İzmir is a city on the west coast of Anatolia , and capital of İzmir Province . It is the third most populous city in Turkey , after Istanbul and Ankara , and the largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea .
132-523: In 2019, the city of İzmir had a population of 2,965,900, while İzmir Province had a total population of 4,367,251. Its built-up (or metro) area was home to 3,209,179 inhabitants. It extends along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir and inland to the north across the Gediz River Delta ; to the east along an alluvial plain created by several small streams; and to slightly more rugged terrain in
264-583: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa , Trewartha climate classification : Cshk ), which is characterized by prolonged, very hot, dry summers, and cool, rainy winters. İzmir's average yearly precipitation is quite ample, at 730.5 mm (28.76 in); however, the vast majority of the city's rainfall occurs from November through March, and there is usually very little rainfall from June to September, with frequent summer droughts. The city received its greatest daily rainfall, 145.3 mm (5.72 in), on September 29, 2006, while
396-654: A dependency of the Hittites , who themselves spread their direct rule as far as the coast during their Great Kingdom. That the realm of the 13th century BC local Luwian ruler, who is depicted in the Kemalpaşa Karabel rock carving at a distance of only 50 km (31 mi) from İzmir was called the Kingdom of Myra may also leave grounds for association with the city's name. The latest known rendering in Greek of
528-556: A large part of Turkey's present-day Aegean Region . In the late 19th century, the port was threatened by a build-up of silt in the gulf and an initiative, unique in the history of the Ottoman Empire, was undertaken in 1886. In order to redirect the silt, the bed of the Gediz River was redirected to its present-day northern course, so that it no longer flowed into the gulf. The beginning of the 20th century saw İzmir take on
660-457: A plague in 1676, an earthquake in 1688, and a great fire in 1743, the city continued to grow. By the end of the 17th century, the population was estimated at around ninety thousand, the Turks forming the majority (about 60,000); there were also 15,000 Greeks, 8,000 Armenians and 6,000 to 7,000 Jews, as well as a considerable section made up of French , English , Dutch and Italian merchants. In
792-418: A rather sparsely populated place in the 15th and 16th centuries, as indicated by the first extant Ottoman records describing the town dating from 1528. In 1530, 304 adult males, both tax-paying and tax-exempt were on record, 42 of them Christians. There were five urban wards, one of these situated in the immediate vicinity of the port, rather active despite the town's small size and where the non-Muslim population
924-459: A riot resulting from the indiscipline of janissaries corps led to massive destruction of the Frankish merchant community and the killing of 1,500 members of the city's Greek community. In 1818, traveller William Jowett described the distribution of Smyrna (now İzmir)'s population: Turks 60,000, Greeks 40,000, Jews 10,000, Latins 3,000, Armenians 7,000. The first railway lines to be built within
1056-773: A rivalry that would become known as the Great Game . Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf . He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East. He said that, beyond Egypt's Suez Canal , the Gulf was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India . Mahan first used
1188-629: A time, intended to carve up large parts of Anatolia into respective zones of influence and offered the western regions of Turkey to Greece under the Treaty of Sèvres . On 15 May 1919, the Greek Army landed in Smyrna , but the Greek expedition towards central Anatolia was disastrous for both that country and for the local Greeks of Anatolia . By September 1922 the Greek army had been defeated and
1320-808: A vital role in the Middle East, and they represent 40.5% of Lebanon, where the Lebanese president , half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites. There are also important minority religions like the Baháʼí Faith , Yarsanism , Yazidism , Zoroastrianism , Mandaeism , Druze , and Shabakism , and in ancient times the region was home to Mesopotamian religions , Canaanite religions , Manichaeism , Mithraism and various monotheist gnostic sects. The six top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic , Persian , Turkish , Kurdish , Modern Hebrew and Greek . About 20 minority languages are also spoken in
1452-463: A whole fell into what is generally called the period of "Anatolian" and "Greek" Dark Ages of the Bronze Age collapse . At the dawn of İzmir's recorded history, Pausanias describes "evident tokens" such as "a port called after the name of Tantalus and a sepulcher of him by no means obscure", corresponding to the city's area and which have been tentatively located to date. The term "Old Smyrna"
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#17327762561371584-558: A wide arc to the north-west from İzmir, through the Karşıyaka suburb, contributed greatly to the development of the northern shores as urban areas. These new developments, typical of the industrial age and the way the city attracted merchants and middlemen gradually changed the demographic structure of the city, its culture and its Ottoman character. In 1867, İzmir finally became the center of its own vilayet , still called by neighboring Aydın's name but with its own administrative area covering
1716-545: Is Aramaic and its dialects are spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandaeans , with Western Aramaic still spoken in two villages near Damascus, Syria. There is also an Oasis Berber -speaking community in Egypt where the language is also known as Siwa . It is a non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic sister language. Persian is the second most spoken language. While it is primarily spoken in Iran and some border areas in neighbouring countries,
1848-539: Is Middle Eastern and the derived noun is Middle Easterner . While non-Eurocentric terms such as "Southwest Asia" or "Swasia" have been sparsely used, the classificiation of the African country, Egypt, among those counted in the Middle East challenges the usefulness of using such terms. The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War , "Near East"
1980-545: Is 86 meters long, which crashed into each other in 1957. There is another shipwreck located off Güzelbahçe at a depth of 42 meters, which was discovered at the beginning of 2017, thought to be a 78 meters long cargo ship that sank in the late 1800s. It is also stated that one to four ships were sunk in the gulf during the First World War. Dozens of shipwrecks off the Sancakburnu Castle were removed from
2112-642: Is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula , the Levant , Turkey , Egypt , Iran , and Iraq . The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western European nations in the early 20th century as a replacement of the term Near East (both were in contrast to the Far East ). The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions. Since
