Selçuk is a municipality and district of İzmir Province , Turkey . Its area is 317 km, and its population is 38,151 (2022). The town Selçuk is located 2 kilometres (1 mile) northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus , that was once home to the Temple of Artemis , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World .
132-629: Selçuk is one of the most visited tourist destinations within Turkey , known for its closeness to the ancient city of Ephesus, House of the Virgin Mary , and Seljuk works of art. The 6th century Basilica of St. John the Apostle , which, some claim, is built on the site of the Apostle's tomb, is also inside the town. Procopius said that the basilica was a most sacred and honoured place in Ephesus. It
264-724: A charter member of the United Nations. In 1950 Turkey became a member of the Council of Europe . After fighting as part of the UN forces in the Korean War , Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean . Military coups or memorandums, which happened in 1960 , 1971 , 1980 , and 1997 , complicated Turkey's transition to a democratic multiparty system . Between 1960 and
396-592: A civilian alternative to military service. Islam in Turkey Islam is the most practiced religion in Turkey . Most Turkish Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. The established presence of Islam in the region that now constitutes modern Turkey dates back to the later half of the 11th century, when the Seljuks started expanding into eastern Anatolia . While records count
528-573: A global power . From 1789 onwards, the empire saw a major transformation , reforms , and centralization while its territory declined . In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in large-scale loss of life and mass migration into modern-day Turkey from the Balkans , Caucasus , and Crimea . Under
660-512: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa ), with hot, dry summers, and cool, rainy winters. The youth football teams of the İzmir-based sports club Altınordu S.K. play their home matches in the Altınordu Selçuk-Efes Football Complex , which is located WSW of Selçuk. With five football fields, the venue is the largest in İzmir Province . Selçuk is twinned with: Turkey Turkey , officially
792-723: A Code with principles similar to the German Penal Code and German law generally. Administrative law is based on the French equivalent and procedural law generally shows the influence of the Swiss, German and French legal systems. Islamic principles do not play a part in the legal system. Law enforcement in Turkey is carried out by several agencies under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs . These agencies are
924-534: A district itself. Its neighbours are Torbalı from north, Tire from northeast, Germencik from east, Kuşadası from south, Aegean Sea from west and Menderes (formerly Cumaovası) from northwest. In 1921, after the capture of the village by the Greek forces , the village had a total population of 600, ethnographically consisting of 580 Greeks , 10 Turks and 10 Armenians . The old quarter of Selçuk retains much traditional Turkish culture. Ayasuluk Hill dominates
1056-574: A faction within the Turkish Armed Forces with connections to the Gülen movement, citing an erosion in secularism. There is an administration called "Presidency of Religious Affairs" or Diyanet manages 77,500 mosques. This state agency, established by Atatürk (1924), finance only Sunni Muslim worship Other religions must ensure a financially self-sustaining running and they face administrative obstacles during operation. The Diyanet
1188-765: A guide for developing "orthodox expressions of basic Christian teachings". The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centered in Constantinople during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages . The eastern half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until
1320-527: A headscarf under their police caps. This act was pushed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) that have been pushing for relaxed restrictions on the hijab. The vast majority of the present-day Turkish people are Muslim and the Sunni Islam is the most populous Islamic sect, comprising about 90% of the Muslims in the country. The most popular school of law
1452-766: A mixture of " Turkish, Persian and Islamic influences ". In the latter half of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began penetrating into medieval Armenia and Anatolia. At the time, Anatolia was a diverse and largely Greek-speaking region after previously being Hellenized . The Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and later established the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum . During this period, there were also Turkish principalities such as Danishmendids . Seljuk arrival started
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#17327651670571584-527: A new phenomenon, İslamcı Aydın (the Islamist intellectual), unaffiliated with the traditional Sufi orders, emerged during the 1980s. Prolific and popular writers such as Ali Bulaç , Rasim Özdenören , and İsmet Özel drew upon their knowledge of Western philosophy, Marxist sociology, and radical Islamist political theory to advocate for a modern Islamic perspective that does not hesitate to criticize societal issues while simultaneously remaining faithful to
1716-658: A person. As an ethnonym , the etymology is still unknown. In addition to usage in languages such as Chinese in the 6th century, the earliest mention of Turk ( 𐱅𐰇𐰺𐰜 , türü̲k̲ ; or 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰚 , türk/tẄrk ) in Turkic languages comes from the Second Turkic Khaganate . In Byzantine sources in the 10th century, the name Tourkia was used for defining two medieval states: Hungary ( Western Tourkia ); and Khazaria ( Eastern Tourkia ). The Mamluk Sultanate , with its ruling elite of Turkic origin,
1848-528: A polarization of the entire country, which became especially evident in the 1980s, as a new generation of religiously motivated local leaders emerged to challenge the dominance of the secularized political elite. By 1994, slogans promising that a return to Islam would cure economic ills and solve the problems of bureaucratic inefficiencies had enough general appeal to enable avowed religious candidates to win mayoral elections in Istanbul and Ankara . Following
1980-650: A reassertion of the ancient, indigenous culture of the Hattian cities of Anatolia". Before 1200 BC, there were four Greek-speaking settlements in Anatolia, including Miletus . Around 1000 BC, Greeks started migrating to the west coast of Anatolia. These eastern Greek settlements played a vital role in shaping the Archaic Greek civilization; important cities included Miletus , Ephesus , Halicarnassus , Smyrna (now İzmir ) and Byzantium (now Istanbul ),
2112-604: A result of these policies, the Turkish Republic was judged negatively by some sections of the Muslim world. The common expectation was that these policies of the 1920s and 1930s would diminish the role of religion in public, which, however, did not occur. As early as 1925, religious grievances were one of the principal causes of the Şeyh Sait rebellion , an uprising in southeastern Turkey that may have claimed as many as 30,000 lives before being suppressed. Although Turkey
