The Eastrern And Souteasthern Anatolia Region

The Eastrern And Souteasthern Anatolia Region

The region's long and turbulent history has left monuments to its various civilisations: Byzantine monasteries and churches, Selcuk mausoleums and caravanserais, elegant Ottoman mosques and hilltop citadels.
To the inveterate traveller and lover of adventure, this region of Turkey fascinates, astonishes and informs.Van, the ancient Urartian capital of Tuspa, temps visitors to its location on the eastern shore of the lake. An imposing 9th century BC citadel overlooks the new and the old parts of the town. Steps carved in the rock lead to the Urartian fortress; halfway up, in******ions in cuneiform pay homage to Xerxes. The women of Van produce beautiful kilims woven in blue, red and white patterns.The exotic Van cat, a protected animal, has thick white fur and one blue and one green eye. 41- km. southwest of Van, on Akdamar Island stands the 10th century Church of the Holy Cross, now a museum, whose outer stone walls are richly carved with Old Testament scenes and figures. After sightseeing, swimmers and picnickers can enjoy themselves around the island almond groves.Erzurum is the largest city in eastern Anatolia. As you enter the city, the large Aziziye monument will catch your eye. Paland�ken, only 6 Km. from Erzurum.This centre has longest ski run and the best snow quality in Turkey, and is a favourite haunt of expert skiers.The Archaeological Museum in Kars houses beautiful wood carvings, an excellent collection of coins found in the surrounding region, as well as many ethnographic items relating to eastern Turkey. Kars is particularly known with its folkdancing. About 42-km. east of the city on the ancient Silk Road the medi******* city of Ani lies mostly in ruins.Agri, a provincial capital on a 1650 meter high plateau, takes its name from the mountain which looms over it. Ishak Pasa Palace only 6 km. from Dogubeyazit. Ishak Pasa the Ottoman governor of the province, constructed the palace in the 17th century with a mixture of architectural styles.Nearby you can see a bas-relief of an Urartian king, and a rock tomb from the 9th century BC.Near Dogubeyazit, Turkey's most scenic natural monument, Mount Agri rises to a hight of 5137 meters.To see the place where it is believed that Noah's Ark came aground, go to Uzengil village, 25- km. east of Dogubeyazit. Be sure to try the local dessert, asure (Noah's Pudding), believed to have first been made by Noah's wife from the last bits of food in the ark.
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2/2/2008 - The Central Anatolia Region
The Central Anatolia Region
The Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes is a mystic group whose members are followers of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, a great Turkish poet and mystic.The brotherhood is based in Konya, where its founder is buried.
Mevlana was never the head of an order, and the brotherhood was not established by himself but by his followers and devoted companions. The order derived its essence, rites, moral code and discipline from the mystical path first shown by Mevlana.Sultanhan Caravansary was built by Sultan Alaattin Keykubat in 1229.In these buildings they provided the caravans with every possible service such as places to sleep, hamams, mosques, doctors, veterinarians, kitchens, coffeehouses, libraries.Cappadocia can be viewed from three different aspects, natural,historical and religious. When the volcanoes in the region were active, the lava, which poured out, covered all previously formed hills and valleys forming a high plateau. This plateau consists mainly of tufa and some rare layers of basalt. The basalt is less affected by erosion when compared to the tufa and has served as a protective cover, which are known as fairy chimneys. The other interesting places : Goreme open- air museum, Uchisar, Pigeon Valley, Avanos (famous for it pottery and carpets), Underground cities.

HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC PERIOD !

HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC PERIOD

At the end of the World War I, the empires were scattered and instead new nation - states were founded. After the collapsing of the Ottoman Empire, The Republic of Turkey was founded as a nation - state. At the presidency of Atatürk, The Government of Great National Assembly had saved the land from the invasion of foreign forces with the Independence War and with the Lozan Treaty the existence of the new Turkish Republic was approved by the nations of the world.

The months following the Lozan Treaty had passed with the preparations of a new political formation. In order to take the leadership, the Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası (Partisi) (National Republic Party) had been founded ( September 9,1923). Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was appointed for the presidency of the party. The military personnel who were in charge at the Independence War and the senior bureaucrats were appointed for the administration staff of the party. The party was defending the subjects like continuance of the national strife in a civilian medium, the modernization of the country and execution of the Western system, institutions and life style which was chosen as a model. In order to shape the government according to the democratic and modern facts declaration of Republic was realized in September 29,1923. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was the great and successful leader of the national strife was elected to become the first President of the Turkish Republic by a unanimous vote. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had appointed İsmet İnönü as the first Prime Minister. Four months later, the caliphate organization, which was not concordant with the principle of republicanism, was removed and the members of the Ottoman Dynasty were deported from the country. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was fully aware that for the foundation of a modern community, the religious and the governmental tasks should be separated from each other, so he had realized the most important social deviation by the principle of "secularism". As the caliphate organization was removed, a series of severe reforms were realized at the associations bounded to this organization. Major steps in the subject of the Women Rights were realized. The marriage with several women was prohibited and the necessity of legal marriage was obliged. The law for divorcement right by the court is issued. Before most of the European countries, the women had attained the rights of election and electing for the municipalities in 1930, village elder committees in 1933 and TBMM in 1934. One of the major steps realized in the path of modernization was executed in the field of Turkish language. A new Turkish alphabet was prepared by the Ministry of National Education and the law suggesting the usage of Latin letters was approved by TBMM in November 1,1928. The former weight and length measures were changed in 1931.

