ISTANBUL The City of Dreams Local Tourist Attractions Bu proje T.C. Avrupa Birliği Bakanlığı, AB Eğitim ve Gençlik Programları Merkezi Başkanlığınca (Ulusal Ajans, yürütülen Hayatboyu Öğrenme Programı (LLP) kapsamında ve Avrupa Komisyonu'ndan sağlanan hibeyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Ancak burada yer alan görüşlerden Ulusal Ajans veya Avrupa Komisyonu sorumlu tutulamaz.

TURKEY General Information Turkey is a Eurasian country which has a very deep history. Its capital city is Ankara but the most crowded city is İstanbul. The population of Turkey is about 75 million. Official language is Turkish which is spoken by almost %85 of the population as a mother tongue. Islam is the dominant religion, more than %96 of the population is Muslim. Turkey is actually a peninsula, there is The Meditarranean Sea on the south, The Black Sea on the north, The Aegean on the west. And there is The Marmara Sea, The Bosphorus and The Dardanelles which seperate Europe and Asia. The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Black Sea have a temperate Oceanic climate with warm, wet summers and cool to cold, wet winters.

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Sea of Marmara (including Istanbul), which connects the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, have a transitional climate between a temperate Mediterranean climate and a temperate Oceanic climate with warm to hot, moderately dry summers and cool to cold, wet winters. Snow does occur on the coastal areas of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea almost every winter, but it usually lies no more than a few days. Snow on the other hand is rare in the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea and very rare in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Starting from the late 13th century, the Ottomans united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed following its defeat in World War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923 they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey, with Atatürk as its first president. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage.

The Turkish Armed Forces consists of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a period ranging from three weeks to fifteen months, dependent on education and job location. Politics Abdullah Gül Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism. The President of the Republic is the head of state and has a largely ceremonial role. The president is elected for a five- year term by direct elections. Abdullah Gül was elected Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president on 28 August 2007, by a popular parliament round of votes. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers which make up the government, while the legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The prime minister is elected by the parliament through a vote of confidence in the government and is most often the head of the party having the most seats in parliament. The current Prime Minister is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.party

ISTANBUL İstanbul is the most crowded city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.5 million, the city forms one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe and is among the largest cities in the world by population within city limits. Founded on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BC as Byzantium, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires: the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) is a former Orthodox Patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and now it’s a museum in İstanbul. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who subsequently ordered the building converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were plastered over. Islamic features were added instead.

Blue Mosque The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) is an historical mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Sultan Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction. The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has 6 minarets along with 8 domes and 1 main one.