As I had told you a few weeks ago, taking advantage of the holidays I had in mind to write a report about Turkey, and once again I begin this task by offering you the first installment in which I am going to talk about data of general interest about the country.
Turkey is the second largest country in Europe after Germany, it has a population of 70 million inhabitants of which 20 million are non-practicing Muslims (which here would be equivalent to being baptized but not going to mass or praying, there they eat pork, drink alcohol, they do not pray 5 times a day…). 99% of the population is Muslim, who coexist with the Orthodox church, the country’s second religion with 300,000 followers, Protestants and Catholics.
The majority of the population is located in urban centers, giving rise to large cities such as Istanbul (15 million inhabitants), Izmir or Ankara (5 million).
Due to its large area, it has border with many countries: Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Cyprus. 97% of the country is in Asian territory (Anatolia), leaving 3% in Europe.
Regarding the Turks, they have their origin in a tribe from Central Asia that settled in Anatolia many centuries ago. After that, due to the successive conquests by the Greeks and Romans and the extension of the well-known Ottoman Empire, it underwent a series of transformations in customs, culture and language that lasted until the founding of the current modern Turkish Republic.
The founder of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (it is pronounced like this, it is another matter how it is written) carried out the modernization of Turkey by adopting the Latin alphabet instead of the Arabic one (thus achieving a high literacy rate), establishing the secularism of the State by law, prohibiting the use of the Islamic veil in public places and providing women with basic rights such as the right to vote or to be able to hold any public office. For the Turks, Ataturk (the surname they gave him themselves means the father of Türkiye) is an idol and there are photos and statues in his honor everywhere.
These are roughly the basic data of the country that you should know before going on to talk in depth about the most controversial issues surrounding this country, although as additional information I can tell you that its currency is the Turkish lira (€1=1.8 liras), the time zone is one hour more than on the peninsula and there is 3 hours 40 minutes of flight from Madrid to Istanbul.
Finally, on the attached map I have marked in red lines the circuit through the country that I have done, so that you can see the areas that are covered on this type of trip.
You can continue reading the second part of the report about Türkiye and learn more about its culture and religion at: Travel to Turkey