humanity.' All friends of Turkey, I am sure, will agree, and wish
her people well.

     Turkey is not just one holiday. It is more like a thousand and one. Here,
between the Black Sea and the White Sea (as the Turks call the translucent
Mediterranean), between the warm Aegean in the West and snowcapped Mount
Agri in the East, you can discover so many different and exciting worlds.

     Naturally there is the world of picturesque seascapes, abundant sunshine,
and enticing golden beaches, some of them surprisingly secluded. Turkey offers
this kind of holiday in glorious profusion.

     But there are other worlds to explore  the sophistication of Istanbul;
the challenge of windsurfing, water skiing and paraflight water sports;
mountaineering and mountain walking; skiing at a number of easily accessible
winter resorts; crewed yachting cruises along the intriguing coves and inlets
of Turkey's coastline; therapeutic treatment at one of the many thermal spas;
a venture to the interior, say, volcanic Cappadoccia; or one of the new
multicentre air tours.

     Wherever you go, you'll find you can tour back in time, almost to the
very beginnings of time itself. You can strive to imagine the Great Flood
depositing Noah's Ark and its vital cargo on the slopes of Mount Agri. You
can people the plain of Troy with the heroes Achilles and Hector and their
resounding deeds of arms  and wonder if you would have let the Trojan Horse
into the city if you had been King Priam  despite the advice of Cassandra and
Laocoon to burn it.

     Again, at the magnificently preserved stadium at Aphrodisias, you can
practically hear the fullthroated roar of the 25,000 crowd.

     Always there seem to be surprising discoveries around the corner. Did you
know, for example, that it was on the battlefield of Zile, near Amasya, that
Julius Caesar after defeating Pharnaces first uttered his famous `I came, I
saw, I conquered'  and not in Britain?

     Did you know that the great Carthaginian general, Hannibal, is buried at
Gebze, on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara? That Homer is reputed to have
been born in Izmir? That the `father of history', Herodotus, was born in 485
BC at Bodrum, ancient Halikarnassos?

     And did you know that Santa Claus historically comes from Turkey? St.
Nicholas was Bishop of Myra in Lycia in the 7th century AD, and gained his
reputation for secret gifts when, undetected, he bestowed three bags of gold
on a merchant who was unable to provide marriage dowries for his three
daughters.

     No other land seems quite so rich as Turkey in the big names of history
and legend. It's no surprise that Turkey is now one of the foremost holiday
destinations for Europe. With this newfound popularity, there is a firm
determination to keep this vast beautiful country as unspoiled as possible.
Beauty spots such as the mountaingirt lagoon at Olu Deniz, and the Dalyan
delta, a natural habitat of the Loggerhead turtle, have been designated
special conservation areas  part of awideranging environmental programme.

     Around the world of Turkey in two pages? Impossible! But at least this
quick tour of the different regions may suggest some of the rich and startling
contrasts Turkey offers today's traveller.

     Black Sea Coast. Isolated from the rest of Turkey by the Black Sea
mountains, this lush green region is full of tobacco and tea plantations,
hazelnut groves, cherry orchards, sandy beaches and ancient fortresses. Near
Trabzon, Sumela Monastery clings to a precipice. Along the coast at Sinop, in
Amazon country, is the birthplace of the austere philosopher, Diogenes, who
when Alexander asked him if he wanted anything, replied `Yes, would you move
out of my sun a little.'

     Central Anatolia. Ataturk chose Ankara as the new capital of Turkey for
its strategically central location. Once