2244-578: Is an example of the historic traces in the region prior to the Hellenistic Age , along with those found in nearby Kemalpaşa and Mount Sipylus . The Agora of Smyrna is well preserved, and is arranged into the Agora Open Air Museum of İzmir , although important parts buried under modern buildings wait to be brought to light. Serious consideration is also being given to uncovering the ancient theatre of Smyrna where St. Polycarp
2376-775: Is one of the oldest settlements of the Mediterranean basin. The 2004 discovery of Yeşilova Höyük and the neighboring Yassıtepe, in the small delta of Meles River , now the Bornova plain, reset the starting date of the city's past further back than previously thought. Findings from two seasons of excavations carried out in the Yeşilova Höyük by a team of archaeologists from İzmir's Ege University indicate three levels, two of which are prehistoric. Level 2 bears traces of early to mid- Chalcolithic , and Level 3 of Neolithic settlements. These two levels would have been inhabited by
2508-474: Is partially restored today. Smyrna, by this point, was no longer a small town, but an urban center taking part in the Mediterranean trade. The city eventually became one of the twelve Ionian cities and was well on its way to becoming a foremost cultural and commercial center in the Mediterranean basin of that period, reaching its peak between 650–545 BC. The city's port position near their capital drew
2640-646: Is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member of the Turkic languages , which have their origins in East Asia. Another Turkic language, Azerbaijani , is spoken by Azerbaijanis in Iran. The fourth-most widely spoken language, Kurdish , is spoken in the countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, Sorani Kurdish is the second official language in Iraq (instated after the 2005 constitution) after Arabic. Hebrew
2772-522: Is said to have been born in Smyrna in the 7th or 8th century BC . Combined with written evidence, it is generally admitted that Smyrna and Chios put forth the strongest arguments in claiming Homer and the main belief is that he was born in Ionia . The River Meles , still bearing the same name, is located within the city limits, although associations with the Homeric river is subject to controversy. From
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#17327762561372904-469: Is still concentrated in their traditional quarter of Karataş . Smyrniot Jews like Sabbatai Zevi and Darío Moreno were among famous figures in the city's Jewish community. Others include the Pallache family with three grand rabbis: Haim , Abraham , and Nissim . The Catholic Levantines of İzmir , who are mostly of Genoese and to a lesser degree of French and Venetian descent, live mainly in
3036-429: Is the official language of Israel , with Arabic given a special status after the 2018 Basic law lowered its status from an official language prior to 2018. Hebrew is spoken and used by over 80% of Israel's population, the other 20% using Arabic. Modern Hebrew only began being spoken in the 20th century after being revived in the late 19th century by Elizer Ben-Yehuda (Elizer Perlman) and European Jewish settlers, with
3168-827: Is used to describe the Archaic Period city located at Tepekule, Bayraklı, to make a distinction with the city of Smyrna rebuilt later on the slopes of Mount Pagos (present-day Kadifekale ). The Greek settlement in Old Smyrna is attested by the presence of pottery dating from about 1000 BC onwards. The most ancient preserved ruins date back to 725– 700 BC . According to Herodotus the city was founded by Aeolians and later seized by Ionians . The oldest house discovered in Bayraklı has been dated to 925 and 900 BC . The walls of this well-preserved house (2.45 by 4 metres or 8.0 by 13.1 feet), consisting of one small room typical of
3300-728: The Maghreb , the western part). Even though the term originated in the West, countries of the Middle East that use languages other than Arabic also use that term in translation. For instance, the Persian equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه ( Khāvar-e miyāneh ), the Hebrew is המזרח התיכון ( hamizrach hatikhon ), and the Turkish is Orta Doğu. Traditionally included within the Middle East are Arabia , Asia Minor , East Thrace , Egypt , Iran ,
3432-775: The Arabian Peninsula ( Magan , Sheba , Ubar ). The Near East was first largely unified under the Neo Assyrian Empire , then the Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire and after this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires ), the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire . The region served as the intellectual and economic center of
3564-547: The Baháʼí Faith . Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area. The region is one of the regions where agriculture was independently discovered, and from the Middle East it was spread, during the Neolithic, to different regions of the world such as Europe, the Indus Valley and Eastern Africa. Prior to
3696-532: The Central Powers , was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nations, initially under British and French Mandates . Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers, notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960s. They were supplanted in some part by
3828-589: The Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, but the Nicaean Empire would reclaim possession of the city soon afterwards, albeit by according vast concessions to their Genoese allies who kept one of the city's castles and the lordship of the towns of Old Phocaea and New Phocaea (now part of the İzmir Province) from 1275 to 1340. Smyrna was captured again in the 14th century by Umur Bey,
3960-598: The Greeks remaining in the city fled, were killed or forced to leave under the terms of the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey . Turkey is home to tens of thousands of black citizens descended from the African slave trade in the Ottoman Empire that can be traced back to the 14th century. Known as Afro-Turks , İzmir and the surrounding areas on the Aegean coast is a central hub for this population. İzmir has
4092-686: The Gulf of Smyrna , is a gulf on the Aegean Sea , with its inlet between the Karaburun Peninsula and the mainland area of Foça . It is 64 kilometres (40 mi) in length by 32 kilometres (20 mi) in breadth, with an excellent anchorage. The city of İzmir , an important port city of Turkey , surrounds the end of the gulf. The northern limit of the Gulf of İzmir is defined as a 13 nmi line running from Cape Kanlıkaya ( 38°40′29″N 26°28′23″E / 38.67472°N 26.47306°E / 38.67472; 26.47306 ) of
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4224-693: The International Organization for Migration , there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arab nations in the world, of which 5.8 reside in other Arab countries. Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to the circulation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development. In 2009 Arab countries received a total of US$ 35.1 billion in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan , Egypt and Lebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arab countries. In Somalia ,