The "Law of Surnames" was issued in June 21,1934, and the founder of the Turkish Government and Republic Mustafa Kemal had been granted the surname "Atatürk" by TBMM. He was now the ancestor of the entire Turks.

The endeavors for creating a modern country on the basis of secularism was reflected to the constitution level and with a modification in 1928, the "the religion of the Turkish Republic is Islam" verdict was removed from the constitution. In 1937, the verdict stating that the Turkey is a secular government was inscribed in the constitution. Atatürk has executed the evolutions under the leadership of the National Republic Party, which was founded as a party representing the entire nation, and he had inspired this evolutions and principles to the entire nation.
The Government of the Republic had adopted a model primarily based on private enterprises in order to develop the collapsed economy taken as a heritage but obliged to apply state control policy growing in time.

A foreign policy depending on peace and the borders of Milli Misak (National Borders) during the period of Atatürk. With the application of a successful diplomacy, Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits remained inside the national defense system (Montreux Treaty, 1936). With the Balkan (1934) and Sadabad (1937) pacts, the amity policy displayed towards the entire neighboring nations were widespread. Peaceful policies directed towards Europe and the utilization of the international conditions had allowed the reunification of Hatay, which was abandoned to the French before, with the motherland.

With all of his dynamism, strong intuitions, ability to truly calculate the power balances, the true evaluation of the inner and foreign conditions, Atatürk had passed away in November 10,1938 leaving big traces in the direction of the Western model behind. His descendant country had adopted his principles.

After the death of Atatürk, İsmet İnönü was elected to become the second President of the Turkish Republic. He was the "single chief" of his period as the President of the Government and the political party. He was in the service during the most depressed period of the world and Turkey. During his Prime Minister service, he tried to resist to the economic crisis of the world with the policy of state control. He attempted to improve the industry by the assistance of Public Financial Enterprises (KİT) and executed major reforms in this fact.
The most important achievement of İsmet İnönü was the success to exclude Turkey from the World War II. His policies concerning this fact were being executed in the ways of obtaining the balance between various powers at the same time and the securing this situation of the country in some directions. Turkey was invited to San Francisco Summit in March 5,1945 and was located among the countries founding the United Nations. Turkey had not participated to the World Wear II but was affected in negative way.
İnönü was a farsighted man of politics, so he could not be a mere spectator either to the winds of freedom and democracy starting to blow in the world after the World War II or to the social reactions aroused from the depressions of war. As a matter of fact, he talked about the necessity of the "liberalization of the regime" in 1945. And later, he vocalized "the necessity for an opposition party". From this path he cleared he tolerantly watched the foundation of Demokrat Parti (Democrat Party) from the CHP, and in 1950 DP had gained the governmental power as a result of the countrywide elections.
DP who speaks in the favor of democracy and a liberal economy had developed rapidly, managed to participate to the General Assembly in 1946 and to attain the power of government alone in the elections of May 14,1950. Thus the period of the single party in Turkey was ended and the first change of power by the vote of nation was realized. DP had increased the number of the votes in the 1954 elections, therefore riveted its status of power. Although the votes of the party had greatly decreased in 1957, the party had attained the status of power until 27 May 1960.
During his ten-year period of rulership, DP had brought a significant vigor to the economy and the daily life of the community. The economy expanded, the income of the people had increased and numerous villages had attained the services like roads, infrastructure and electricity. New cultivation fields were arranged, the mechanization in agriculture field was initiated, there was a significant increase in trade and major steps were taken in the field of Industry. The process of transference of foreign and commerce capital to industry had started.
After 1954, the public support to the DP government began to weaken and because of the political and economic factors in Turkey, the Turkish Armed Forces had seized the power in the morning of May 27,1960.
The Adalet Partisi (Justice Party) which effected the political life of Turkey between 1960 and 1970 was founded in February 11,1961. The retired full general Ragıp Gümüşpala was elected as the first general chairman of the party. After the death of Gümüşpala in 1964, The Government Water Processes Former General Director Süleyman Demirel was elected to the position of the General Chairman. The government period of AP between the years 1965 - 1971 was one of the brightest periods of Turkey in economic, social and political aspects.
The student actions and movements initiated in France in 1968 and spread throughout the world had entered to the agenda of Turkey from the first place by the end of 1960's. These student actions initially had the characteristics of revolt against the education and examination system in universities but would gain the political and ideological content afterwards. The freedom medium of the 1960's ended with the March 12,1971 memorandum. At the 1972 General Assembly, Ecevit and friends had stated their candidacy for the party administration against the group of İnönü. After the succession of the list of Ecevit, İnönü had resigned from the general director position, deputy position and CHP membership. At the urgent assembly of the extraordinary General Assembly, Ecevit was elected for the position of General Chairman. A new period was started for CHP. In the 1973 elections, CHP had gathered the highest vote amount. After long negotiations CHP General Chairman Ecevit had established a coalition government with the Milli Selamet Partisi (National Security Party) (MSP) displaying the Islamic movements. Although this extraordinary coalition had resulted in some positive outcomes, the effects of petroleum crisis occurring throughout the world had been reflected to Turkey.

