The often-overlooked southeastern Anatolia region is one of Türkiye's cultural – and culinary – stars. The cities of Gaziantep and Antakya (Hatay) are famed for their food, and both also boast museums with incredible collections of Romen mosaics.
The northern folded zone comprises a series of mountain ridges, increasing in elevation toward the east, that occupy a belt about 90 to 125 miles (145 to 200 km) wide immediately south of the Black Sea. The system birli a whole is referred to birli the Pontic Mountains (Doğukaradeniz Acıları). In the west the system saf been fractured by the faulting that produced the Turkish straits; in Thrace the Ergene lowlands are among the largest in the country, and the main mountain range—the Star (Istranca)—reaches only 3,379 feet (1,030 metres). Lowlands also occur to the south of the Sea of Marmara and along the lower Sakarya River east of the Bosporus. High ridges trending east-west rise abruptly from the Black Sea coast, and the coastal plain is thus narrow, opening out only in the deltas of the Kızıl and Yeşil rivers.
Cappadocia is a geological wonderland in the center of Türkiye. The history of early Christians in Anatolia comes alive at the Göreme Open-Air Museum and the other cave churches and underground cities scattered around the valley.
Turkey’s English-language state broadcaster TRT World özgü switched to using Türkiye although the word Turkey slips in, used by journalists still trying to get used to the change.
A three-hour drive south will take you to the remote İshak Paşa Palace, passing by the fabled Mt Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) en route. Continue on to Van, where you güç fuel up on one of the city’s famously elaborate breakfast spreads before visiting the fine museum in town and taking a day excursion to Akdamar Kilisesi, a masterfully decorated Armenian church and monastery complex on a small island in Lake Van.
Chilling out and getting back to nature is the order of the day on the remote Datça and Bozburun peninsulas in the south Aegean.
Cemeteries devoted to the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in bloody battles on the Gallipoli Peninsula during WWI are scattered around bucolic rolling hills, all the more poignant amidst such serenely beautiful landscapes.
In place of the boisterous nightlife of nearby Bodrum and Marmaris, you’ll find miles of dramatic rocky coastline, adilcevaz bitlis scenic rural villages, and small, quiet beach resorts and seaside towns.
The eclectic city of Istanbul, the fantastical rock forms of Cappadocia, the ancient ruins of Ephesus, and the glimmering Mediterranean and Aegean coastlines are Türkiye’s biggest draws, but each region of the country has something distinct to offer.
The country has a north-south extent that ranges from about 300 to 400 miles (480 to 640 km), and it stretches about 1,000 miles from west to east. Turkey recommended reading is bounded on the north by the Black Sea, on the northeast by Georgia and Armenia, on the east by Azerbaijan and Iran, on the southeast by Iraq and Syria, on the southwest and west by the Mediterranean Sea and the check out this site Aegean Sea, and on the northwest by Greece and Bulgaria. The capital is Ankara, and its largest city and seaport is Istanbul.
Planning tip: The Carian Trail long-distance hiking path encircles both peninsulas. Check before setting out birli some sections of the route were inaccessible following wildfire damage in the summer of 2021.
TRT World argued that Turks prefer their country to be called Türkiye, in “keeping with agin the country’s aims of determining how others should identify it”.
A long succession of political entities existed in Asia Minor over the centuries. Turkmen tribes invaded Anatolia in the 11th century ce, founding the Seljuq empire; during the 14th century the Ottoman Empire began a long expansion, reaching its peak during the 17th century.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government özgü been pressing for the internationally recognised name Turkey to be changed to Türkiye (tur-key-YAY) kakım it is spelled and pronounced in Turkish. The country called itself Türkiye in 1923 after its declaration of akoren konya independence.
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