4356-460: The Iron Age , were made of sun-dried bricks and the roof of the house was made of reeds . A house found in Old Smyrna with two floors and five rooms with a courtyard, built in the second half of the 7th century BC , is the oldest known house having so many rooms under its roof. Around that time, people started to build thick, protective ramparts made of sun-dried bricks around the city. Smyrna
4488-660: The Karaburun Peninsula , to Cape Aslan ( 38°44′29″N 26°44′24″E / 38.74139°N 26.74000°E / 38.74139; 26.74000 ) of Foça . The surface area of the gulf is 960.4 km (370.8 sq mi), while its shore length is 464 km (288 mi). Uzunada located in the Gulf of İzmir is Turkey's fourth largest island. Other islands of the gulf include Hekim Island , Foça Islands ( Orak Island , Fener Ada , Incir Ada , Metelik Island ), Çiçek Islands ( Yassıca Island , Pırnarlı Island , İncirli Island , Akça ), Karantina Island , Yılan Island , and Büyük Ada . Seventeen rivers empty into
4620-587: The Levant , Mesopotamia , and the Socotra Archipelago . The region includes 17 UN -recognized countries and one British Overseas Territory . Various concepts are often paralleled to the Middle East, most notably the Near East , Fertile Crescent , and Levant . These are geographical concepts, which refer to large sections of the modern-day Middle East, with the Near East being the closest to
4752-674: The Lydians to Smyrna. The army of Lydia 's Mermnad dynasty conquered the city sometime around 610–600 BC and is reported to have burned and destroyed parts of the city, although recent analyses on the remains in Bayraklı demonstrate that the temple had been in continuous use or was very quickly repaired under the Lydian rule. Soon afterwards, an invasion from outside Anatolia by the Persian Empire effectively ended Old Smyrna's history as an urban center of note. The Persian emperor Cyrus
4884-647: The Mediterranean monk seal . İzmir Birds Paradise in the north of the gulf and Çakalburnu Lagoon in the south are the breeding ground of the birds. It is known that the first settlements around the gulf were in the Neolithic Age . The most known settlement is Smyrna , which was established around present-day Bayraklı in 3300s BC. Timur , who came to İzmir after the Battle of Ankara , seized İzmir Port Castle and its surroundings in December 1402 and ordered
5016-573: The Myrrha commifera shrub, a plant producing the aromatic resin called myrrh that is indigenous to the Middle East and northeastern Africa , which was the city's chief export in antiquity. The Romans took over this name as Smyrna , which is still the name used in English when referring to the city in pre-Turkish times. In Ottoman Turkish the town's name was ازمير Izmīr . In English,
5148-736: The Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia , and the basin of the Jordan River that spans most of the Levant. These regions are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent , and comprise the core of what historians had long referred to as the cradle of civilization (multiple regions of the world have since been classified as also having developed independent, original civilizations). Conversely,
5280-579: The Roman Republic , and this included Smyrna. The city thus came under Roman rule as a civil diocese within the Province of Asia and enjoyed a new period of prosperity. Towards the close of the 1st century AD, Smyrna appeared as one of the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2:9). Apostle John urged his followers to remain Christians: "Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you
5412-581: The Sassanid Empire . However, it would be the later Islamic Caliphates of the Middle Ages , or Islamic Golden Age which began with the Islamic conquest of the region in the 7th century AD, that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant Islamic Arab ethnic identity that largely (but not exclusively) persists today. The 4 caliphates that dominated
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5544-689: The Seljuk commander Çaka Bey in 1076, along with Klazomenai , Foça and a number of the Aegean Islands . Çaka Bey (known as Tzachas among the Byzantines) used İzmir as a base for his naval operations. In 1097, the Byzantine commander John Doukas recaptured the city and the neighboring region. The port city was then captured by the Knights of St John when Constantinople was conquered by
5676-669: The Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora , as many of the best educated Somalis left for Middle Eastern countries as well as Europe and North America . Non-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey , Israel and Iran are also subject to important migration dynamics. A fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs, Iranians or Turks. Large numbers of Kurds , Jews , Assyrians , Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey for these reasons during
5808-432: The first native Hebrew speaker being born in 1882. Greek is one of the two official languages of Cyprus , and the country's main language. Small communities of Greek speakers exist all around the Middle East; until the 20th century it was also widely spoken in Asia Minor (being the second most spoken language there, after Turkish) and Egypt. During the antiquity, Ancient Greek was the lingua franca for many areas of
5940-426: The indigenous peoples of the area, very roughly, between the 7th millennium BC and the 4th millennium BC. As the seashore receded with time, the site was later used as a cemetery. Several graves containing artifacts dating roughly from 3000 BC, and contemporary with the first city of Troy , were found. The first settlement to have commanded the Gulf of İzmir as a whole was established on top of Mount Yamanlar , to
6072-399: The population exchange between Greece and Turkey , a stipulation of the Treaty of Lausanne , which formally ended the Greco-Turkish War. The war, and especially the events that took place in İzmir, such as the fire, probably the greatest disaster the city has ever experienced, continue to influence the psyches of the two nations to this day. The Turks have claimed that the Greek army landing
6204-459: The İnciraltı Sea Museum and the Zübeyde Hanım Education and Museum Ship . There are nine Blue Flag beaches around the gulf (four in Foça, three in Karaburun, one in Güzelbahçe and one in Urla). There is a ban on diving in twelve points in the gulf to protect cultural and natural heritage. [REDACTED] Media related to Gulf of İzmir at Wikimedia Commons Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language)
6336-435: The 17th century was largely a result of the attraction it exercised over foreigners and the city's European orientation. With the privileged trading conditions accorded to foreigners in 1620 (these were the infamous capitulations that were later to cause a serious threat and setback for the Ottoman state in its decline), İzmir began to be one of the foremost trade centers of the Empire. Foreign consulates moved from Chios to
6468-433: The 3rd millennium BC. Archaeological findings of the late Bronze Age show a certain degree of Mycenaean influence in the settlement and the surrounding region, though further excavations of Bronze Age layers are needed to propose Old Smyrna of that time as a Mycenaean settlement. In the 13th century BC, however, invasions from the Balkans (the so-called Sea Peoples ) destroyed Troy VII, and Central and Western Anatolia as
