{"id":982,"count":4,"description":"<h2>Turkey, The Crossroad of Civilizations<\/h2>\r\nRepublic of Turkey is the only country occupying lands both in Asia and European continents. Istanbul and Canakkale are the two cities founded on the two sides of two straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles) seperating Marmara Sea and two continents. The lands in European continent is called Trakya (Thrace) and the lands in Asian continent called Anatolia (Asia Minor).\r\n\r\nTurkey is a large country by having 738,562 kilometers square land surface and 82 million population.\r\n\r\nTurkey is a democratic and secular country as a successor state of Ottoman Empire since its foundation by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, since 1923. Ataturk, as being one of the most important figures in the history of the world, he is the most important symbol of modernism in Turkey and he is beloved by a great percentage of Turkish population.\r\n\r\nThe country consists of 7 geographical regions and 81 provinces. The capital is Ankara (4.5 million population) and Istanbul is the biggest city of Turkey and Europe with 14 million population. Other biggest cities are \u0130zmir, Bursa, Adana, Mersin, Antalya and Konya.\r\n\r\nTurkey has a history dating back to 12.000 years ago. G\u00f6beklitepe, in the east of the country is considered the be first human settlement in the world. Starting from 6.000 years ago the lands of Anatolia was home to so many various civilizations; Luwians (Troians, Lydians, Lycians and Carians), Sumerians, Hattis and Hittites, Assyrians, Phrygians, Galatians, Urartians, Persians, Ionians, Romans, Byzantines, Mongolians, Seljuks and Ottomans.\r\n\r\nTurkey, being on a very strategic geographical position has borders with many countries with different characteristics. The longest borderline of Turkey is with Syria (877 km). The other neighboring countries are Irak, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Greece. Throughout its history Anatolia has acted as both a barrier and a bridge between the two continents and still in the modern times the country is experiencing a lot of conflicts because of this very unique geographical position; like political conflicts with Russia and USA, being a candidate to European Union since 1963 and having 4 million immigrants in a few months.\r\n\r\nApart from 10 neighbors Turkey is surrounded 3 big seas and 1 inner sea; Black Sea in the north, Aegean in the west, Mediterranean in the south and Marmara Sea between the two continents.\r\n<h3>Tourism In Turkey<\/h3>\r\nEvery year around 10 million Turkish people travel abroad for their holidays. The main destinations for Turkish people are Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany.\r\n\r\nOn the other hand Turkey itself is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the world. In the year 2019 Turkey is the 6th most visited country in the world with more than 40 million tourist. In Turkey there are many touristic destinations which each of them offering diffrent experiences;\r\n<h3>Most Popular Destinations In Turkey<\/h3>\r\n<h4>Istanbul<\/h4>\r\nIstanbul is popular for its rich history, museums, monuments, the beauty of Bosphorus and colorful social life.\r\n<h4>Antalya<\/h4>\r\nThe city of Antalya and surroundings are popular for its rich history, natural beauties, 5 star all inclusive hotels, fine sand beaches, turquaz blue sea, perfect service and affordable prices.\r\n<h4>Cappadocia<\/h4>\r\nThis area is in the middle of Anatolia. It is famous for its unusual geographic formations, mysterious underground cities and baloon ride.\r\n<h4>Aegean Coasts<\/h4>\r\nWest coasts of Turkey has full of well preserved ancient cities like Troya, Ephesus, Pergamon, Milet, Myra Aphrodisias, Hierapolis and world-wide famous holiday towns like Bozcaada, Cesme, Alacati, Bodrum, Fethiye, Datca and Marmaris. If you are a Christian you can visit House of Mary in Selcuk as for pilgrimage, as well.\r\n<h3>Important Tourist Attractions In Turkey<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Topkapi Palace, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Hagia Sophia, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Blue Mosque, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Basilica Cistern, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Bosphorus, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Princes' Islands, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Galata Tower, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Maiden's Tower, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Dolmabah\u00e7e Palace, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Archaeological Museum, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Archaeological Site of Troy, \u00c7anakkale<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Anitkabir, Atat\u00fcrk's Mausoleum, Ankara<\/li>\r\n \t<li>G\u00f6beklitepe and Karahantepe, \u015eanl\u0131urfa<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ephesus Ancient City, Sel\u00e7uk<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mount Nemrut, Ad\u0131yaman<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Divri\u011fi Ulu Mosque, Sivas<\/li>\r\n \t<li>G\u00f6reme National Park, Nev\u015fehir<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Hattusa (Capital of the Hittites), \u00c7orum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Pamukkale and Hierapolis, Denizli<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Town of Safranbolu, Karab\u00fck<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Selimiye Mosque, Edirne<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00c7atalh\u00f6y\u00fck Neolithic Site, Konya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cumal\u0131k\u0131z\u0131k Village, Bursa<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ancient Site of Pergamon, \u0130zmir<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Archaeological Museum, Antalya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Aspendos Ancient Theatre, Antalya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ancient Site of Aphrodisias, Ayd\u0131n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Troya Ancient Site and Museum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Pergamon Ancient Site<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Istanbul Modern Arts Museum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Rahmi Ko\u00e7 Industry Museum<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Miniaturk, Istanbul<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Aspendos Ancient Theatre<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Salda Lake<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Patara Beach<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Dalyan and Iztuzu Beach<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Side Ancient Site<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Manavgat Waterfalls, Antalya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Damlata\u015f Cave, Antalya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ishakpa\u015fa Palace, A\u011fr\u0131<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Bodrum Castle, Mu\u011fla<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00d6l\u00fcdeniz, Fethiye<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cunda Island, Ayval\u0131k<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Zeugma Ancient City and Museum, Gaziantep<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mor Gabriel Monastery, Mardin<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sumela Monastery, Trabzon<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Harran, \u015eanl\u0131urfa<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Deyrulzafaran Monastery, Mardin<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mevlana, Konya<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Odunpazar\u0131 Houses, Eski\u015fehir<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yedig\u00f6ller National Park, Bolu<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Abant Lake, Bolu<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","link":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/europe\/turkey-en\/","name":"Turkey","slug":"turkey-en","taxonomy":"category","parent":582,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/category"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/582"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingturks.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?categories=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}