TURKS HISTORY IN ANATOLIA

The history of Turks covers a time frame of more than 4000 years. Turks first lived in Central Asia around 2000B.C. Later, some of them left Central Asia and spread around, establishing many states and empires independent from each other within a vast area spanning Asia and Europe. The Turks started to settle in Anatolia during the period of the Great Selçuk Empire in the early 11th century. The Malazgirt victory in 1071 against the Byzantines opened the way to Anatolia for the Turks. Over a span of nearly a hundred years, the Turks fully conquered the Anatolian heartland and established the Anatolian Seljuk State as a part of the Great Seljuk Empire (1075-1318). The Seljuk Empire was the first Turkish Empire in Anatolia. The Seljuks have left us a rich cultural legacy. The Anatolian Seljuk State enriched the country from one end to the other with monumental mosques, universities, hospitals, fortresses, tombs, and caravan serais. These works, many of which are still standing, present us with the finest in stone and carving as well as woven art and tile decoration. Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the mystic poet and philosopher and founder of the Whirling Dervish order flourished in Konya—the capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire during the 13th century. When the Turkish Seljuk State collapsed as a result of repeated Mongolian attacks, several beyliks from various Turkish tribes emerged in Anatolia towards the end of the thirteenth century. One of these beyliks was the Ottoman—Osmanli—Beylik. The Ottoman Beylik succeeded in establishing the union of the Turkish beyliks in Anatolia and thus arose the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II (1451-1481), and this capture ended the reign of the Byzantine Empire. During the reign of Sultan Mehmet II “The Conqueror,” the Ottoman State entered into an era of rapid development that would last until the end of the sixteenth century. The borders of the Empire extended from the Crimea in the North to Yemen and Sudan in the South and from Iran and the Caspian Sea in the East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain in the Southwest. The Ottomans made great additions to the already existing rich heritage of Istanbul and Anatolia. The works of the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan are still admired today by visitors. The Süleymaniye and Sultanahmet Mosques (The Blue Mosque) in Istanbul and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne are the finest examples of this architecture. Several palaces, which now serve as museums, were also built during this time such as the Topkapi, Beylerbeyi, and Dolmabahçe palaces. The Grand Bazaar—the ancestor of the mall—with its 4000 shops also dates from that time. Traditional Turkish art forms such as miniatures, tiles and ceramics, illumination, calligraphy, and weaving flourished under the patronage of the Sultans and reached worldwide acclaim. The Ottoman Empire lost its economic and military superiority vis-à-vis Europe, however, and began its steep decline in the 17th century. By the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire had shrunk to the Anatolian heartland, torn and depleted by war and overburdened by mass migrations of hundreds of thousands of persecuted Muslims from the Balkans, the Crimea, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and under occupation by the winners of the War. It took four more years of war to liberate Anatolia from foreign occupation under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Republic of Turkey was established on October 29, 1923.