Festivals in Turkey

Every year, there are more than 100 national and international festivals that are being organized in the different regions and cities of Turkey.  Most of the major festivals are usually held in the big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, and Izmir among many other cities.

Istanbul – being the center of Turkey’s national and international culture and arts festivals, Istanbul holds several major festivals within the city itself.  For instance, the Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation alone holds the famous International Istanbul Film Festival or Uluslararası İstanbul Film Festivali, the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey.  They also hold several other popular festivals known as the International Istanbul Theater Festival, the International Istanbul Music Festival, and the very lively International Istanbul Jazz Festival every year as well as the International Istanbul Biennial which is being held once in every two years.

Turkish Cuisine

Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world's best.   It is considered to be one of the three main cuisines of the world because of the variety of its recipes, its use of natural ingredients, its flavors and tastes which appeal to all palates and its influence throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.  

History of Turkey

The Melting Pot of Civilizations

The history of Turkey tells of a 10,000 year-old civilisation.

THE EARLY AGES

Anatolia is a melting pot where cultures from Sumer, Babylon and Assyria interacted for centuries with peoples such as the Hattis, Hittites and Hourrites. The result was a unique Anatolian civilisation which has long inspired the thoughts and legends of the West. The ancient Bronze Age witnessed the establishment of the first independent city states. At that time, the centre and southeast of Anatolia were inhabited by the indigenous Hattis. The most spectacular findings from this time are those of Alaca Hoyuk in the Kızılırmak region and of Horoztepe near Tokat, in the Black Sea region. They are contemporary with the royal tombs of Mycenae in Greece.

Facts & Info

TURKEY

Basic Facts & Information

Official Name: Republic of Turkey

Capital: Ankara

Official Language: Turkish 

Turkey is geographically located in the Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (the portion of Turkey west of the Bosphorus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria.