Turkish civilization dates from the 6th millennium BC in Central Asia. It was known as Anatolia, present day Turkey, Iran and Iraq. The earliest known rulers are the Hittites, who were very powerful between 2000BC-1200BC. After the disintegration of the empire, the country was once again united during the Greco Roman period. Later, Christianity spread through Anatolia, through the efforts of St. Paul.

The Roman Emperor Constantine founded a new imperial city at Byzantium (modern Istanbul) in 330 AD and renamed it Constantinople. This city was the capital, of what became known as the Byzantine Empire, till 1453 AD. During the medieval era, when Western Europe was in the throes of the Dark Ages, the Byzantine Empire was the centre of western civilization, despite the threat of invasion from the Persians, Arabs and Turks from the East and the European Christian powers in the West. The Seljuk Turks conquered Persia and took over most of Anatolia from the Byzantines, who were left a reduced territory around Constantinople.

The Mongol invasion in the late decades of 1200 AD destroyed the Seljuk power and this led to the creation of the Ottoman Empire. In 1453, the Ottoman Sultan, Mehemet II, conquered Constantinople. In the 16th century under the aegis of Suleyman, the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire reached its cultural zenith and its political sway extended deep into Europe, Asia and North Africa. The Turks employed the first modern standing army (the Janissaries) that gave them an edge over the European armies.

The Ottoman Empire based on military successes was not a secure economy (industry and agriculture), and Turkey started declining and in the 19th century. It actually came to be known as "The Sick Old Man Of Europe". Various regions started seeking independence when nationalistic waves spread all over Europe after the French Revolution and Napoleonic defeat. The Greeks in 1829, Serbs, Romanians and the Bulgarians in 1878 and Egypt in 1839 became independent. Tunisia, Tripolitania (Libya), and Albania and Macedonia (after the Balkan wars- 1912-1913) escaped from Turkish control. After the World War I, the Turks were shorn of their non-Turkish provinces- Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Arabia. The sadly defeated Turkey (most of Anatolia) was to be parceled between the victorious Europeans and Russians.

At this moment, when the light of Turkey seemed to be extinguishing, Mustafa Kemal, the father of modern Turkey took over. He defeated the Anzacs (the Australians and New Zealanders) at Gallipoli, and after dismantling the weak Ottoman rulers, defeated the Allied forces in the War of Turkish Independence. The final Turkish victory against the Greeks was at Smyrna (Izmir of today). The Turkish Republic was thus born, based in Anatolia and eastern Thrace.

The World War I treaties were revised. Turkey was reduced to a small but secure boundary. Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal) now started modernizing Turkey, by establishing a secular democracy, taking the focus off religion, introducing equal rights for women, the Latin script and European dress. The capital was also shifted from Istanbul to Ankara and Turkey is now way ahead of its neighbours in terms of liberalisation. Mustafa Kemal’s aggressive, rebellious but idealistic nature earned him the title of "young Turk"!