Information on Turkey

National Symbols

National Flag
'Ay Yildiz'( Turkish moon and star) is the name of Turkish flag consists of a white crescent and star on a red background. Red is a prominent color in Turkish history, especially regarding the bloody battles of the Turkish Wad of Independence. The crescent and star, while generally regarded as Islamic symbols today.
Flag contains various legends, the most popular of which include: A reflection of the moon occulting a star, appearing in pools of blood after the Battle of Kosovo, let to the adoption of the Turkish flag by Sultan Murad I. A dream of the first Ottoman Emperor and A crescent and star were spotted on the night of the fall of Constantinople to Mehmet II in 1453, The most widely believed, however, tells of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, walking on a battlefield one night after a victoriour battle in the Turkish Wad of Independence, and seeing the reflection of the star and crescent formation, in a large pool of blood on the rocky hill terrain of Sakarya.


National Flower

The national flower of Turkey is Tulip.


National Anthem
The "istiklal Marsi" (Independence March) is the Turkish National Anthem, officially adopted on March 12, 1921. A total of 724 poems were submitted to a nation-wide competition organized to find and select the most suitable original composition for this National March, and a 10-verse poem written by the renowned poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy was adopted unanimously by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Twenty-four composers participated in another competition arranged for the selection of a musical composition that would suit the elected National Anthem best. The Council, which was only able to convene in 1924 due to the Turkish War of Independence, adopted the music composed by Ali Rifat Cagatay. The words of the National Anthem were sung to this music until 1930. Thereafter, the music of the National Anthem was changed to an arrangement written by Osman Zeki Ungor, conductor of the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra, and the words have been sung to this musical accompaniment ever since. It should be noted however, that only the first two verses are sung. This song is also used as the National Anthem by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Climate

The climate is a Mediterranean temperate climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet and cold winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior.

	Average Temp	High Temp	Low Temp	Average Hum.	Average Rain
Marmara Region	13.5	44.6	-27.8	71.2	564.3
Aegean Region	15.4	48.5	-45.6	60.9	706.0
Mediteranian Region	16.4	45.6	-33.5	63.9	706.0
Black Sea Region	12.3	44.2	-32.8	70.9	828.5
Central Anatolia	10.6	41.8	-36.2	62.6	392.0
East Anatolia	9.7	44.4	-45.6	60.9	569.0
Southeast Anatolia	16.5	48.4	-24.3	53.4	584.5

Four Distinct Seasons
There are four seasons in Turkish climate, even though short period of spring and autumn. And in some areas like Antalya, Adana and Van there are two different seasons accroding to altitude of flats. Snow on top of mountains and hot weather in sea level. That is why every season could be felt all the year round in Turkey.

Language

The official language is Turkish, but over 7 % of poplulation used Kurdish as their primary language. ( 1965 cencus) As an obligatorial process, Turkey allows the Kurdish and other minority to use, broadcast and teach their own language publicly nowadays. The other spoken languages are Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Greek.

Background
The Turks were one of many linguistic and ethnic groups within the Ottoman Empire. Members of the military, civil and religious elite conducted their business in Ottoman Turkish dialect, a mixture of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Arabic was the primary language of religion and religious law, while Persian was the language of art, literature. and diplomacy. Ottoman Turkish borrowed vocabulary words as well as entire expressions and syntactic structures from Arabic and Persian.


When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk came to power in 1923, he instituted sweeping reforms in Turkey. One of these reforms dealt with language. The goal was to introduce a language more Turkish, modern, practical, precise, and easier to learn than the old language. Beginning in May, 1928, numbers written in Arabic were replaced with their Westem equivalents. In November of that year, the Grand National Assembly approved the new Roman (or Latin) alphabet, which had been devised by a committee of scholars including several American linguists. On January 1, 1929, it became unlawful to use the Arabic alphabet. The new alphabet represents the Turkish vowels and consonants more clearly that does the old alphabet. Composed of Latin letters and a few additional variants including s (as in church), 6 (as in shell), and U (as in few), it contains one symbol for each sound of standard Turkish. The adoption of the Latin alphabet was a conscious tum away from the Islamic world and toward the West.


The long-term effects of the language reform have been considered positive overall. Reading, spelling, and printing are now mush simpler than before, and literacy has greatly increased. Modem Turkish is more direct and concise than Ottoman Turkish which makes it better suited to modem life, including science and technology.


Guide to Pronunciation
Pronunciation of Turkish words is phonetic with all letters having the same value in every situation. The Turkish alphabet contains all the letters of the English alphabet except for q, x, and w. In general, most letters are pronounced about the same as in English with a few exceptions. The stress on Turkish words is more pronounced than in English. It usually falls on the last syllable, although many people argue it is the first syllable. Names of places are the exceptions where stress can be on any syllable, such as Istanbul, Marmaris, and Izmir.


