Did You Know

Turkey is known as the Cradle of Civilization. In fact, many civilizations were already here as far as 9000 B.C.

Turkey borders three major seas : the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea

Turkey was known as Asia Minor; the Asian side of Turkey is known as Anatolia

Turkey is where Alexander the Great cut the intricate Gordian Knot; literally a phrase used for shortcut to Solving Difficult Problems

Turkey is the birthplace of Kind Midas, who turned everyting into gold

Turkey was the center of two of the major empires in history : the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires

Turkey provides 70% of the world’s hazelnuts : probably the nut in your chocolate bar was grown in Turkey.

Turkey has a 650-year old covered shopping mall of 64 streets, 3500 shops, 22 entrances and 25000 workers : the famous Grand Bazaar

Turkey is the birthplace of St. Nicholas, popularly known as Santa Claus.

Turkey is the origin of the names of Paris, Philadelphia and Europe.

Turkey is where Noah’s Ark landed : at Mount Agri (Ararat), Eastern Turkey.

Turkey is the location for two of the Seven Wonders of the World : the Temple of Artemis and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

Turkey has historical relics pertaining to three of the world’s major religions : Christianity, Judaism and Islam

Turkey has the most valuable silk carpet in the world in the Mevlana Museum (Konya) : 144 knots per sq. Cm – 13th century

Turkey is said to have provided the water for the Garden of Eden from its 2 great rivers : the Euphrates and the Tigris.

Turkey is the birthplace of St. Paul (Tarsus).

Turkey is uniquely in two continents : Europe and Asia

Turkey gave the English language many words such as turquoise, parchment, yogurt, meander, angora..

Turkey is the location of the city of Troy in the west of the country, where the Trojan War was fought

Turkey had the world’s first female Supreme court Judge and gave women the right to vote in 1934

Turkey is the location of the first known beauty contest, judged by paris, with Aphrodite, Hera and Athena as leading participants

Turkey has a city, Mardin, which is one of the few places where you can hear the native language of Jesus Christ – Aramaic. The final home of Virgin Mary, to which she traveled with St. John, is located nearby.

Turkey was producing wine as early as 4000BC.

Turkey has the first temple built ever (Urfa – between 9000 and 8500BC) and the first church built ever (St Peter’s in Antioch)

Turkey first introduced tulips to Holland and today still supllies tulips to the world

Turkey reputedly has one of the world’s 3 greatest cuisines

Turkey has more ancient sites than any other country

Turkey was the first to produce and use coins 2700 years ago

Turkey is the location of the Seven Churches of Revelation

Turkey is one of the safest countries in the world according to comparative statistics.