2244-583: A rich and diverse cuisine , Turkey is the fifth most visited country in the world. Turchia , meaning "the land of the Turks", had begun to be used in European texts for Anatolia by the end of the 12th century. As a word in Turkic languages , Turk may mean "strong, strength, ripe" or "flourishing, in full strength". It may also mean ripe as in for a fruit or "in the prime of life, young, and vigorous" for
2376-535: A symbol of the Islamic traditionalism they rejected. Militant secularists persuaded the Higher Education Council to issue a regulation in 1987 forbidding female university students to cover their heads in class. Protests by thousands of religious students and some university professors forced several universities to waive enforcement of the dress code. The issue continued to be seriously divisive in
2508-746: Is Syria, with which Turkey had cut its relations after the start of the Syrian civil war . There are disputes with Greece over maritime boundaries and with Cyprus . In 2018, the Turkish military and the Turkish-backed forces began an operation in Syria aimed at ousting US-backed YPG (which Turkey considers to be an offshoot of the outlawed PKK ) from the enclave of Afrin . Turkey has also conducted airstrikes in Iraqi Kurdistan , which
2640-534: Is a unitary presidential republic . Turkey is a founding member of the OECD , G20 , and Organization of Turkic States . With a geopolitically significant location, Turkey is a regional power and an early member of NATO . An EU candidate , Turkey is part of the EU Customs Union , CoE , OIC , and TURKSOY . Turkey has coastal plains, a high central plateau , and various mountain ranges; its climate
2772-602: Is also a minority of Sufi and non-denominational Muslims . During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, Arab armies established the Islamic Empire . The Umayyad Caliphate continued the spread of Islam . The Islamic Golden Age was soon inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad . The later period saw initial expansion and
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#17327651670572904-468: Is an official state institution established in 1924 and works to provide Quranic education for children, as well as drafting weekly sermons delivered to approximately 85,000 different mosques. Furthermore, the Diyanet employs all of the imams in Turkey. When collecting tax, all Turkish citizens are equal. The tax rate is not based on religion. However, through the Diyanet, Turkish citizens are not equal in
3036-399: Is anecdotal evidence of a notable number of Turkish students from religious high schools admitting their loss of faith in Islamic beliefs, which has caused substantial amount of discussion among politicians and religious clerics. More recently in 2016, Turkey approved hijab as the part of the official police uniform . For the first time, female officers will be able to cover their heads with
3168-663: Is being frequently used to represent all the Shi'a Muslim sects in Turkish language . Furthermore, the term Kızılbaş in the history was used pejoratively for all Shi'ites in Anatolia . Estimates for Alevi population vary from less than 4 million to more than 12 million according to different sources. It's hard to make a realistic estimate for their population since the Turkish government has never asked about religious denominations in conducted censuses. Other reasons for this are
3300-620: Is divided into districts ( ilçe ), for a total of 973 districts. Turkey is also subdivided into 7 regions ( bölge ) and 21 subregions for geographic, demographic and economic measurements, surveys and classifications; this does not refer to an administrative division. Turkey is a presidential republic within a multi-party system . The current constitution was adopted in 1982 . In the Turkish unitary system, citizens are subject to three levels of government : national, provincial, and local. The local government 's duties are commonly split between municipal governments and districts, in which
3432-442: Is temperate with harsher conditions in the interior. Home to three biodiversity hotspots , Turkey is prone to frequent earthquakes and is highly vulnerable to climate change . Turkey has a universal healthcare system , growing access to education , and increasing levels of innovativeness . It is a leading TV content exporter. With 21 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 30 UNESCO intangible cultural heritage inscriptions, and
3564-657: Is the Hanafite madh'hab of Sunni Islam . The Hanafi madhhab was the official school of Islamic jurisprudence espoused by the Ottoman Empire and a 2013 survey conducted by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs indicates that 77.5% of Turkish Muslims identify themselves as Hanafis . Another common Sunni jurisprudence, Shafi'i is the dominant one in Turkish Kurdistan . Although
3696-476: Is the Main Opposition Leader . The last parliamentary and presidential elections were in 2023. The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or having ties to terrorism , or ban their existence altogether. The electoral threshold for political parties at national level is seven percent of the votes. Smaller parties can avoid
3828-590: The Kayı tribe of the Oghuz Turks . Ottomans started annexing the nearby Turkish beyliks (principalities) in Anatolia and expanded into the Balkans . Mehmed II completed Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital, Constantinople , on 29 May 1453. Selim I united Anatolia under Ottoman rule. Turkification continued as Ottomans mixed with various indigenous people in Anatolia and
3960-635: The 1913 coup d'état , the Three Pashas took control of the Ottoman government. The Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, the empire's Armenian subjects were deported to Syria as part of the Armenian genocide . As a result, an estimated 600,000 to more than 1 million, or up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The Turkish government has refused to acknowledge
4092-478: The 1980 coup , the military, although secular in orientation, viewed religion as an effective means to counter socialist ideas and thus authorized the construction of 90 more İmam Hatip high schools. During the 1970s and 1980s, Islam experienced political rehabilitation due to center-right secular leaders perceiving religion as a potential bulwark in their ideological struggle with center-left secular leaders. A small advocacy group that became extremely influential
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4224-541: The Alawites , who altogether constitutes nearly one tenth of the whole population of the country. An estimate for the Turkish Alevi population varies from 3.5 million to 11 million. However it's so hard to estimate a realistic number for Shia population in Turkey since the country doesn't conduct ethnic or religious censuses. Unlike the common usage of the term " Shi'a " in other languages, Aleviler instead
4356-716: The Allies in the aftermath of World War I initiated the Turkish National Movement . Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha , a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli , the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). The Turkish Provisional Government in Ankara , which had declared itself
