 ...is known to be the Cradle of Civilizations that many civilizations were started and spreaded out to the world from here.
...is centered amongst Europe, Asia and Africa. Because of this geographical position, she is accepted to be the bridge of these continents; and, İstanbul is the only city in the world. that was built on two continents (Asia and Europe).
...has been the member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) since 1952.
...borders three major seas (Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea) and nine countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria).
...was known as Asia Minor in the western part in Asia and is now known as Anatolia.
...witnessed the first known Human Rights Decleration in 1463 (540 years before our time and 488 years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
...is where Alexander the Great cut the Gordion knot (a saying used for "shortcut to solve difficult problems") near Ankara. Also the double knotting technique used in Turkish rugs is also called as Gordion Knot.
...is where state insurance was provided for merchants and travelers in the Caravanserais.
...is where the first church built by man (St. Peter’s Church) is in Antioch (Antakya), Turkey
...is the place where the oldest known human settlement was in Catalhoyuk, Turkey (7th Millenium B.C.)
...has a population which 70% of its people are under 50 years of age.
...is the original destination of the most celebrated and romantic train, the Orient Express, at Istanbul.
...was the center (Istanbul) of two empires and a kingdom in history:- Byzantine Empire, Latin Kingdom and Ottoman Empire.
...provides 70% of the world's hazelnuts and 60% of Bromium.
...is the birth place of King Midas who turned everything he touched into gold, St. Nicholas , St. Paul, Homeros (the father of history and a poet).
...is the place where the names and words Paris, Philadelphia, Europe, meander, yoghurt, turqoise, parchment, angora were originated from.
...used her navy to rescue the Jewish people from persecution in Spain in 1492. (Sultan Beyazit II dispatched the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jewish people who were expelled from Spain and they were brought safely to the Ottoman lands.)
...witnessed the first recorded international treaty in 1284 BC between the Hittite and Egyptian kingdoms.
...is the location of world's first beauty contest judged by Paris, with Aphrodite, Hera and Athena as leading contestants. Therefore, it is said that the first bribery was started during this contest since each contestant offered gift to Paris to select them!
...has, reputedly, one of the three best cuisines of the world.
...was the first place on earth where coins made out of electrum (mixture of gold and silver) and gold were minted in 640 B.C. and were used by the Lydian king Croesus in Sardis, in the Aegean region.
...was the place where first international trade center of history was established in Kültepe.
...'s national flower is TULIP as seen on the background and at the logo of Turkey on the Main Page under Turkey's map with Atatürk. It was stolen by the Dutch during the 16th century.
...'s national sports are wrestling and JAVELIN (It is not the javelin we know of in athletics. Please click here to find out!)
...had 2612 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2003.
...had 3581 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2004.
...had 5006 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2005.
...had 2988 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2006.
...had 3998 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2007.
...had 3696 earthquakes and tremors within the year of 2008.
...is the place where the famous Trojan Wars took place in Western Turkey, around the site where the replica of Trojan horse rests today.
...is the place where the first church built by man (St. Peter’s Church) is in Antioch (Antakya).
...is the place where the oldest known human settlement was built in Çatalhöyük in Konya (7th Millenium B.C.).
...is the place where the first Neolithic paintings found on man-made walls are in Çatalhöyük in Konya.
...is the place where two of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world were located (Temple of Artemis around Ephesus and Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Bodrum).
...is the place where Noah’s Ark supposed to have landed on Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) close to the Armenian and Iranian borders.
...is the place where the last meal on Noah’s Ark, a pudding of sweet and sour taste (aşure), is still served throughout the country.
...were the ones who introduced coffee to Europe.
...is the place where tradition says that a stranger at one’s doorstep is considered "God’s guest" for at least three days.
...is the place where the oldest tin mine was found in Göltepe, 60 miles south of Tarsus.
...is the place where female goddesses like Cybele dominated the Central Anatolian pantheon for thousands of years before these supernatural powers were transformed to male gods.
...is the place where the Hittites sold Abraham the cave where he buried his wife Sarah, when the Israelites came to Palestine.
...is the place where the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis was said to be watered by a river which separated into four streams as it left the garden; two of them the Tigris (Dicle) and Euphrates (Firat) rise from the mountains of Eastern Turkey.
...is the place where the Seven Churches of Apocalypse are all situated in the Aegean region of Anatolia; Ephesus (Selçuk), Smyrna (Izmir), Pergamum (Bergama), Thyatira (Akhisar), Sardis (Sart), Philadelphia (Alaşehir) and Laodicea (Goncalı, Denizli).
...is the place where the First Ecumenical Council was held in İznik.
...is the place where the first church dedicated to Virgin Mary is in Ephesus.
...is the place where the writing was first used by people in ancient Anatolia. The first clay tablets in the ruins of Assyrian Karum (Merchant Colony) date back to 1950 B.C.
...is the place where Julius Caesar proclaimed his celebrated words, "Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)" in Sivas when he defeated the Pontus Kingdom, a formidable kingdom in the Black Sea region of Turkey.
...has hundreds of beaches and marinas which have the "Blue Flag" (an European award for the best and cleanest waters and beeches) on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts.
...is the place where the first recorded international treaty in the world was the Treaty of Kadesh between the Hittite and Egyptian Empires, Hattusilis III and Ramses II, in 1284 BC.
...is the place where Early Christians escaping from Roman persecutions found shelter in Cappadocia.
...is noted for having one of the three most famous and distinctive traditional cuisines in the world.
...is the place where the oldest known shipwreck on Earth was found and excavated in Uluburun near Kaş, in the Mediterranean Region.
...where the first soldiers in the world who sank an aircraft carrier by Artillery 2nd Lt. Mustafa ERTUĞRUL (Focus Magazine, October 2004, pp. 60-67)
 : 01 January 2008/08:20 GMT |