ABOUT TURKEY !

ABOUT TURKEY

GEOGRAPHY
Because of its location, Turkey was a region through which ancient Asian Turkish culture moved into Europe, and also a window of Western culture opening to meet the east.
Turkey is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Aegean Sea, which connects the country to the whole world. Because of these long coastal borders and the bridge between Asia and Europe, Turkey has been the centre of major commercial and migration routes.
Turkey is located between Europe and Asia and is roughly a rectangular shape. The largest section is the Anatolian Peninsula at 790,200 sqm, known as Asia Minor. Thrace (Trakya) is the smaller area, at 24,378 sqm, and is located at the east of Balkan peninsula, bringing the total area of the country to 814,578 sqm. With a coastline measuring 8272 km, Turkey is a naval country in a central position to the world’s prominent continents.
Regions The First Geographical Summit gathered in Ankara in 1941, and separated Turkey into seven major geographic regions after a carefuk study. The first four pre-determined regions are named after their neighbouring seas (Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean Region). The remaining three are named in accordance with their geographic locations within Anatolia (Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia Region).GEOGRAPHICAL FORMATIONS
Turkey is considered a high-altitude country, as the mountains cover the majority of the surface even though there is a significant area which is made up of plains, plateaus and sediment areas. These geographical variations mean that the climate is also varied, and affects the location of settlements and economic conditions.Turkey is separated into seven major geographic regions according to climate, natural plantation and distribution of the agricultural activities.
In the north are the Northern Anatolia Mountains, and in the south the Taurus (Toros) Mountains, which are separated by the wide plains of Central Anatolia. The highest mountain in Turkey, and Europe, is Great Ararat (Buyuk Agri) which is 5137m, and Suphan is an extinct volcano located inside the borders of Eastern Anatolia. Karacadag, Raman and Sof are the major mountains of Southeastern Anatolia.
There are numerous rivers in Turkey, the majority of which are used in energy production processes. The Firat and Dicle rivers in Eastern Anatolia flow into the Basra Gulf; Yesilirmak, Kizilirmak and Sakarya rivers in Central Anatolia into the Black Sea, Susurluk Creek, Biga and Gonen creeks into the Marmara Sea; and Gediz and Big and Small Menderes rivers into the Aegean Sea.
The total surface area of the lakes in Turkey is 9200 sqm, with Eastern Anatolia having the largest area. Lake Van is the biggest, (3713 sqm) and Ercek, Cildir and Hazar lakes are also in this region. The largest in Central Anatolia are mostly shallow with high salt content, hence the name of the second biggest in the country, Tuzgolu (Salt lake) at 1500 sqm. There is a boat service which operates across the lake Van.
The Sea of Marmara, which is completely within the national borders, is connected to the Black Sea by Istanbul Bosphorus, and connected to Aegean and Mediterranean by the Straits of Canakkale Strait.THE SEAS OF TURKEY
Three sides of Turkey are surrounded by sea. Three of the four - Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Sea – flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The Sea of Marmara, between the Black Sea and the Aegean, is within the borders of Turkey.Black Sea: With characteristics of an enclosed sea, the Black Sea has a coastline of 1695km, the deepest point 2244m, with a surface area of 424,000 km2. The shelf area is very steep and the depth suddenly reaches 1500m within a short distance. As there are many adjoining rivers feeding into the sea, and there is little evaporation, the level of salinity is relatively low.
Average Salinity: 18 %, at the river entrances: 15 - 16 %Sea of Marmara: The Marmara is a small enclosed sea between the Black and Mediterranean Sea, and connects the two. The coastline is 1189km, and the depth is 760m-3500 m.
Average Salinity Ratio: 26 %Aegean Sea: The Aegean has the longest and most indented coastlines of Turke, 2805 km long and with a deepest point of 1000 m.
Average Salinity Ratio: 38 % in North, 39 % in SouthMediterranean Sea: Located at the southern part of Turkey, this is the eastern part of the entire Mediterranea Sea. The coastline is 1577 km, with a surface area of 2,890,000 sqm.