4488-769: The Armistice of Mudanya on 11 October 1922. On 1 November 1922, the Turkish Parliament in Ankara formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of monarchical Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sèvres, led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the new Turkish state as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire. On 4 October 1923,
4620-749: The Cold War 's start. Following threats from the Soviet Union , Turkey sought to ally with the United States and joined NATO in 1952. Overall, Turkey aims for good relations with Central Asia , the Caucasus , Russia, the Middle East , and Iran. With the West, Turkey also aims to keep its arrangements. By trading with the east and joining the EU, Turkey pursues economic growth. Turkey joined
4752-615: The Danishmends , the Sultanate of Rum , and various Atabegs who contested the control of the region during the Crusades and incrementally expanded across Anatolia until the rise of the Ottoman Empire . Beginning in the 12th century, new waves of Turkic migrants arrived, many of whom belonging to Sufi orders. Some of these migrants later went on to incorporate heterodox beliefs. One Sufi order that appealed to Turks in Anatolia
4884-603: The EEC in 1987, joined the European Union Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005. Customs Union had an important impact on the Turkish manufacturing sector. In 2014, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won Turkey's first direct presidential election . On 15 July 2016, an unsuccessful coup attempt tried to oust the government. According to
5016-480: The European Union Customs Union in 1995, but its EU accession talks are frozen as of 2024. Turkey has been called an emerging power, a middle power , and a regional power . Turkey has sought closer relations with the Central Asian Turkic states after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Closer relations with Azerbaijan , a culturally close country, was achieved. Turkey is a founding member of
5148-402: The Galatians . When Pergamon requested assistance in its conflict with the Seleucids, Rome intervened in Anatolia in the second century BC. Without an heir, Pergamum's king left the kingdom to Rome, which was annexed as province of Asia . Roman influence grew in Anatolia afterwards. Following Asiatic Vespers massacre, and Mithridatic Wars with Pontus , Rome emerged victorious. Around
5280-426: The General Directorate of Security , the Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command . In the years of government by the Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan, particularly since 2013, the independence and integrity of the Turkish judiciary has increasingly been said to be in doubt by institutions, parliamentarians and journalists both within and outside of Turkey, because of political interference in
5412-428: The International Organization of Turkic Culture and Organization of Turkic States . It is also a member of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , Council of Europe , and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation . Following the Arab Spring , Turkey had problems with countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Relations with these countries have improved since then. The exception
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5544-422: The Ionian School of philosophy , thereby laying the foundations of rationalism and Western philosophy . Cyrus attacked eastern Anatolia in 547 BC, and Achaemenid Empire eventually expanded into western Anatolia . In the east, the Armenian province was part of the Achaemenid Empire. Following the Greco-Persian Wars , the Greek city-states of the Anatolian Aegean coast regained independence, but most of
5676-475: The Kadiri , Mevlevi , Nakşibendi , Khālidiyyā and Al-Ṭarīqah al-Tijāniyyah reemerge, but new movements were formed, including the Nur Cemaati , Gülen movement , Sülaymānīyyā , Community of İskenderpaşa and İsmailağa . The Tijāni became especially militant in confronting the state, damaging monuments to Atatürk to symbolize their opposition to his policy of secularization. This was, however, an isolated incident and only involved one particular Sheikh of
5808-422: The Maturidi and Ash'ari schools of Islamic theology (which apply Ilm al-Kalam or rational thought to understand the Quran and the hadith ) have been the dominant creeds in Turkey due to their widespread acceptance and propagation since the beginning of the Ottoman Empire , the Athari (literalist) creed of the Salafi movement has seen increasing acceptance. Compared to the Hanbali school of Islam,
5940-403: The Ottoman Empire's name . In December 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for expanded official usage of Türkiye , saying that Türkiye "represents and expresses the culture, civilization, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way". In May 2022, the Turkish government requested the United Nations and other international organizations to use Türkiye officially in English;
6072-475: The Proto-Turkic language originated in Central-East Asia. Initially, Proto- Turkic speakers were potentially both hunter-gatherers and farmers; they later became nomadic pastoralists . Early and medieval Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both East Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such as Iranic , Mongolic , Tocharian , Uralic , and Yeniseian peoples. During
6204-461: The Republic of Türkiye , is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia , with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe . It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia , Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Iran to the east; Iraq , Syria , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea , Greece , and Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic Turks , while ethnic Kurds are
6336-431: The Second Balkan War (1913). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in estimated 5 million deaths, with more than 3 million in Balkans; the casualties included Turks. Five to seven or seven to nine million refugees migrated into modern-day Turkey from the Balkans , Caucasus , Crimea , and Mediterranean islands, shifting
6468-414: The Sheikh Said rebellion in 1925 and the Dersim rebellion in 1937. İsmet İnönü became the country's second president following Atatürk's death in 1938. In 1939, the Republic of Hatay voted in favor of joining Turkey with a referendum. Turkey remained neutral during almost all of World War II , but entered the war on the side of the Allies on 23 February 1945 . Later that year, Turkey became
6600-407: The Supreme Electoral Council lifted a rule that required each ballot to have an official stamp. The opposition parties claimed that as many as 2.5 million ballots without a stamp were accepted as valid. Turkey has a unitary structure in terms of public administration, and the provinces are subordinate to the central government in Ankara . In province centers the government is represented by
6732-402: The True Path Party while the Işıkçılar and Enver Ören had openly supported the Motherland Party since the mid-1980s. The demand for restoration of religious education in public schools began in the late 1940s. The government initially responded by authorizing religious instruction in state schools for those students whose parents requested it. Under the rule of the Democrat Party during