6600-445: The 7th century onwards, Smyrna achieved the identity of a city-state . About a thousand people lived inside the city walls , with others living in nearby villages, where fields, olive trees, vineyards , and the workshops of potters and stonecutters were located. People generally made their living from agriculture and fishing . The most important sanctuary of Old Smyrna was the Temple of Athena , which dates back to 640–580 BC and
6732-432: The Arabic equivalent of Middle East (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ ) has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press. It comprises the same meaning as the term "Middle East" in North American and Western European usage. The designation, Mashriq , also from the Arabic root for East , also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant , the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to
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#17327762561376864-406: The Great attacked the coastal cities of the Aegean after conquering the capital of Lydia . As a result, Old Smyrna was destroyed in 545 BC. Alexander the Great re-founded the city at a new location beyond the Meles River around 340 BC. Alexander had defeated the Persians in several battles and finally the Emperor Darius III himself at Issus in 333 BC. Old Smyrna on a small hill by the sea
6996-414: The Greeks alone numbered 130,000, out of a total population of 250,000. Moreover, according to various scholars, prior to the war, the city hosted more Greeks than Athens , the capital of Greece. The Ottoman ruling class of that era referred to the city as Infidel Smyrna ( Gavur İzmir) due to its strong Greek presence. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I , the victors had, for
7128-410: The Levant, all originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East. These were followed by the Hittite , Greek , Hurrian and Urartian civilisations of Asia Minor ; Elam , Persia and Median civilizations in Iran , as well as the civilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla , Mari , Nagar , Ugarit , Canaan , Aramea , Mitanni , Phoenicia and Israel ) and
7260-407: The Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates typical of the Mediterranean , with dry summers and cool, wet winters. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of petroleum . Monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular have benefitted economically from petroleum exports. Because of the arid climate and dependence on the fossil fuel industry,
7392-481: The Middle East for more than 600 years were the Rashidun Caliphate , the Umayyad caliphate , the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimid caliphate . Additionally, the Mongols would come to dominate the region, the Kingdom of Armenia would incorporate parts of the region to their domain, the Seljuks would rule the region and spread Turko-Persian culture, and the Franks would found the Crusader states that would stand for roughly two centuries. Josiah Russell estimates
7524-416: The Middle East in its geographical meaning. Due to it primarily being Arabic speaking, the Maghreb region of North Africa is sometimes included. The countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia – are occasionally included in definitions of the Middle East. " Greater Middle East " is a political term coined by the second Bush administration in
7656-421: The Middle East is both a major contributor to climate change and a region that is expected to be severely adversely affected by it. Other concepts of the region exist, including the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which includes states of the Maghreb and the Sudan . The term the " Greater Middle East " also includes parts of East Africa , Mauritania , Afghanistan , Pakistan , and sometimes
7788-504: The Middle East. Arabic, with all its dialects, is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, with Literary Arabic being official in all North African and in most West Asian countries. Arabic dialects are also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Several Modern South Arabian languages such as Mehri and Soqotri are also spoken in Yemen and Oman. Another Semitic language
7920-407: The Middle East. Arabs constitute the main ethnic group in the region, followed by Turks , Persians , Kurds , Azeris , Copts , Jews , Assyrians , Iraqi Turkmen , Yazidis , and Greek Cypriots . The Middle East generally has a hot, arid climate, especially in the Arabian and Egyptian regions. Several major rivers provide irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas here, such as
8052-408: The Middle East. For the period between the 1970s and 1990s, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf in particular provided a rich source of employment for workers from Egypt, Yemen and the countries of the Levant, while Europe had attracted young workers from North African countries due both to proximity and the legacy of colonial ties between France and the majority of North African states." According to
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#17327762561378184-426: The Ottomans were assisted by the forces of the Knights Hospitaller who pressed the Sultan to return the port castle to them. However, the sultan refused to make this concession, despite the resulting tensions between the two camps, and he gave the Hospitallers permission to build a castle (the present-day Bodrum Castle ) in Petronium ( Bodrum ) instead. In a landward-looking arrangement somewhat against its nature,
8316-400: The Roman Empire and played an exceptionally important role due to its periphery on the Sassanid Empire . Thus, the Romans stationed up to five or six of their legions in the region for the sole purpose of defending it from Sassanid and Bedouin raids and invasions. From the 4th century CE onwards, the Middle East became the center of the two main powers at the time, the Byzantine Empire and
8448-400: The South Caucasus and Central Asia . The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office . However, it became more widely known when United States naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to "designate the area between Arabia and India". During this time the British and Russian empires were vying for influence in Central Asia ,
8580-440: The Turkish soldiers against the Greeks and Armenians (locals or hinterland refugees) in İzmir. These include the lynching of the Orthodox Metropolitan Chrysostomos following the recapture of the city on 9 September 1922 and the slaughter of Armenian and Greek males, who were then sent to the so-called labour battalions . The city was, once again, gradually rebuilt after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. In 2020,
8712-415: The air temperature can climb as high as 40 °C (104 °F) from June to September; however, the high temperatures are usually between 30 and 36 °C (86 and 97 °F). Etesian winds ( Turkish : meltem , Greek : μελτέμι meltemi ) of the Aegean Sea occur regularly in the Gulf and city of İzmir. Standing on Mount Yamanlar , the tomb of Tantalus was excavated by Charles Texier in 1835 and
