10 Most Famous Historical events that happened in Turkey

Turkish Republic Day parade, 2012, Ankara
photo by Ex13 Wikimedia 

10 Most Famous Historical events that happened in Turkey

Majority of Turkish citizens are Muslims, the Turkish state is staunchly secular. The non-religious nature of Turkish government has historically been enforced by the military since the Republic of Turkey was founded as a secular state in 1923 by General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Turkey has a  smaller numbers of Greeks, Armenians, and other ethnic minorities. Relations with Greece have been uneasy, particularly over the issue of Cyprus, while Turkey and Armenia disagree vehemently over the Armenian Genocide carried out by Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

1. The Ottoman Empire Era

Ottoman parliament in December 1908 (Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire) photo by Public Domain  Wikimedia 

The Ottoman Empire was also known as Turkish Empire. It was an empire that was controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries.

 It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the conquest of the Balkans.

 The Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror.

2. The Reformation of Republic of Turkey

Reforms and policies designed to modernize Turkey adopted by Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938). He was the founder and the first president of Republic of Turkey. It were known as “Kemalism”, and had “six principles: republicanism, nationalism, populism, secularism, revolutionism and statism”.

Kemalism excluded “religious symbols from public domain” and put religion “under the strict control of the state”. The weekly holiday was changed from Friday to Sunday, the calendar changed from the Muslim lunar to Gregorian, and the alphabet changed from Arabic to Latin.

During the establishment of the Republic, there were two sections of the elite group at the helm of the discussions for the future. These were the Islamist reformists and Westerners. They shared a similar goal, the modernization of the new state. Many basic goals were common to both groups. 

The founder of the modern Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s achievement was to amplify this common ground and put the country on a fast track of reforms, now known as Atatürk’s Reforms.

3. Turkey had neutral powers during World War II

Turkey was neutral until several months before the end of the war, at which point it joined the Allies. Prior to the outbreak of war, Turkey signed a Mutual Aid Pact with France and Britain in 1939. After the German invasion of France, however, Turkey remained neutral, relying on a clause excusing them if military action might bring conflict with the USSR.

 In June 1941, after neighboring Bulgaria joined the Axis and allowed Germany to move troops through to invade Yugoslavia and Greece, Turkey signed a treaty of friendship with Germany. Winston Churchill and his military staff met the Turkish president on 30 January 1943 in the Adana Conference, although Turkey did not then change its position.

Turkey was an important producer of chromite, a strategic material for metallurgy to which Germany had limited access. The Germans wanted it, and the Allies wanted to prevent them getting it, so chromite was the key issue in Turkey’s negotiations with both sides. Turkey would backpedal on its agreement to supply Nazi Germany with chromite after instead selling it to the rival nations the United States and the United Kingdom after the two allied nations agreed to also purchase dried fruit and tobacco from Turkey as well.

Turkey halted its sales to Germany in April 1944 and broke off relations in August. In February 1945, after the Allies made its invitation to the inaugural meeting of the United Nations (along with the invitations of several other nations) conditional on full belligerency, Turkey declared war on the Axis powers, but no Turkish troops ever saw combat.

4.  The Turkish Military coup

The Republic of Turkey flag hangs on the side of a building as show of solidarity following a July 15 Coup. D Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro Wikimedia 

The 1960 Turkish coup d’état was the first coup d’état in the Republic of Turkey. It took place in 1960. The coup was staged by a group of 38 young Turkish military officers, acting outside the military chain of command. 

The officers were de facto led by Cemal Madanoğlu until the actual coup date. After a threat by Ragıp Gümüşpala that he would move to quell the coup unless it is led by someone with a higher military rank than himself, the officers brought in General Cemal Gürsel as their leader.

The coup was carried out against the democratically elected government of the Democrat Party, and ultimately resulted in the execution of its prime minister, Adnan Menderes, alongside two of his ministers, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.

5.Rise of the AKP in the 21st century

In 2002 the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP), a conservative but non -confessional democratic party with Islamist roots, swept the parliamentary elections. It came to power under the ostensible leadership of Abdullah Gül. 

Since party leader and former Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan was ineligible to serve in parliament or as prime minister because of a 1998 conviction; a constitutional amendment in late 2002 removed this ineligibility. Erdogan won a seat in parliament in early 2003 and quickly replaced Gül as prime minister. That same year Turkey refused to grant transit through its territory to the U.S. military during the Iraq War, though it did extend rights to air transport.

6.Istanbul bombings and attacks

National day of mourning 2016 Istanbul Ataturk Airport bombings and attacks Photo by Pivox  Wikimedia

The 2003 Istanbul bombings were a series of suicide attacks . That were carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul, Turkey on November 15 and 20, 2003.

25 people were killed and more than 200 injured when two car bombs exploded near Istanbul’s main synagogue. Days later two coordinated suicide bombings at the British consulate and a British bank in the city kill 28 people.

7.Secularist protests inTurkey

Tens of thousands of supporters of secularism rally in Ankara, aiming to pressure Prime Minister Erdogan not to run in presidential elections because of his Islamist background.

AK Party wins parliamentary elections. Abdullah Gul elected president the following month. Voters in a referendum back plans to have future presidents elected by the people instead of by parliament. Thousands protest at plans to allow women to wear the Islamic headscarf to university.

The governments of Turkey and Armenia agree to normalize relations at a meeting in Switzerland. Relations with Israel come under severe strain after nine Turkish activists are killed in an Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza.

Mass antigovernmental protests spread to several cities, sparked by plans to develop one of Istanbul’s few green spaces. The police respond with violence, and two protestors die. Government sacks numerous police chiefs over arrests of pro-government public figures on corruption charges. Observers see this as part of power struggle with former AK Party ally and influential US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

8. Syria conflict

Governing AK party regains parliamentary majority in snap elections, but falls short of numbers needed for referendum to boost President Erdogan’s powers. Turkey shoots down a Russian military jet on Syria bombing mission. Russia, Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, imposes economic sanctions.

European Union strikes a deal whereby Turkey restricts flow of migrants into Europe, in return for €3bn ($3.17bn) and concessions on stalled EU accession talks.

 Bomb attack on military convoy in the capital Ankara kills at least 38 people. A hardline breakaway PKK faction – the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) – claims responsibility.

 A gun and suicide attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport killed 42 people, including 13 foreign nationals. Turkish authorities believe the attack bears the hallmarks of Islamic State.

9.Coup attempt

Squares protests Turkish Coup Attempt photo by Pivot Wikimedia 

The authorities detained thousands of soldiers and judges on suspicion of involvement in a coup attempt that President Erdogan says was inspired by his exiled opponent Fethullah Gulen.

The government also shuted down dozens of media outlets – including 16 TV channels – during a continuing crackdown in the wake of the failed coup attempt.

Uzbek gunman killed 39 people celebrating New Year at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul. Islamic State group said it was behind the attack.

President Erdogan had narrowly won referendum to extend his powers. Opposition launches appeal against result.

 The Turkish military launched its ”Olive Branch” land and air operation in north-western Syria, seizing large areas from Kurdish control, including the town of Afrin.

 In 2019 President Erdogan suffered setback as opposition CHP party wins the mayoral election in his home city of Istanbul by a comfortable margin. He had insisted on a re-run of the poll when the CHP won narrowly in March.

 US withdrew troops from northern Syria, prompting Turkey to attack US Kurdish allies in the area.

10. The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It was a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

This was first confirmed to have spread to Turkey in March 2020. In December, COVID-19 cases in Turkey surpassed 1 million due to adding asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases that were previously not included in their official statistics.