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#17327651670576864-406: The Turkification process in Anatolia; there were Turkic/Turkish migrations, intermarriages, and conversions into Islam. The shift took several centuries and happened gradually. Members of Islamic mysticism orders, such as Mevlevi Order , played a role in the Islamization of the diverse people of Anatolia. Seljuk expansion was one of the reasons for the Crusades . In 13th century, there
6996-407: The Yabgu Khaganate . In 1040, the Seljuks defeated the Ghaznavids at the Battle of Dandanaqan and established the Seljuk Empire in Greater Khorasan . Baghdad , the Abbasid Caliphate 's capital and center of the Islamic world , was taken by Seljuks in 1055. Given the role Khurasani traditions played in art, culture, and political traditions in the empire, the Seljuk period is described as
7128-598: The adoption of Christianity as the state religion , and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin , modern historians continue to make a distinction between the earlier Roman Empire and the later Byzantine Empire . In the early Byzantine Empire period, the Anatolian coastal areas were Greek speaking. In addition to natives, interior Anatolia had diverse groups such as Goths , Celts , Persians and Jews . Interior Anatolia had been "heavily Hellenized". Anatolian languages eventually became extinct after Hellenization of Anatolia. According to historians and linguists,
7260-410: The earliest farming areas , present-day Turkey was inhabited by various ancient peoples . The Hattians were assimilated by the Anatolian peoples , such as the Hittites . Classical Anatolia transitioned into cultural Hellenization following the conquests of Alexander the Great ; Hellenization continued during the Roman and Byzantine eras. The Seljuk Turks began migrating into Anatolia in
7392-420: The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in the Mediterranean world . The term Byzantine Empire was only coined following the empire's demise; its citizens referred to the polity as the "Roman Empire" and to themselves as Romans . Due to the imperial seat's move from Rome to Byzantium ,
7524-438: The largest ethnic minority . Officially a secular state , Turkey has a Muslim-majority population. Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city , while Istanbul is its largest city and economic and financial center. Other major cities include İzmir , Bursa , and Antalya . Turkey was first inhabited by modern humans during the Late Paleolithic . Home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe and some of
7656-405: The right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections. Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934. In Turkey, turnout rates of both local and general elections are high compared to many other countries, which usually stands higher than 80%. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is currently serving as the head of state and head of government . Özgür Özel
7788-587: The " Six Arrows " of Atatürk's program for remaking Turkey. Whereas Islam had formed the identity of Muslims within the Ottoman Empire, secularism was seen as molding the new Turkish nation and its citizens. In 1922, the new nationalist regime abolished the Ottoman sultanate, as well as the caliphate in 1924 - the religious office that Ottoman sultans had held for four centuries. Thus, for the first time in Islamic history, no ruler claimed spiritual leadership of Islam. Atatürk and his associates abolished certain religious practices and institutions and generally questioned
7920-399: The 11th century, starting the Turkification process. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into Turkish principalities . Beginning in 1299, the Ottomans united the principalities and expanded ; Mehmed II conquered Istanbul in 1453 . During the reigns of Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent , the Ottoman Empire became
8052-486: The 1950s, religious education was made compulsory in secondary schools unless parents made a specific request to have their children excused. Religious education was made compulsory for all primary and secondary school children in 1982. The reintroduction of religion into the school curriculum raised the question of religious higher education. The seculars believed that Islam could be "reformed" if future leaders were trained in state-controlled seminaries. To further this goal,
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#17327651670578184-516: The 1st century BC, Rome expanded into parts of Pontus and Bithynia , while turning rest of Anatolian states into Roman satellites. Several conflicts with Parthians ensued , with peace and wars alternating. According to Acts of the Apostles , early Christian Church had significant growth in Anatolia because of St Paul's efforts. Letters from St. Paul in Anatolia comprise the oldest Christian literature . Under Roman authority, ecumenical councils such as Council of Nicaea (Iznik) in 325 served as
8316-415: The 9th and 10th centuries CE, the Oghuz were a Turkic group that lived in the Caspian and Aral steppes. Partly due to pressure from the Kipchaks , the Oghuz migrated into Iran and Transoxiana . They mixed with Iranic-speaking groups in the area and converted to Islam . Oghuz Turks were also known as Turkoman . The Seljuks originated from the Kınık branch of the Oghuz Turks who resided in
8448-412: The Allied occupation of Turkey ended with the withdrawal of the last Allied troops from Istanbul . The Turkish Republic was officially proclaimed on 29 October 1923 in Ankara, the country's new capital. The Lausanne Convention stipulated a population exchange between Greece and Turkey . Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first president and introduced many reforms . The reforms aimed to transform
8580-415: The Anatolian interior, which met resistance in some places. Following Alexander's death, the Seleucids ruled large parts of Anatolia, while native Anatolian states emerged in the Marmara and Black Sea areas. In eastern Anatolia, the kingdom of Armenia appeared. In third century BC, Celts invaded central Anatolia and continued as a major ethnic group in the area for around 200 years. They were known as
8712-400: The Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a global power during the reigns of Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent . In the 16th and 17th centuries, Sephardic Jews moved into Ottoman Empire following their expulsion from Spain. From the second half of the 18th century onwards, the Ottoman Empire began to decline . The Tanzimat reforms, initiated by Mahmud II in 1839, aimed to modernize
8844-422: The Hanafi school of Islam takes a much more liberal take on the religion, allowing for a more lenient interpretation of religious law. Twelver branch of Shia Islam Muslim population of Turkey is composed of Ja'fari aqidah and fiqh , Batiniyya - Sufism aqidah of Maymūn’al-Qāddāhī fiqh of the Alevīs, and Cillī aqidah of Maymūn ibn Abu’l-Qāsim Sulaiman ibn Ahmad ibn at-Tabarānī fiqh of