8844-468: The area from Mesopotamia to Burma , namely, the area between the Near East and the Far East. In the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command , which was based in Cairo , for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term "Middle East" gained broader usage in Europe and the United States. Following World War II, for example, the Middle East Institute was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946. The corresponding adjective
8976-408: The benefits of renting out eight-floor apartment blocks built to replace former single-family houses, proved especially disastrous for the urban landscape. Modern İzmir is growing in several directions at the same time. The north-western corridor extending to Aliağa brings together both mass housing projects, including villa-type projects and intensive industrial area, including an oil refinery . In
9108-417: The borders of India or command the approaches to India." After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term. Until World War II , it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the " Near East ", while the " Far East " centered on China , India and Japan . The Middle East was then defined as
9240-595: The central government in Ankara and regularly fell short of government subsidies, and the city absorbed huge waves of immigration from inland Anatolia , causing a population explosion . Today, it is not surprising that many inhabitants of İzmir (similar to residents of other prominent Turkish cities) look back with nostalgia to a cozier, more manageable city, which came to an end in the last few decades. The Floor Ownership Law of 1965 ( Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu ), allowing and encouraging arrangements between house or land proprietors and building contractors by which each would share
9372-531: The city and its present-day dependencies became an Ottoman sanjak ( sub-province ) either inside the larger vilayet ( province ) of Aydın part of the eyalet of Anatolia , with its capital in Kütahya or in "Cezayir" (i.e. "Islands" referring to "the Aegean Islands "). In the 15th century, two notable events for the city were a surprise Venetian raid in 1475 and the arrival of Sephardic Jews from Spain after 1492; they later made İzmir one of their principal urban centers in Ottoman lands. İzmir may have been
9504-597: The city by the early 17th century (1619 for the French Consulate, 1621 for the British), serving as trade centers for their nations. Each consulate had its own quay, where the ships under their flag would anchor. The long campaign for the conquest of Crete (22 years between 1648 and 1669) also considerably enhanced İzmir's position within the Ottoman realm since the city served as a port of dispatch and supply for
9636-465: The city was called Smyrna into the 20th century. Izmir (sometimes İzmir ) was adopted in English and most foreign languages after Turkey adopted the Latin alphabet in 1928 and urged other countries to use the city's Turkish name. However, the historic name Smyrna is still used today in some languages, such as Italian ( Smirne ), and Catalan , Portuguese , and Spanish ( Esmirna ). The city
9768-454: The city was damaged by the Aegean Sea earthquake and tsunami , which was the deadliest seismic event of that year. 117 people died and 1,034 more were injured in Turkey, all but one of whom were from the city of İzmir. The city of İzmir is composed of several metropolitan districts . Of these, the district of Konak corresponds to historical İzmir, with this district's area having constituted
9900-472: The city's central "İzmir Municipality" (Turkish: İzmir Belediyesi ) until 1984. With the formation of the "İzmir Metropolitan Municipality" (Turkish: İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi ), the city of İzmir at first grouped together its eleven (initially nine) urban districts – namely Balçova , Bayraklı , Bornova , Buca , Çiğli , Gaziemir , Güzelbahçe , Karabağlar , Karşıyaka , Konak , and Narlıdere – and later consolidated them with an additional nine of
10032-467: The city's name is the Aeolic Greek Μύρρα Mýrrha , corresponding to the later Ionian and Attic Σμύρνα ( Smýrna ) or Σμύρνη ( Smýrnē ), both presumably descendants of a Proto-Greek form * Smúrnā . Some would see in the city's name a reference to the name of an Amazon called Smyrna said to have seduced Theseus , leading him to name the city in her honor. Others link the name to
10164-534: The country and are generally different from the English terms. In German the term Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources, albeit having a distinct meaning). In the four Slavic languages, Russian Ближний Восток or Blizhniy Vostok , Bulgarian Близкия Изток , Polish Bliski Wschód or Croatian Bliski istok (terms meaning Near East are
10296-515: The country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family of Indo-European languages . Other Western Iranic languages spoken in the region include Achomi , Daylami , Kurdish dialects, Semmani , Lurish , amongst many others. The close third-most widely spoken language, Turkish , is largely confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries, but it
10428-468: The crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). Given the importance of the city, Roman emperors who came to Anatolia also visited Smyrna. In early AD 124, Emperor Hadrian visited Smyrna on his journeys across the Empire and possibly Caracalla came in 214–215. Smyrna was a fine city with stone-paved streets. In AD 178, the city was devastated by an earthquake . Emperor Marcus Aurelius contributed greatly to
10560-520: The destruction of the castle. During the First World War , naval battles occurred between Sancakburnu Castle and Urla in March 1915 and around Uzunada in May 1916. Port of İzmir is a cargo and passenger port located to the east of the gulf. It is the seventh largest port of the country in terms of container volume and thirteenth in terms of cargo tonnage. There are nine active passenger ferry quays in
10692-495: The districts of Bornova and Buca . One of the most prominent present-day figures of the community is Caroline Giraud Koç , wife of the renowned Turkish industrialist Mustafa Koç , whose company, Koç Holding , is one of the largest family-owned industrial conglomerates in the world. İzmir once had a large Greek and Armenian community, but after the great fire of 1922 and the end of the Greco-Turkish War, many of
10824-459: The east and the north-east, urban development ends near the natural barriers constituted respectively by the Belkahve ( Mount Nif ) and Sabuncubeli ( Mount Yamanlar - Mount Sipylus ) passes. But the settlements both above Bornova , inside the metropolitan zone, and around Kemalpaşa and Ulucak , outside the metropolitan zone, see mass housing and secondary residences development. More recently,
10956-715: The economy of the Western world [...] Within this contextual framework, the United States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict particularly between Sunnis and Shiites . Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group in the Middle East, followed by various Iranian peoples and then by Turkic peoples ( Turkish , Azeris , Syrian Turkmen , and Iraqi Turkmen ). Native ethnic groups of
