Country book · Europe

Türkiye

Two continents, one everyday life

Türkiye is where Europe and Asia share the same breakfast table. This book is the country as it actually is today — the people, the truths, the myths, the food and the cities travellers keep coming back to.

Myths

What's true, what isn't

Actually true

Hospitality is real, not a brochure line
Being invited in for tea by someone you just met is completely normal. Refusing three times and then accepting is part of the choreography.
Istanbul really does sit on two continents
It is the only major city in the world spread across Europe and Asia — people commute between continents by ferry every morning.
Cats rule the streets
Street cats and dogs are fed, vaccinated and looked after by whole neighbourhoods. They are treated as residents, not strays.
Breakfast is an event
A Turkish kahvaltı can be twenty small plates and three hours long. Sunday mornings are planned around it.

Commonly believed, wrong

"Turkey is a desert"
It has snow-covered mountains, Black Sea rainforests, alpine lakes and ski resorts. Eastern Türkiye regularly hits −30°C in winter.
"Everyone rides camels"
Camels are a tourist photo prop. The country has high-speed trains, a huge domestic airline network and metros in most big cities.
"Turkish coffee is the everyday drink"
Tea (çay) is what people actually drink all day — Türkiye has one of the highest tea consumptions per person in the world.
"It's all one culture"
Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolian and Southeastern life differ in food, music, dialect and pace almost like separate countries.

Highlights

The best of Türkiye

Cappadocia at sunrise

Hundreds of balloons over volcanic valleys and cave hotels carved into soft rock.

The Turquoise Coast

Kaş, Fethiye, Bodrum — pine forests running straight into impossibly clear water.

Ancient cities everywhere

Ephesus, Göbeklitepe, Pergamon, Aphrodisias — layers of civilisation, often with no crowds.

Pamukkale's white terraces

Thermal water stepping down chalk-white travertine pools next to a Roman spa town.

Culture

Cultural riches

Hammam & tea culture

The bathhouse and the tea garden are the country's two social living rooms.

Ottoman & Seljuk architecture

Mimar Sinan's mosques, tiled madrasas and caravanserais on the old Silk Road.

Carpets, ceramics & calligraphy

İznik tiles, Hereke carpets and hat sanatı — crafts still practised by hand.

Music from saz to Anatolian rock

Folk laments, Sufi ney, arabesk and the 70s Anatolian rock revival that the world rediscovered.

Food

What to eat

Kahvaltı (Turkish breakfast)

Cheeses, olives, menemen, honey with clotted cream, endless tea.

Kebap, beyond the takeaway

Adana, Urfa, İskender, beyti — regional and each with its own ritual.

Meze & rakı table

Small cold plates, fish, and a slow evening that is more conversation than dinner.

Baklava & künefe

Gaziantep pistachio baklava and hot cheese künefe with clotted cream.

Simit & balık ekmek

The street classics: sesame rings for the morning, fish sandwiches by the Bosphorus.

Lahmacun & pide

Thin, fast, shared — the country's answer to a slice on the way home.

Music

World-famous voices

Tarkan

The megastar of Turkish pop — "Şımarık" turned into a worldwide hit.

Edis

The voice of the current generation of Turkish pop.

Selda Bağcan

Anatolian folk-rock legend, sampled by hip-hop producers worldwide.

Sezen Aksu

The queen of Turkish pop — the songwriter behind generations of Turkish singers.

Şebnem Ferah

Türkiye's rock queen, on stage since the 90s.

History

Important people in history

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

1881 — 1938

Founder of the Republic in 1923. Reformed the alphabet, law and education, and gave women the vote in 1934.

İsmet İnönü

1884 — 1973

Second president; kept the country out of the Second World War and opened the door to multi-party politics.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet

1432 — 1481

Conqueror of Constantinople in 1453 at the age of 21, ending the Byzantine Empire and turning the city into Istanbul, the Ottoman capital.

Suleiman the Magnificent

1494 — 1566

Longest-reigning Ottoman sultan; the empire's legal, cultural and territorial peak.

Cities