8976-509: The Hittite kingdom was disintegrating, further waves of Indo-European peoples migrated from southeastern Europe, which was followed by warfare. The Thracians were also present in modern-day Turkish Thrace . It is not known if the Trojan war is based on historical events. Troy's Late Bronze Age layers matches most with Iliad 's story. Around 750 BC, Phrygia had been established, with its two centers in Gordium and modern-day Kayseri . Phrygians spoke an Indo-European language, which
9108-424: The Ottoman Empire led to a rise in nationalist sentiment among its various subject peoples , leading to increased ethnic tensions which occasionally burst into violence, such as the Hamidian massacres of Armenians , which claimed up to 300,000 lives. Ottoman territories in Europe ( Rumelia ) were lost in the First Balkan War (1912–1913). Ottomans managed to recover some territory in Europe, such as Edirne , in
9240-431: The Ottoman state in line with the progress that had been made in Western Europe. The Ottoman constitution of 1876 was the first among Muslim states, but was short-lived . As the empire gradually shrank in size, military power and wealth; especially after the Ottoman economic crisis and default in 1875 which led to uprisings in the Balkan provinces that culminated in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) . The decline of
9372-435: The President, General Staff , Air Force , Naval Force , and Land Force usually report to the Minister of National Defence. The Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior . Military service is required for 6–12 months for men, which is reduced to one month after paying a fee. Turkey does not recognize conscientious objection and does not offer
9504-670: The Republic, Turkey adopted a civil law legal system, replacing Sharia -derived Ottoman law . The Civil Code , adopted in 1926, was based on the Swiss Civil Code of 1907 and the Swiss Code of Obligations of 1911. Although it underwent a number of changes in 2002, it retains much of the basis of the original Code. The Criminal Code , originally based on the Italian Criminal Code , was replaced in 2005 by
9636-679: The Safavids eventually conquered Iran, spread their beliefs, and became proponents of orthodox Twelver Shi'a Islam . The conquest of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul ) in 1453 enabled the Ottomans to consolidate their empire in Anatolia and Thrace . The Ottomans later revived the title of caliph during the reign of Selim I . Despite the absence of a formal institutional structure, Sunni religious functionaries continued to play an important political role. In theory,
9768-402: The Turkish government, there are 13,251 arrested or convicted people in jail as of 2024, related to the 2016 coup attempt. With a referendum in 2017 , the parliamentary republic was replaced by an executive presidential system . The office of the prime minister was abolished, and its powers and duties were transferred to the president. On the referendum day, while the voting was still underway,
9900-467: The Turkish word Tanrı for the Arabic word Allah , and incorporating Turkish into daily calls to prayer. These changes in devotional practices caused widespread criticism among Muslims, which led to a return to the Arabic version of the call to prayer in 1950, after the opposition party DP won the elections. Of longer-lasting effect were the regime's measures of prohibiting religious education, restricting
10032-1090: The UN agreed. Present-day Turkey has been inhabited by modern humans since the late Paleolithic period and contains some of the world's oldest Neolithic sites. Göbekli Tepe is close to 12,000 years old. Parts of Anatolia include the Fertile Crescent , an origin of agriculture . Other important Anatolian Neolithic sites include Çatalhöyük and Alaca Höyük . Neolithic Anatolian farmers differed genetically from farmers in Iran and Jordan Valley . These early Anatolian farmers also migrated into Europe , starting around 9,000 years ago. Troy's earliest layers go back to around 4500 BC. Anatolia's historical records start with clay tablets from approximately around 2000 BC that were found in modern-day Kültepe . These tablets belonged to an Assyrian trade colony . The languages in Anatolia at that time included Hattian, Hurrian, Hittite , Luwian , and Palaic . Hattian
10164-413: The abolition of the caliphate, new laws mandated the abolition of the office of Şeyhülislam and the religious hierarchy , the closing and confiscation of Sufi lodges, meeting places, and monasteries and the outlawing of their rituals and meetings, the establishment of government control over vakıfs which had been inalienable under Sharia , the replacement of sharia with adapted European legal codes;
10296-491: The age of 65. Turkish politics have become increasingly associated with democratic backsliding , being described as a competitive authoritarian system. Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential (national), parliamentary (national), municipality mayors (local), district mayors (local), provincial or municipal council members (local), and muhtars (local). Referendums are also held occasionally. Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has
10428-629: The arrival of the Seljuk Turks who first allied with the Abbasids and then ruled as the de facto rulers. In 1068, Alp Arslan and allied Turkoman tribes recaptured many Abbasid lands and even invaded Byzantine regions, pushing further into eastern and central Anatolia after a major victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The disintegration of the Seljuk dynasty resulted in the rise of subsequent, smaller, rival Turkic kingdoms such as
10560-503: The authority of hadith , known as Quranists , Quraniyoon, or Ahl al-Quran, are also present in Turkey. In Turkey , Quranist ideas became particularly noticeable, with portions of the youth either leaving Islam or converting to Quranism. There has been significant Quranist scholarship in Turkey, with there being even Quranist theology professors in significant universities, including scholars like Yaşar Nuri Öztürk and Caner Taslaman . Some believe that there are secret Quranists even in
10692-461: The building of new mosques , and transferring existing mosques to secular purposes - most notably the Hagia Sophia (Justinian's sixth-century Christian basilica , which had been converted into a mosque by Mehmet II ), which was turned into a museum in 1935. Muftis and imams were appointed by the government, and religious instruction was taken over by the Ministry of National Education . As
10824-628: The capture of Crete (840). The Abbasids soon shifted their attention towards the East. During the later fragmentation of the Abbasid rule and the rise of their Shiite rivals the Fatimids and Buyids , a resurgent Byzantium recaptured Crete and Cilicia in 961, Cyprus in 965, and pushed into the Levant by 975. The Byzantines successfully contested with the Fatimids for influence in the region until
10956-550: The center of the Ottoman Empire to Anatolia. In addition to a small number of Jews, the refugees were overwhelmingly Muslim; they were both Turkish and non-Turkish people, such as Circassians and Crimean Tatars . Paul Mojzes has called the Balkan Wars an "unrecognized genocide", where multiple sides were both victims and perpetrators. Circassian refugees included the survivors of the Circassian genocide . Following