11088-480: The emerging independent countries of the Islamic world . However, the usage "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history . In their usage, the term describes an area identical to the term Middle East , which is not used by these disciplines (see ancient Near East ). The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government
11220-512: The facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden , India, and the Persian Gulf. Mahan's article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question", written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol . During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include "those regions of Asia which extend to
11352-409: The farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous. It instructs: Use Middle East unless Near East is used by a source in a story. Mideast is also acceptable, but Middle East is preferred. European languages have adopted terms similar to Near East and Middle East . Since these are based on a relative description, the meanings depend on
11484-505: The fire range from 10,000 to 100,000 Approximately 50,000 to 400,000 Greek and Armenian refugees crammed the waterfront to escape from the fire and were forced to remain there under harsh conditions for nearly two weeks. The systematic evacuation of Greeks on the quay started on 24 September when the first Greek ships entered the harbor under the supervision of Allied destroyers. Some 150,000 to 200,000 Greeks were evacuated in total. The remaining Greeks were expelled to Greece in 1923, as part of
11616-786: The first decade of the 21st century to denote various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world , specifically Afghanistan , Iran , Pakistan , and Turkey . Various Central Asian countries are sometimes also included. The Middle East lies at the juncture of Africa and Eurasia and of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (see also: Indo-Mediterranean ). It is the birthplace and spiritual center of religions such as Christianity , Islam , Judaism , Manichaeism , Yezidi , Druze , Yarsan , and Mandeanism , and in Iran, Mithraism , Zoroastrianism , Manicheanism , and
11748-518: The five Western Anatolian Beyliks in the winter of the same year he had come to the throne. In 1402, however, Timur ( Tamerlane ) won the Battle of Ankara against the Ottomans , putting a serious check on the Ottoman state for the two following decades and handing back the territories of most of the Beyliks to their former ruling dynasties. Timur attacked and destroyed Smyrna and was responsible for
11880-561: The formation of civilizations, advanced cultures formed all over the Middle East during the Stone Age . The search for agricultural lands by agriculturalists, and pastoral lands by herdsmen meant different migrations took place within the region and shaped its ethnic and demographic makeup. The Middle East is widely and most famously known as the cradle of civilization . The world's earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia ( Sumer , Akkad , Assyria and Babylonia ), ancient Egypt and Kish in
12012-402: The gulf . The İZKARAY project, which envisages the joining of the two sides of the gulf with a bridge, an artificial island and a tunnel, will provide road and rail connections between Balçova and Çiğli districts. There are five known shipwrecks in the Gulf of İzmir. At a depth of 16.4 meters off the Sancakburnu Castle, there are wrecks of two ships, one of which is 118 meters and the other
12144-570: The gulf, most notably the Gediz and the Meles . Gediz Delta , which is a Ramsar site , is located in the northeast of the gulf. Levent Marina is the only marina located in the gulf. The Gulf of İzmir was formed during the Quaternary geological period. The east-west direction pit of the gulf was formed as a result of breaking the faults. The northeastern coast of the gulf is the habitat of
12276-677: The head of a gulf running down in a deep indentation, midway along the western Anatolian coast, İzmir has been one of the principal mercantile cities of the Mediterranean Sea for much of its history. Until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey , İzmir had a very large Greek population. It hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1971 and the World University Games (Universiade) in 2005 . The city participated in Climathon in 2019. In ancient Anatolia,
12408-526: The highest in the world, and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countries. During the Cold War, the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and their allies: NATO and the United States on one side, and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other, as they competed to influence regional allies. Besides the political reasons there
12540-493: The highest wind speed of 127.1 km/h (79.0 mph) was recorded on March 29, 1970. Maximum temperatures during the winter months are mostly between 10 and 16 °C (50 and 61 °F). Although it is rare, snow can fall in İzmir from December to February, which usually stays for a few hours rather than a whole day or more. The record 32 cm (13 in) of snow depth was recorded on January 31, 1945. Frost does occasionally occur at night almost every winter. During summer,
12672-580: The last Greek soldiers left Smyrna on 8 September 1922. The Turkish Army retook possession of the city on 9 September 1922, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) . Four days later, on 13 September 1922, a great fire broke out in the city, lasting until 22 September . The fire completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters, while the Muslim and Jewish quarters escaped damage. Estimated Greek and Armenians deaths resulting from
12804-522: The last century. In Iran, many religious minorities such as Christians , Baháʼís , Jews and Zoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 . The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions , many of which originated there. Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths that originated there, such as Judaism and Christianity , are also well represented. Christian communities have played
12936-598: The late 20th century, it has been criticized as being too Eurocentric . The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of West Asia , but without the South Caucasus . It also includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai ) and all of Turkey (including East Thrace ). Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world . The most populous countries in
13068-720: The look of a global metropolis with a cosmopolitan city center. According to the 1893 Ottoman census, more than half of the population was Turkish, with 133,800 Greeks, 9,200 Armenians, 17,200 Jews, and 54,600 foreign nationals. According to author Katherine Flemming, by 1919, Smyrna's 150,000 Greeks made up just under half of the population, outnumbering the Turks in the city two to one, while the American Consul General, George Horton , records 165,000 Turks, 150,000 Greeks, 25,000 Jews, 25,000 Armenians, and 20,000 foreigners (Italians, French, British, Americans). According to Henry Morgenthau and Trudy Ring, before World War I,
