The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Turkey:
Background Information for
Turkey
By Michael Levine
If you plan to visit western Turkey, forget about fezzes, sultans, harems, and camels. Turkey looks more like Western Europe than you might think, despite its dramatically different architecture--buildings with bold, Byzantine colors and swirling patterns. The young people, in particular, look to the West, listening to pop music played on classical Turkish instruments and watching Turkish game shows and MTV. The lifestyle of Turkish parents and grandparents is different from that of their children, especially young women, many of whom have traded in their traditional dresses and türbans (black veils) for jeans and T-shirts.
Despite the modernization, though, Turkey remains an Islamic nation, and you'll notice the influence of religion wherever you go, especially in the east. The effect of Islam goes far beyond the call to prayer that rings through the streets five times daily. Although religion is less a force here than it is in the Middle East, many parents still arrange marriages for their children and enforce strict rules of behavior. The country is currently undergoing an ideological crisis of sorts, as a rift has developed between more devout Muslims favoring a theocratic government, and moderate Muslims who support the current secular state. This conflict led to brief rioting in the streets of Istanbul in March 1995, although the battle is mostly being waged nonviolently through heated discussion in offices, mosques, and cafés thoughout the country.
Turkey first grew powerful under the Hittite Empire, which rivaled Egypt in importance during the Bronze Age; but most of what you see today are remains of the Greek, Roman, Seljuk, and Ottoman empires. The great archaeological sites, mainly Roman, are among the most spectacular of the classical world. The Ottomans controlled the region from the late 13th century until 1918, when the long-declining empire was defeated by Allied forces and broken apart. In 1922, Kemal Atatürk and his army fought the greedy victors of the war to win the country's independence, and an almost complete overhaul of Turkish language and culture followed. Atatürk became president and westernized the country in an effort to encourage trade with Europe. He is revered as a national hero, and you'll see photos and statues of him all over. Today Turkey's first female prime minister, Tansu Ciller, is faced with an 80% inflation rate and terrorism in the east from separatist Kurdish factions, but the country's tourist industry is booming, as vacationers increasingly choose the Turkish Aegean over Greece.
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