11088-563: The closing of religious schools; the abandonment of the Islamic calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar used in the West, and restrictions on public attire that had religious associations, with the fez outlawed for men and the veil discouraged for women. Atatürk and his colleagues also attempted to "turkify" Islam through official encouragement of practices such as the usage of Turkish rather than Arabic at devotions, substituting
11220-408: The codified system of sharia regulated all aspects of everyday life, at least for Muslim subjects of the empire. The head of the judiciary ranked directly below the sultan, and was second in power only to the grand vizier . Early in the Ottoman period, the office of grand mufti of Istanbul evolved into that of Şeyhülislam (shaykh, or "leader of Islam"), which had ultimate jurisdiction over all
11352-415: The control of the Three Pashas , the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in 1914, during which the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian , Greek , and Assyrian subjects. Following Ottoman defeat, the Turkish War of Independence resulted in the abolition of the sultanate and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne . The Republic was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, modelled on
11484-599: The country and receive no state funding for their mosques and imams as the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) is exclusively Sunni. The majority of the Alawite community in Turkey with an estimated population of around 1 million lives in the Province of Hatay , where they nearly represent half of the total population, primarily in the districts of Arsuz , Defne and Samandağ , where Alawites constitute
11616-695: The country. Folk Islam has continued to embrace such practices although the veneration of saints officially has been discouraged since the 1930s. Plaques posted in various sanctuaries forbid the lighting of candles, the offering of votive objects, and related devotional activities in these places. Modern day Sufi shaykhs with large adherents in Turkey include Shaykh Mehmet Efendi (residing in Istanbul) and Mawlana Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani who resided in Lefka , North Cyprus, until his death in May, 2014. Those who do not accept
11748-458: The courts in the empire and consequently exercised authority over the interpretation and application of sharia. Legal opinions pronounced by the Şeyhülislam were considered definitive interpretations. The secularization of Turkey started during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and was a prominent feature of Atatürk's reforms . Under his leadership, the caliphate was abolished, and the secular power of religious authorities and functionaries
11880-499: The electoral threshold by forming an alliance with other parties. Independent candidates are not subject to an electoral threshold. On the right side of the Turkish political spectrum , parties like the Democrat Party , Justice Party , Motherland Party , and Justice and Development Party became the most popular political parties in Turkey, winning numerous elections. Turkish right-wing parties are more likely to embrace
12012-545: The end of the 20th century, the prominent leaders in Turkish politics who achieved multiple election victories were Süleyman Demirel , Bülent Ecevit and Turgut Özal . PKK started a "campaign of terrorist attacks on civilian and military targets" in the 1980s. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. Tansu Çiller became the first female prime minister of Turkey in 1993. Turkey applied for full membership of
12144-462: The ethical values and spiritual dimensions of religion. Islamist intellectuals are harshly critical of Turkey's secular intellectuals, whom they fault for trying to do in Turkey what Western intellectuals did in Europe: substitute worldly materialism , in its capitalist or socialist version, for religious values. On 15 July 2016, a coup d'état was attempted in Turkey against state institutions by
12276-501: The events as genocide and states that Armenians were only "relocated " from the eastern war zone. Genocidal campaigns were also committed against the empire's other minority groups such as the Assyrians and Greeks . Following the Armistice of Mudros in 1918, the victorious Allied Powers sought the partition of the Ottoman Empire through the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres . The occupation of Istanbul (1918) and İzmir (1919) by
12408-668: The executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district. The government comprises three branches: first is the legislative branch, which is Grand National Assembly of Turkey ; second is the executive branch, which is the President of Turkey ; and third is the judicial branch, which includes the Constitutional Court , the Court of Cassation and Court of Jurisdictional Disputes . The Parliament has 600 seats, distributed among
12540-488: The government in 1949 established a faculty of divinity at Ankara University to train teachers of Islam and imams. In 1951 the Democrat Party government set up special secondary schools ( İmam Hatip schools ) for the training of imams and preachers. The number of these schools expanded rapidly to over 250 during the 1970s, when the pro-Islam National Salvation Party participated in coalition governments. Following
12672-441: The government legalized private broadcasting after 1990, several Islamic radio stations were organized. In the summer of 1994, the first Islamic television station, Kanal 7 , began broadcasting, first in Istanbul and then in Ankara . Although the tarikah have played a seminal role in Turkey's religious revival and in the mid-1990s still published, several of the country's most widely circulated religious journals and newspapers,
12804-787: The interior stayed part of the Achaemenid Empire. Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , were located in Anatolia. Following the victories of Alexander in 334 BC and 333 BC , the Achaemenid Empire collapsed and Anatolia became part of the Macedonian Empire . This led to increasing cultural homogeneity and Hellenization of
12936-553: The issue that defines whether a Muslim is secularist or religious. In 2010, the Turkish Higher Educational council (YÖK) lifted the ban on headscarves at the universities. Since the start of his presidency, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has drastically increased the amount of religious high schools across Turkey to support his plan on bringing up a more pious generation. However, this push on piousness in school children seems to have had an adverse effect, for there
13068-499: The latter founded by colonists from Megara in the seventh century BCE. These settlements were grouped as Aeolis , Ionia , and Doris , after the specific Greek groups that settled them. Further Greek colonization in Anatolia was led by Miletus and Megara in 750–480 BC. The Greek cities along the Aegean prospered with trade, and saw remarkable scientific and scholarly accomplishments. Thales and Anaximander from Miletus founded
13200-534: The legitimate government of the country on 23 April 1920 , started to formalize the legal transition from the old Ottoman into the new Republican political system. The Ankara Government engaged in armed and diplomatic struggle. In 1921–1923, the Armenian, Greek, French, and British armies had been expelled. The military advance and diplomatic success of the Ankara Government resulted in the signing of