13200-513: The lower castle in a surprise attack in the Smyrniote crusades . A sixty-year period of uneasy cohabitation between the two powers, the Beyliks holding the upper castle and the Knights the lower, followed by Umur Bey's death in 1348. The upper city of İzmir was captured from its Aydinid rulers by the Ottomans for the first time in 1389 during the reign of Bayezid I , who led his armies toward
13332-609: The massacre of most of the Christian population, which constituted the vast majority in Smyrna. In 1415, Mehmet I took back İzmir for the Ottomans for the second time. With the death of the last bey of Aydın, İzmiroğlu Cüneyd Bey , in 1426 the city passed fully under Ottoman control. İzmir's first Ottoman governor was Alexander , a converted son of the Bulgarian Shishman dynasty . During the campaigns against Cüneyd,
13464-429: The meantime, the Ottomans had allowed İzmir's inner bay dominated by the port castle to silt up progressively (the location of the present-day Kemeraltı bazaar zone) and the port castle ceased to be of use. In 1770, the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by Russian forces at the Battle of Çeşme , located near the city. This triggered fanatical Muslim groups to proceed to the massacre of c. 1,500 local Greeks. Later, in 1797
13596-460: The metropolitan area displays growth, especially along the western corridor, encouraged by the Çeşme motorway and extending to districts outside the city of İzmir proper, such as Seferihisar and Urla . The population of the city is predominantly Muslim, but it was predominantly non-Muslim up to the earlier quarter of the 20th century. İzmir is also home to Turkey's second largest Jewish community after Istanbul, numbering about 2,500. The community
13728-751: The name of a locality called Ti-smurna is mentioned in some of the Level II tablets from the Assyrian colony in Kültepe (first half of the 2nd millennium BC ), with the prefix ti- identifying a proper name, although it is not established with certainty that this name refers to modern-day İzmir. The modern name İzmir is the Turkish rendering of the Greek name Smyrna ( / ˈ s m ɜːr n ə / SMUR -nə ; Greek : Σμύρνη , romanized : Smýrni/Smýrnē ). In medieval times , Westerners used forms like Smire , Zmirra , Esmira , Ismira , which
13860-498: The northeast of the inner gulf. In connection with the silt brought by the streams which join the sea along the coastline, the settlement to form later the core of "Old Smyrna" was founded on the slopes of the same mountain, on a hill ( then a small peninsula connected to the mainland by a small isthmus ) in the present-day neighborhood of Tepekule in Bayraklı . The Bayraklı settlement is thought to have stretched back in time as far as
13992-404: The only appropriate ones for the region. However, some European languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as French Moyen-Orient , Swedish Mellanöstern , Spanish Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente , Greek is Μέση Ανατολή ( Mesi Anatoli ), and Italian Medio Oriente . Perhaps because of the political influence of the United States and Europe, and the prominence of Western press,
14124-479: The people could no longer swim in the gulf. With the population exceeding 1.7 million in the 1990s, the level of pollution has risen a lot and heavy metal traces were found in fish. In 1992, the treatment and sewage system, called the Grand Canal Project, started to be built by İZSU . Launched in October 2002, the system prevented waste water discharge to the gulf. By the 2010s, it was observed that
14256-447: The pollution in the gulf was removed and the marine life returned to normal. With the Gulf of İzmir Oceanographic Monitoring Project carried out by İZSU since 2000, the cleaning of the gulf is tracked. Sailing is supported by Karşıyaka S.K. and Göztepe S.K. in the inner gulf. Yacht, sailing, canoe, rowing and dragon boat races are held in the gulf with the İzmir Gulf Festival, which is organized annually since 2017. The gulf hosts
14388-516: The population of what he calls "Islamic territory" as roughly 12.5 million in 1000 – Anatolia 8 million, Syria 2 million, and Egypt 1.5 million. From the 16th century onward, the Middle East came to be dominated, once again, by two main powers: the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid dynasty . The modern Middle East began after World War I , when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with
14520-607: The present-day territory of Turkey went from İzmir. A 130 km (81 mi) İzmir- Aydın railway was started in 1856 and finished in 1867, a year later than the Smyrna-Cassaba Railway , itself started in 1863. In 1865 the population was estimated by the British ( Hyde Clarke ) at 180,000 with minorities of 80,000 Greeks, 8,000 Armenians and 10,000 Jews. The wide arc of the Smyrna-Cassaba line advancing in
14652-457: The province's districts outside the city proper. In 2013, the passing of Act 6360 established all thirty of İzmir Province's districts as part of İzmir's metropolitan area. The period after the 1960s and the 1970s saw another blow to the fabric of İzmir, when local administrations tended to neglect İzmir's traditional values and landmarks. For many inhabitants, this was as serious as the 1922 fire . Some administrators were not always in tune with
14784-602: The rebuilding of the city. During this period the agora was restored. Many of the works of architecture from the city's pre-Turkish period date from this period. After the Roman Empire was divided into two distinct entities, Smyrna became a territory of the Eastern Roman Empire . The city kept its status as a notable religious center in the early Byzantine period, but never returned to the Roman levels of prosperity. The Turkic peoples first captured Smyrna under
14916-416: The region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times , and it was long considered the "cradle of civilization". The geopolitical importance of the region has been recognized and competed for during millennia. The Abrahamic religions, Judaism , Christianity , and Islam , have their origins in
15048-439: The region as including only Egypt , Syria, Israel , Lebanon , Jordan , Iraq, Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Bahrain , and Qatar . Since the late 20th century, scholars and journalists from the region, such as journalist Louay Khraish and historian Hassan Hanafi have criticized the use of "Middle East" as a Eurocentric and colonialist term. The Associated Press Stylebook of 2004 says that Near East formerly referred to
15180-662: The region include, in addition to Arabs, Arameans , Assyrians , Baloch , Berbers , Copts , Druze , Greek Cypriots , Jews , Kurds , Lurs , Mandaeans , Persians , Samaritans , Shabaks , Tats , and Zazas . European ethnic groups that form a diaspora in the region include Albanians , Bosniaks , Circassians (including Kabardians ), Crimean Tatars , Greeks , Franco-Levantines , Italo-Levantines , and Iraqi Turkmens . Among other migrant populations are Chinese , Filipinos , Indians , Indonesians , Pakistanis , Pashtuns , Romani , and Afro-Arabs . "Migration has always provided an important vent for labor market pressures in
