Opinion

Turkish beauty

The country of Turkey is beautiful in a number of ways and, simply, beyond words.

Through its cultural history and sensational architecture, let us explore Turkey through words, and let us visualize its beauty.

Turkey is known for several things, especially with two of the seven wonders of the world residing in it. Turkey straddles two continents together, which is Europe and West Asia. Through DNA, Turks are known as West Asian, and people usually count Turkey as being in the Middle East.

Turkey was founded in 1923 in the Turkish War of Independence. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the founder of Turkey and is loved by many today. The capital of Turkey is Ankara, however a lot of people know Turkey because of Istanbul and it’s many cultural, artistic and beautiful scenery, city, people and delicious food.

Turkey is a secular state, however, it has a 98% Muslim population. Turkey is very diverse among religions and ethnicities. There is a wide variety of Kurdish, Circassian, Armenian, Arab, Greek and Turkish ethnic groups residing in Turkey.

The scenery and weather changes in a variety of ways in Turkey. For instance, if you go visit in the summer, you can enjoy the blue sunny skies in Istanbul as you eat a traditional simit — similar to a sesame bagel — while drinking a hot black Turkish tea in the Bosporus.

If you go to other places such as Izmir, Antalya, Datça, and the many wonderful islands, you can enjoy the blue and green ocean while drinking Ayran —a cold salty yogurt drink.

Adana and Mardin, close to the Syrian border, offer beautiful hot weather with historical buildings with a rich Turkish cuisine of meat and veggies, such as kebab and döner. If you decide to go up to the Black Sea region, you will be greeted with greenery, fresh pine trees, and healthy air.

There are so many places to visit in Turkey and so much that the country has to offer. Turkey is made up of so many different cultures other than Turkic, that I see it as one of the most diverse places in the world.