Why go to Turkey?

It’s friendly, beautiful, culturally rich and good value for money. It’s modern enough to be comfortable yet traditional enough to be interesting.


Turkey is one of the world’s top 10 travel destinations, welcoming more than 23 million visitors every year.
Culture & Art: Turkey’s history of human habitation goes back 25,000 years. Some of the earliest-known human communities are here. Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans and others have all left their works of art and culture in what is now the Turkish homeland. Modern Turkey has all this—and more mobile phones than you’ve ever seen in one place before.

Special-Interest Activities: With nearly 8400 km (5200 mi) of coastline, water sports and yachting are big favorites. Hiking, white-water rafting, mountain-climbing and bicycling are all important, and growing, as is skiing. My favorite of all is hot-air ballooning.

Cuisine: Turkish food is now world-famous, and rightly so. The abundance of its fields, farms, orchards, flocks and fishing boats is exceptional, and Turkish chefs take full advantage of this bounty. Everyone comments on how good the food is. Not only that, the moderately-priced gourmet dinner (plus wine) is still easy to do. Then there’s Turkish tea….

Good Times: Sit at a long table in a meyhane (taverna) in Istanbul, Kusadasi, Bodrum, Antalya, order a glass of beer, wine or pungent raki and join in the songs and stories. Turks revel in good food, good friends, good times, and good nightlife.
For stories of life and travel in Turkey, read the excerpts from my travel memoir Bright Sun, Strong Tea.

About TURKEY

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast.


The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.^[5] Turkey’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance.^[6][7]

Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The predominant religion by number of people is Islam.^[8] The country’s official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who comprise 18% of the population.^[9]

Turks began migrating into the area now called Turkey (“land of the Turks”) in the 11th century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert.^[10] Several small beyliks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol Empire‘s invasion. Starting from the 13th century, the Ottoman beylik united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed following its defeat in World War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923, they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey with Atatürk as its first president.

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic, with an ancient cultural heritage. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, OSCE and the G-20 major economies. Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005, having been an associate member of the European Economic Community since 1963 and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the Middle East, the Turkic states of Central Asia and the African countries through membership in organizations such as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Economic Cooperation Organization. Given its strategic location, large economy, and powerful military, Turkey is a major regional power.^[11]