15312-534: The rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards. In the 20th century, the region's significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance. Mass production of oil began around 1945, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates having large quantities of oil. Estimated oil reserves , especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are some of
15444-408: The sea in 1967 and in the following years. In the period when 200,000 people lived around the gulf, the discharge of wastewater into the gulf did not cause any obvious problems. However, with the population exceeding 500,000 and industrialization, waste that has exceeded the capacity of the gulf to renew itself has begun to be discharged into the gulf. In this period, pollution became noticeable and
15576-569: The son of the founder of the Beylik of Aydın who first took the upper fort of Mount Pagos (thereafter called Kadifekale ), and then the lower port castle of Neon Kastron (called St. Peter by the Genoese and as "Ok Kalesi" by the Turks). As Tzachas had done two centuries before, Umur Bey used the city as a base for naval raids. In 1344, a coalition of forces coordinated by Pope Clement VI took back
15708-547: The south. İzmir has more than 3,000 years of recorded urban history , and up to 8,500 years of history as a human settlement since the Neolithic period. In classical antiquity the city was known as Smyrna – a name which remained in use in English and various other languages until around 1930, when government efforts led the original Greek name to be gradually phased out internationally in favor of its Turkish counterpart İzmir . Lying on an advantageous location at
15840-605: The southern corridor towards Gaziemir yet another important growth trend is observed, contributed to by the Aegean Free Zone, light industry, the airport and mass housing projects. The presence of the Tahtalı Dam, built to provide drinking water, and its protected zone did not check urban spread here, which has offshoots in cooperatives outside the metropolitan area as far south as the Ayrancılar– Torbalı axis. To
15972-705: The term in his article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations", published in September 1902 in the National Review , a British journal. The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta , as well as its Gibraltar ; it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit, of supply, and in case of disaster, of security. The British Navy should have
16104-802: The troops. İzmir is also one of the only Ottoman cities to have a (maritime) flag . [REDACTED] Roman Empire 133 BC–395 [REDACTED] Byzantine Empire 395–1076 Seljuk Empire 1076–1081 Chaka Bey 1081–1097 [REDACTED] Byzantine Empire 1097–1204 [REDACTED] Knights Hospitaller 1204–1209 Empire of Nicaea 1209–1261 [REDACTED] Byzantine Empire 1261–1330 [REDACTED] Beylik of Aydin 1330–1344 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Knights Hospitaller and Beylik of Aydin 1344–1402 [REDACTED] Timurid Empire 1402–1405 [REDACTED] Beylik of Aydin 1405–1425 [REDACTED] Ottoman Empire 1425–1919 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Greece 1919–1922 [REDACTED] Republic of Turkey 1922–present Despite facing
16236-532: The western Middle East and until the Muslim expansion it was widely spoken there as well. Until the late 11th century, it was also the main spoken language in Asia Minor ; after that it was gradually replaced by the Turkish language as the Anatolian Turks expanded and the local Greeks were assimilated, especially in the interior. English is one of the official languages of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. It
16368-411: Was also the "ideological conflict" between the two systems. Moreover, as Louise Fawcett argues, among many important areas of contention, or perhaps more accurately of anxiety, were, first, the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in the region, second, the fact that the region contained some two-thirds of the world's oil reserves in a context where oil was becoming increasingly vital to
16500-581: Was built on the Hippodamian system, in which streets run north-south and east-west and intersect at right angles, in a pattern familiar in the Near East but the earliest example in a western city. The houses all faced south. The most ancient paved streets in the Ionian civilization have also been discovered in ancient Smyrna. Homer , referred to as Melesigenes meaning "Child of the Meles Brook",
16632-417: Was concentrated. By 1576, İzmir had grown to house 492 taxpayers in eight urban wards and had a number of dependent villages. This corresponded to a total population estimated between 3500 and 5000. İzmir's remarkable growth began in the late 16th century when cotton and other products of the region brought French, English, Dutch and Venetian traders here. The emergence of İzmir as a major international port by
16764-740: Was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine , which pertained to the Suez Crisis . Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia ." In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined
16896-468: Was large enough only for a few thousand people. Therefore, the slopes of Mount Pagos ( Kadifekale ) were chosen for the foundation of the new city, for which Alexander is credited, and this act laid the ground for a resurgence in the city's population. In 133 BC, Eumenes III, the last king of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum , was about to die without an heir. In his will , he bequeathed his kingdom to
17028-481: Was marked from the very first day by the "first bullet" fired on Greek detachments by the journalist Hasan Tahsin and the bayonetting to death of Colonel Fethi Bey and his unarmed soldiers in the city's historic barracks ( Sarı Kışla — the Yellow Barracks ), for refusing to shout " Zito o Venizelos " ("Long Live Venizelos "). The Greeks, on the other hand, have cited the numerous atrocities committed by
17160-524: Was martyred, buried under an urban zone on the slopes of Kadifekale . It was distinguishable until the 19th century, as evident by the sketches done at the time. At top of the same hill stands an ancient castle, one of İzmir's landmarks. Other ancient monument include also the Kızılçullu aqueducts in Buca district. Gulf of %C4%B0zmir The Gulf of İzmir ( Turkish : İzmir Körfezi ), formerly known as
17292-609: Was rendered as İzmir into Turkish, originally written as ازمير with the Ottoman Turkish alphabet . The region of İzmir was situated on the southern fringes of the Yortan culture in Anatolia's prehistory, knowledge of which is almost entirely drawn from its cemeteries. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, it was in the western end of the extension of the still largely obscure Arzawa Kingdom, an offshoot and usually
17424-563: Was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire , while "Middle East" referred to the Caucasus , Persia , and Arabian lands, and sometimes Afghanistan , India and others. In contrast, " Far East " referred to the countries of East Asia (e.g. China , Japan , and Korea ). With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, "Near East" largely fell out of common use in English, while "Middle East" came to be applied to
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