The history of the land of modern Turkey, known as Anatolia, stretches back to the dawn of time. The earliest known farming-based settlements in the world are found here. Some of the earliest prehistoric finds have been made here. The Indo-European Hittite civilization, which flourished from 1600 -1200 BC, was largely unknown outside of a few scant references in ancient literature until important archeological discoveries were made in central Turkey in the late 1950s. The Hittites were followed by other civilizations such as the Phrygians, Persians, Scythians and Greeks who probably left the most enduring impression on the land and its people. Some of the finest and certainly the largest examples of Greek architecture are,
ironically, not found in Greece at all but in Turkey. Among these are the magnificent city of Ephesus and the temple of Zeus in Bergama. 

The Roman Empire was the stage on which the early followers of Jesus found themselves playing out what was nothing less than a miraculous conquest - not of the sword but of the pen and the Spirit. In a less than 100 years there was scarcely a place in the Empire which did not have followers of the new faith. The launching ground of this movement was what is now modern-day Turkey, the birthplace of Paul and home to the Antioch church. After the split of the Roman Empire came the emergence of what we call Byzantium. In 306 AD, Emperor Constantine declared his new capitol to be Constantinople, which is modern day Istanbul. The Haggia Sophia cathedral, or Ayasofya, still stands as a monument to Byzantine achievement. 

The death knell of the Byzantines was sounded by invading Turkic tribes arriving from Central Asia. Having been weakened by centuries of war with the Persians and deserted and looted by the Catholic powers of western Europe, they were in poor condition to face the new onslaught from the hordes of horsemen from the east. Turks, having been in contact with Persian and Arab culture now for almost 200 years, settled in Anatolia. Eventually they developed city-states, or beyliks, which gradually grew in power. Many fine examples of Seljuk Turkish art and architecture can be seen across modern day Turkey. The Ottoman dynasty of Turks grew through a series of conquests until the feared Mehmet the Conqueror invaded Constantinople in 1453 and proclaimed it his new capitol, changing its name to Istanbul. The empire expanded greatly under Suleyman the Magnificent, and eventually ruled over Arabia, North Africa, Spain, the Balkans, and very nearly burst into the heart of Europe, besieging Vienna twice.

A long series of defeats and corruption within the sultanate signaled the slow decline of the Ottoman Empire until the 20th century, when it was known as the 'sick man of Europe'. Siding with the Germans in WW I caused the final collapse, with Allied forces invading Anatolia from all sides. All was lost for the Turkish people until a capable general from the Ottoman army named Mustafa Kemal called for abolishment of the sultanate and the establishment of a modern republic. 

General Mustafa Kemal quickly gained support and in a whirlwind of battles defeated the Russians, British and Greeks. The Sultan was exiled and the modern nation of Turkey was established, with Mustafa Kemal as its president. The name Ataturk, 'the father of the Turks' was bestowed on him by the first parliament. He proceeded with a series of radical reforms that included a European style constitution and business law, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin alphabet, introducing the western calendar and dress style, and moving the capital to Ankara, in central Turkey.