Turkish Alphabet


Basic Expressions

Basic conversation English	Turkish	Word - Places English	Turkish
Hi	Merhaba	Public phone	Sokak telefonu
How are you ? How do you do ?	Nasilsin / nasilsiniz (respect form)	toilet	Lavabo, tuvalet
What's your name ?	Senin adin ne ?	Restaurant Coffe shop	Lokanta Kahve hane, cay evi
My name is .....	Benim adim ......	Subway station	Metro istasyonu
How old are you ?	Kac yasindasin ?	Bus stop Taxi stand	Otobus duragi Taksi duragi
Good morning	Gun aydin.	Station Express bus terminal	Tren istasyonu Otogar
Thank you.	Sag Ol ( Sagol)	Museum Art gallery	Muze Resim galleri
Excuse me	Pardon	Bank Police station	Banka Polis karakolu
You're welcome.	Bir sey degil	Post office Hospital	PTT (PeTeTe) Hastane
I am fine.	Iyiyim.	Pharmacy	Ezcane
Yes	Evet	Church	Kilise
No	Hayir	Mosque	Cami
That's good !	Tamam !	Supermarket	Market
Please Hurry up !	Cavuk Lutfen !	Bookstore	Kitap evi
Please help me. How much is it ?	Yardim eder misiniz?, Ne kadar?	Bakery Department store	Pastane Magaza
I understand, I don't understand	Anladim, Anla-ma-dim	Tourist information	Turist merkezi
Could you say that again ?	Bir daha soyler misin ?	School	Okul
Slowly please !	Yavas Lutfen !	Company	Firma, sirket
Please write here.	Buraya yazar misiniz ?	Bread, Milk	Ekmek, Sut
Wait a minute !	Bir dakika !	Ticket	Billet
Who ?, Where ?	Kim ?, Nerede ?	Water	Su
When?, How?	Ne zaman?, Nasil?	Money	Para

History

The land of Anatolia has seen many civilizations, signs of which are spread all around, beginning from the earliest ages of humanity. Paleolithic times dating back approximately 500,000 years ago, constitute the first period from which findings from the lives of oldest humans exist. Discoveries have been made by archeologists at Belbasi and Beldibi near Antalya, bringing this age to light.

The period 8000-5000 BC, saw the Neolithic age, when the first settlements with the first communities occurred. Catal Hoyuk in Konya, which is the world's first town in this sense, is in Turkey. The more sophisticated characteristics of this period are easily observed from the findings at this settlement and in Hacilar.

Next comes the Bronze Age, between 2500-2000 BC, during which the Hatti culture developed, and the Hittites followed from 1800 to 1200 BC. During these two periods, Anatolia witnessed more advanced social systems and the establishment of great monuments. Hattusas, (Bogazkoy) near Ankara, was the capital of Hittites, and at Yazilikaya, another Hittite center, hieroglyphic tablets from this period have been found.

Several centuries later, about 800 BC; the Carian, Lycian, Lydian and Phrygian Empires were established, as well as Greek colonies. The cultural signs from this age still remain all over the Aegean Coast.

Between 33 - 323 BC, the Greeks conquered the Persian states founded in the 6th century BC. The Greek (Hellenistic) Empire spread over the land, from which period city walls, gymnasiums, theaters and stadiums remain.

By 230 BC, Romans were crossing the Aegean towards Anatolia, and from this period onwards, the Anatolian lifestyle influenced the Romans. Many changes took place in the land of Turkey during these times, the Cappadocia region still bearing the imprint of Rome to this day.

After the advent of Christianity, the Roman Empire was divided into two in AD 395; the Western Empire eventually collapsed and the Eastern evolved into the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople (Istanbul) was the capital, which was conquered by the Latin incursion in AD 1204. By this time, Islam had been brought to Anatolia with the invasions of Arab AD 654. They passed their religion onto the Seljuk Turks who occupied most of the land following them and Konya became the Seljuk capital in this period.

After AD 1243, Mongols invaded Anatolia, while soon after, the Ottoman Turks, advanced and founded the Ottoman Empire in 1299. With the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire enlarged its borders in Europe, Africa & Middle East. Until its official end in 1918, this empire saw many periods of growth, retrenchment, and flourishment, leaving its heritage and treasures all around.

In 1923, Republican Turkey was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the national hero of Turkey, and after witnessing such a vast parade of civilizations over its land, Turkey now constitutes a modern country, working to attain integration with the whole world.

Religion

Most of population introduce themselves as Muslim. Islam in Turkey is secular one, not strongly attached into mail stream of Suni sectors. Nominally, 95%-96% of the population is Muslim. Most belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. About 15-20% of the population are Alevi Muslims.

Christian and Judasim is minority
Unlike other Muslim-majority countries, there is a strong tradition of separation of church and state in Turkey. Even though the state does not have any/or promote any religion, it actively monitors the area between the religions.

The Orthodox Patriarch (patrik) governs the Greek-Orthodox Church in Turkey and acts as the spiritual leader of all Orthodox churches throughout the world, the Armenian patrik the Armenian Church, while the Jewish community is lead by the Hahambasi, Turkey's Chief Rabbi, all based in Istanbul. The Jewish population in Turkey is one of the largest and most prominent outside of Israel. (See Jews of Turkey for more)

Turkey People

• Population: 66,493,970 (July 2001 est.)
• Age structure:
  0-14 years: 28.42% (male 9,620,291; female 9,276,347)
  15-64 years: 65.45% (male 22,116,599; female 21,401,165)
  65 years and over: 6.13% (male 1,878,571; female 2,200,997) (2001 est.)
• Population growth rate: 1.24% (2001 est.)
• Birth rate: 18.31 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
• Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
• Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
• Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
• Infant mortality rate: 47.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
• Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 71.24 years
  male: 68.89 years
  female: 73.71 years (2001 est.)
• Total fertility rate: 2.12 children born/woman (2001 est.)
• HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
• Nationality:
  noun: Turk(s)
  adjective: Turkish
• Ethnic groups: Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%
• Religions: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (Christian and Jews)
• Languages: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek
• Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 85%
  male: 94%
  female: 77% (2000)