Turkey

The Republic of Turkey is 100 years old. Built on the ashes of an old empire, what place is there for the Ottoman past in the secular state?

Once described as a ‘slow-motion car crash’, relations between Turkey – or Türkiye – and the rest of Europe have often been defined by suspicion and mistrust. Do historical grievances define the country’s relationship with Europe?

Turkey has a long history of coups, but the failed İzmir plot to assassinate Atatürk in 1926 had a lasting impact. One foreign journalist recorded the reprisals that followed with admiration – which soon turned to fear.

Over the last 30 years, western ideas about the Ottoman Empire have been transformed, just as Turkish attitudes towards the West have become increasingly negative, writes Erik Zurcher.

Roger Hudson describes the bloody stalemate that followed the landing of Allied troops on the Turkish coast.

“Perhaps... not the noblest of victories”. This haphazard action, in which the forces of Great Britain, France and Russia destroyed a gallant Ottoman fleet, did much to ensure the achievement of Greek independence. By Robin Fedden.

Territorial concessions in Anatolia were promised to the Greeks during the First World War but, writes Cyril Falls, hope of fulfilment was defeated by the resurgent republicans of Turkey.

The rebirth of one of the world's great buildings took place on December 24th, 563.

From the thirteenth century until the suppression of the sect by Kemal Ataturk, writes Anne Fremantle, these enthusiasts symbolized their religious beliefs by means of their ecstatic dances.

As a means of national survival, write Diana Spearman and M. Naim Turfan, Atatürk preached the whole-hearted acceptance of contemporary civilization.