13332-504: The loosening of authoritarian political control in 1946, a large number of people began to openly call for a return to traditional religious practices. During the 1950s, even certain political leaders found it expedient to join religious leaders in advocating more state respect for religion. A more direct manifestation of the growing reaction against secularism was the revival of the Sufi brotherhoods. Not only did suppressed Sufi orders such as
13464-764: The majority and in Iskenderun and Antakya where they constitute a significant minority of the population. Larger Alawite communities can also be found in the Çukurova region, mostly in and around the cities of Adana , Tarsus and Mersin . They are known as Arab Alevis by Turkish people. Folk Islam in Turkey has derived many of its popular practices from Sufism which has good presence in Turkey and Egypt . Particular Sufi shaikhs – and occasionally other individuals reputed to be pious – were regarded after death as saints having special powers. Veneration of saints (both male and female) and pilgrimages to their shrines and graves represent an important aspect of popular Islam in
13596-544: The mid-1990s. Throughout the first half of the 1990s, highly educated, articulate but religiously pious women have appeared in public dressed in Islamic attire that conceals all but their faces and hands. Other women, especially in Ankara , Istanbul , and İzmir , have demonstrated against such attire by wearing revealing fashions and Atatürk badges. The issue is discussed and debated in almost every type of forum – artistic, commercial, cultural, economic, political, and religious. For many citizens of Turkey, women's dress has become
13728-488: The number of Muslims as 99.8%, this is likely to be an overestimation; most surveys estimate lower numbers at around 94%. The most popular school of thought ( maddhab ) being the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam (about 90% of overall Muslim denominations). The remaining Muslim sects , forming about 9% of the Muslim population, consist of Alevis , Ja'faris (representing 1% ) and Alawites (with an estimated population of around 500,000 to 1 million, or about 1% ). There
13860-557: The old religion-based and multi-communal Ottoman monarchy into a Turkish nation state that would be governed as a parliamentary republic under a secular constitution . Women gained the right to vote nationally in 1934. With the Surname Law , the Turkish Parliament bestowed upon Kemal the honorific surname "Atatürk" ( Father Turk ). Atatürk's reforms caused discontent in some Kurdish and Zaza tribes leading to
13992-530: The order. Throughout the 1950s, there were numerous trials of Ticani and other Sufi leaders for anti-state activities. Simultaneously, some movements, notably the Süleymancı and Nurcular, cooperated with those politicians perceived as supportive of pro-Islamic policies. The Nurcular eventually advocated support for Turkey's multi-party political system , and one of its offshoots, the Gülen movement , had supported
14124-457: The overall secular order. After the 1980 coup, many of the Hearth's proposals for restructuring schools, colleges, and state broadcasting were adopted. The result was a purge from these state institutions of more than 2,000 intellectuals perceived as espousing leftist ideas incompatible with the Hearth's vision of Turkey's national culture. The state's more tolerant attitude toward Islam encouraged
14256-476: The principles of political ideologies such as conservatism , nationalism or Islamism . On the left side of the spectrum, parties like the Republican People's Party , Social Democratic Populist Party and Democratic Left Party once enjoyed the largest electoral success. Left-wing parties are more likely to embrace the principles of socialism , Kemalism or secularism . With the founding of
14388-566: The proliferation of private religious activities, including the construction of new mosques and Qur'an schools in the cities, the establishment of Islamic centers for research on and conferences about Islam and its role in Turkey, and the establishment of religiously oriented professional and women's journals. The printing of newspapers, the publication of religious books, and the growth of innumerable religious projects ranging from health centers, child-care facilities, and youth hostels to financial institutions and consumer cooperatives flourished. When
14520-408: The promotion of judges and prosecutors and in their pursuit of public duty. Turkey's constant foreign policy goal is to pursue its national interests. These interests are mainly growing the economy, and maintaining security from internal terrorist and external threats. After the establishment of the Republic, Atatürk and İnönü followed the " peace at home, peace in the world " principle until
14652-453: The province governors ( vali ) and in towns by the governors ( kaymakam ). Other senior public officials are also appointed by the central government, except for the mayors ( belediye başkanı ) who are elected by the constituents. Turkish municipalities have local legislative bodies ( belediye meclisi ) for decision-making on municipal issues. Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces ( il or vilayet ) for administrative purposes. Each province
14784-445: The provinces proportionally to the population . The Parliament and the president serve a five-year terms, with elections on the same day. The president is elected by direct vote and cannot run for re-election after two terms, unless the parliament calls early presidential elections during the second term. The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 members, elected for single 12-year terms. They are obliged to retire when they are over
14916-420: The reforms initiated by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II , but was involved in the Korean War . Several military interventions interfered with the transition to a multi-party system. Turkey is an upper-middle-income and emerging country ; its economy is the world's 17th-largest by nominal and 12th-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP . It
15048-499: The role of Islam attracted widespread interest, they did not provoke the kind of controversy that erupted over the issue of appropriate attire for Muslim women. During the early 1980s, female college students who were determined to demonstrate their commitment to Islam began to cover their heads and necks with scarves and wear long, shape-concealing overcoats. The appearance of these women in the citadels of Turkish secularism shocked those men and women who tended to perceive such attire as
15180-530: The secular tendencies of the Alevi population and oppression by Sunni Islamists, which causes most Alevis to hide their religious identity. However, considering the few conducted reliable surveys, ~10% can be taken as a simplistic estimation. Some people use the term Alevi to refer all Shia Muslims in Turkey since they are the dominant Shia sect in the country. The followers of the Ja'fari jurisprudence constitute
