Did You Know that TURKEY...

• is known as the Cradle of Civilization -in fact, many civilizations have been here since 9000BC.
• is central to Europe, Asia and the Middle East
is a long-time member of NATO (since 1952)
• has 3 sides with 3 major seas - the Black Sea, the Aegean, the Mediterranean
• was known as Asia Minor; the Asian side of Turkey is known as Anatolia
• witnessed the first known Human Rights Declaration in 1463, 485 years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• is where Alexander the Great cut the intricate Gordian knot - a shortcut to ''solving difficult problems''
• is where state insurance was first provided - for losses of tradesmen, before the 13th century
• has 70% of its population under 35
• is the original, and again today's, destination of the most celebrated and romantic train, The Orient Express
• created the first business standardization for production, regions and trade agreements - in 1502. Today, it guarantees compensation any faulty product granted by its Standards lnstitute Stamp (TSE)
• was the center of two of the major empires in history, Byzantine and Ottoman.
• provides 70% of the world's hazelnuts - probably the nut in your chocolate bar was grown in Turkey
• has a covered shopping area of 64 streets, 22 entrances, 25,000 workers, and is 650 years old - the famous Grand Bazaar
• is the birthplace and home of St. Nicholas, (Demre-Myra) popularly known as Santa Claus
• is the origin of the names of Paris, Philadelphia and Europe
• was founded as a modern republic in 1923 by one of the greatest leaders in history
• is where Noah's Ark landed, at Mount Ararat, in Eastern Turkey. The last meal on Noah’s Ark, a pudding of sweet and sour taste (asure), is still served throughout Turkey
• witnessed the first recorded international treaty, in 1284 BC
• is the origin of the fabulous Iznik ceramic tiles, which were created at Lake Iznik, in northwestern Turkey, beginning in the 15th century. Many of the designs were inspired by the wall paintings from the Roman period
• was inhabited from the 11th century AD by the Turks from Central Asia, who can be dated back to 4000 BC
• is the location for two of the Seven Wonders of the World - the Temple of Artemis and the Mousoleum at Halicarnassus
• has historical background in three of the world's major religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
• has the most valuable silk carpet in the world, in the Mevlana Museum, with 144 knots per sq. cm. In the 13th century, Marco Polo wrote "The best and handsomest of rugs are woven here, and also silks of crimson and other rich colors'
• is said to have provided the water for the Garden of Eden - from its 2 great rivers -The Euphrates and The Tigris
• is the birthplace of St. Paul - for centuries, the sick have drunk from the well of St. Paul, in Tarsus
• provided its navy to rescue the Jewish people from persecution in Spain in 1492
• was where a man first flew a significant distance using wings - across the Bosphorus
• is the only country in the world straddling in two continents, Europe and Asia
• gave the English language many words, including turquoise, parchment, yogurt, meander, angora
• is the location of the city of Troy, of Homer fame, in Western Turkey, where the Trojan War was fought for ten years
• had the world's first woman Supreme Court justice, and gave women the right to vote in 1934
• held the first known beauty contest, judged by Paris, with Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena as leading participants
• became a member of the UN in 1945
• has a city called Mardin, located in the south eastern part of Turkey which is one of the few places where you can hear the native language of Jesus Christ, Aramaic. The final home of the Virgin Mary, to which she traveled with St. John, is located nearby
• was producing wine as early as 4000 BC
• has the first church ever built (St Peter's), in Antioch, southern Turkey. It is also the site of the oldest temple, at Urfa, dated between 8500 and 9000 BC
• hosts children from all around the world each year on 23rd April, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, to ''honor and cherish freedom and independence of all people''
• was, where the cherry was first found, by the Romans who planted it throughout the world, at Giresun (then Kerasos - from which the name comes), in the stunning Black Sea region
• first introduced tulips to Holland, and today still supplies tulips to the world
• has the earliest landscape painting, dating from 6200 BC
• has the beautiful Bosphorus waterway dividing Europe and Asia with two great bridges, masses of ferries, and life sustaining access to Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Russia
• has 9,000 species of flowers. It is also 80% mountainous; has an abundance of rivers and lakes; and has clear, turquoise blue waters on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts
• has an F-16 Factory, the only one of its kind outside the USA
• was the first to produce and use coins 2700 years ago
• is the location of the Seven Churches of Asia
• from comparative statistics is one of the safest countries in the world
• is loaded with first-class conference facilities, and five star hotels
• is derived from the same language family as Finish and Hungarian
• has the youngest population in Europe
• has the first church dedicated to Virgin Mary, in Ephesus
• has many beaches which have the "Blue Flag" (a European award for the best clean water) on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts
• has the oldest known human settlement in Catalhoyuk (7th millennium BC)
• introduced coffee to Europe
• is noted for having one of the three most famous and distinctive traditional cuisines in the world
• has the oldest tin mine, that was found in Goltepe, 60 miles south of Tarsus
• has the first Neolithic paintings, that were found on man-made walls are in Catalhoyuk
• is the place where Julius Caesar proclaimed his celebrated words, "Veni, Vidi, Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) when he defeated the Pontus, a formidable kingdom in the Black Sea region of Turkey.
• is the home of the female goddesses like Cybele dominated the Central Anatolian pantheon for thousands of years before these supernatural powers were transformed to male gods
• is where the oldest known shipwreck on earth was excavated by a team headed by Don Frey in Ulu Burun near Kas
• is where for the first time in history in 640 BC, coins made of electrum were used by the Lydians in Sardis (Sart)
• is where Early Christians escaping from Roman persecution sheltered in Cappadocia
• is where Istanbul houses the historical building of Sirkeci Train Station. This served as the last stop of the Simplon-Orient Express "king of trains and the train of kings" between Paris and Istanbul from 1883 to 1977
• is where the number of species of flowers is approximately 9,000, of which 3,000 are endemic, In Europe for instance there are 11,500 species
• is where the number of archaeological excavations going on every year is at least 150
• is where Abraham was born (Sanliurfa)
• is the birthplace of historic legends, such as Homer (the poet), King Midas - ' the Midas Touch' turned everything to gold
• is the place St John, St Nicholas, St Paul and St Peter all lived and prayed (Southern Anatolia) has southwestern shore which part of it was a wedding gift that Mark Antony gave to Cleopatra
• is the birthplace of Homer. Was born in Izmir on the west coast of Turkey and he depicted Troy in his Epic the Iliad
• is the birthplace of Aesop-famous for his fables and parables
• Leonardo da Vinci drew designs for a bridge over the Bosphorus, the strait that flows through Europe and Asia. It was never built.
• has the oldest American school outside the United States, Istanbul's Robert College (established in 1863)
• is the place First Ecumenical Council was held (Iznik)
• is the origin of the names of Paris, Philadelphia and Europe