15312-542: The state structure. However, the state usually had authority over the clergy and religious law (e.g. many Sultans are known to change Şeyhülislams , who do not approve of state politics). When the reformers of the early 1920s opted for a secular state, they removed religion from the sphere of public policy and restricted it to exclusively that of personal morals , behavior, and faith. Although private observance of religious rituals could continue, religion and religious organization were excluded from public life. In addition to
15444-603: The surrounding area, with several historical buildings on its slopes, including the İsa Bey Mosque built by the Aydinids in 1375, and the Grand Fortress. The hill itself is part of Ephesus UNESCO World Heritage Site . Ephesus Beach (Turkish: Pamucak ) is one of the longest beaches (12 km) in Turkey and hosts five large hotels. There are 14 neighbourhoods in Selçuk District: Selçuk has
15576-540: The third sizable community. It is historically the primary denomination of ethnic Azerbaijani people. Most of them lives in the eastern provinces neighboring to Azerbaijan , more particularly in the Iğdır Province and Kars Province , but also larger cities in the west. It is estimated that Ja'faris make up 4% of the population of Turkey, i.e. about 3,300,000. They have 70 mosques in Istanbul and some 300 throughout
15708-510: The use of revenue. The Presidency of Religious Affairs, which has a budget over U.S. $ 2.5 billion in 2012, finance only Sunni Muslim worship. Sufi orders like Alevi - Bektashi , Bayrami - Jelveti , Halveti ( Gulshani , Jerrahi , Nasuhi , Rahmani , Sunbuli , Ussaki ), Hurufi - Rüfai , Malamati , Mevlevi , Nakşibendi ( Halidi , Haqqani ), Qadiri - Galibi and Ja'fari Muslims are not officially recognized. Others In terms of Ihsan : Although intellectual debates on
15840-509: The value of religion, preferring to place their trust in science . They regarded organized religion as an anachronism and contrasted it unfavorably with "civilization", which to them meant a rationalist , secular culture. Unlike in the West, the establishment of secularism in Turkey was not a gradual process of separation of church and state. In the Ottoman Empire, all residents, at least theoretically, had been subject to traditional religious law, and Sunni religious organizations had been part of
15972-639: Was a language indigenous to Anatolia, with no known modern-day connections. Hurrian language was used in northern Syria . Hittite, Palaic, and Luwian languages were "the oldest written Indo-European languages ", forming the Anatolian sub-group . Hattian rulers were gradually replaced by Hittite rulers. The Hittite kingdom was a large kingdom in Central Anatolia, with its capital of Hattusa . It co-existed in Anatolia with Palaians and Luwians , approximately between 1700 and 1200 BC. As
16104-479: Was a second significant wave of Turkic migration, as people fled Mongol expansion. Seljuk sultanate was defeated by the Mongols at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 and disappeared by the beginning of the 14th century. It was replaced by various Turkish principalities. Based around Söğüt , Ottoman Beylik was founded by Osman I in the early 14th century. According to Ottoman chroniclers, Osman descended from
16236-630: Was called the "State of the Turks" ( Dawlat at-Turk , or Dawlat al-Atrāk , or Dawlat-at-Turkiyya ). Turkestan, also meaning the "land of the Turks", was used for a historic region in Central Asia . Middle English usage of Turkye or Turkeye is found in The Book of the Duchess (written in 1369–1372) to refer to Anatolia or the Ottoman Empire . The modern spelling Turkey dates back to at least 1719. The bird called turkey
16368-429: Was closer to Greek than Anatolian languages. Phrygians shared Anatolia with Neo-Hittites and Urartu . Luwian-speakers were probably the majority in various Anatolian Neo-Hittite states. Urartians spoke a non-Indo-European language and their capital was around Lake Van . Urartu and Phrygia fell in seventh century BC. They were replaced by Carians , Lycians and Lydians . These three cultures "can be considered
16500-632: Was criticized by Iraq for violating its sovereignty and killing civilians. Diplomatic relations with Israel were damaged after the Gaza flotilla raid , normalized in 2016, and cut again following the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip . In 2024, Turkey stopped trading with Israel. Turkish Armed Forces is responsible for defense against foreign threats. While the Commander-in-Chief is
16632-412: Was named as such due to trade of guineafowl from Turkey to England. The name Turkey has been used in international treaties referring to the Ottoman Empire. With the Treaty of Alexandropol , the name Türkiye entered international documents for the first time. In the treaty signed with Afghanistan in 1921, the expression Devlet-i Âliyye-i Türkiyye ("Sublime Turkish State") was used, likened to
16764-412: Was reduced and eventually eliminated. Religious foundations were nationalized. The influential and popular orders of the dervish brotherhoods ( Tariqa ) were also suppressed. The withdrawal of Turkey, heir to the Ottoman Empire, as the presumptive leader of the international Muslim community, was symbolic of the change in the government's relationship to Islam. Secularism (or laiklik ) became one of
16896-417: Was secularized at a legal level, religion remained a strong force. After 1950, some political leaders espoused support for programs and policies that appealed to the religiously inclined in an attempt to benefit from a lot of the population's attachment to religion. Such efforts were opposed by most of the state, who believed that secularism was an essential principle of Kemalist Ideology . This gradually led to
17028-463: Was severely damaged in the invasion of Selçuk Turks in 1090. The place was excavated in 1927, and Pope Paul VI paid it a visit and prayed there. Its previous Greek name, Agios Theologos (Άγιος Θεολόγος), referred to John the Theologian , because emperor Justinian I had erected there a basilica in honour of the saint. Ayasoluk is a corrupted form of the original name. In the 14th century, it
17160-464: Was the Intellectuals' Hearth ( Turkish : Aydınlar Ocağı ), an organization that holds the beliefs that true Turkish culture is a synthesis of the Turks' pre-Islamic traditions and Islam. According to the Hearth, Islam not only constitutes an essential aspect of Turkish culture, but is a force that can be regulated by the state to help socialize the people to be obedient citizens acquiescent to
17292-752: Was the Safaviyya , an order that was originally Sunni and non-political, but later became both Shi'a and politically based in northwest Iran . During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Safavid and similar orders such as the Bektaşi became rivals of the Ottomans —who were orthodox Sunni Muslims—for political control of eastern Anatolia. Although the Bektaşi order became accepted as a sect of orthodox Sunni Muslims, they did not abandon their heterodox beliefs. In contrast,
17424-547: Was the capital of the Beylik of Aydin , and visited by Ibn Battuta . He noted, "The congregational mosque in this city is one of the most magnificent mosques in the world and unequaled in beauty." Under the Ottoman Empire , it was known as Ayasoluk . In 1914, it was renamed Selçuk after the Seljuk Turks who first led incursions into the region in the 12th century. It was a township in Kuşadası district till 1957, when it became
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