Turkey is officially called the Republic of Turkey, and is between southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. The Turkish culture has changed over the last few centuries as the Ottoman Empire came to a close and a transition from Islamic artistic traditions turned into a more secular, Western orientation. The Ottoman Turks had been in charge in Turkey for many centuries, dating back to even before the middle of the 15th century when the Ottoman Turks overthrew Constantinople.

The powerful Ottoman Empire began to decline late into the reign of Suleiman I and continued on this trend until the first World War came to a close in 1918. The reaction to the decline of the empire came in two different phases-- the Traditional Reform, lasting from 1566 to 1807 and consisting of efforts to restore the old institutions, and the Modern Reform, from 1807 to 1918, which encompassed an abandonment of old ways and traditions and an adoption of many aspects of the Western Civilization. During the 19th century, while the Ottoman Empire was in the midst of its downfall, a rise in nationalism encouraged the non-Turkish people of the empire to obtain freedom and break away from the grip of the empire. In 1829, Greece was the first country to successfully challenge the empire's authority and become independent. After noting Greece's success in the matter, the Serbs, Bulgars, Albanians, and the Armenians of eastern Anatolia began to revolt as well. The sole reason that the empire was able to keep surviving during this period was due to a part of history referred to as the Eastern Question; the European disagreement over how to divide the spoils.

The ruling class of the Ottoman Turks tried to make reformations when the uprisings began. These new ideas and traditions imported from the West in a reform movement (1839-1876) replaced the old ways. This reformation became known as the Tanzimat, meaning reorganization. Planned and begun under Mahmud II and reaching a climax during the highly autocratic reign of Abd al-Hamid II, this reorganization modernized the Ottoman Empire by extending the government to all aspects of life. Following western civilization, a modern administration and army were created as well as secular systems of education and justice. Many public programs were instilled to modernize the physical structure of the empire with new buildings and roads, and new agricultural methods ameliorated the empire's revitalization. Also in response to the uprisings, minorities were suppressed to great measures, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians between 1894 and 1918.

Even after reformations were made to appease the non-Turks under the Ottoman Empire, they were undermined by severe economic, financial, political, and diplomatic problems which emerged and wrecked the land with havoc. Although the Empire tried to make industrial advances, the Europeans were able to keep the Turks controlled because the empire relied on foreign industrialists for capital and know-how.

Although the government had been extended to all aspects of life under the reformations, a group of intellectuals and liberals known as the Young Ottomans for a Constitution began to demand a limit to the power given to the ruling class of the Ottoman Turks. They also called for a parliament to enforce the rights of the people. The Tanzimat leaders, pleased with their new way of life, attempted to suppress the Young Ottomans, who then fled to neighboring countries where they could write pamphlets to send to their homeland whilst staying out of danger. At the same time that these Young Ottomans were rising up and trying to change and diminish the empire, the newly independent Balkan states began trying to gain control of Macedonia, in which the population was divided nearly evenly between the Muslims and the Christians. Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria sought to enforce their claims, straining the ability of the Ottoman state to keep order. In 1870s, many of the Tanzimat leaders died leaving the reformed government in the hands of dishonest politicians who immediately resumed the corruption that had been fought against for many years.

In 1877, with Sultan Abd al-Hamid II as the leader of the empire, a constitution was accepted and a representative parliament constructed. Unfortunately, this was extremely short-lived due to war with Russia. Abd al-Hamid soon attempted to recreate the Tanzimat reforms, which had been extremely prosperous during their time. In 1878, with the threat of war and European dangers on his back, the empire's leader suspended the parliament and in its place installed a highly autocratic government. Abd al-Hamid was able to restore the financial stability and advance the economy of the empire, but the political repression soon gave rise to a new liberal opposition, called the Young Turks. In the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, Abd al-Hamid was forced to relinquish the autocratic government in favor of the constitution and parliament that he had previously used. This most likely would have been successful were it not for the series of disasters that soon swept the region; Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria annexed East Rumelia, and terrorism in Macedonia and eastern Anatolia once again resumed. Immediately Abd al-Hamid and his supporters blamed the new constitution and tried to conduct a counter revolution in 1909. The parliament was dissolved and many members of it were arrested but the Young Turks were able to defeat the counterrevolution and dethrone the Sultan.

What followed this revolution were the most democratic years of Ottoman history; with the Young Turks leading the empire the constitution and parliament were restored and reformations reached all areas of life. One of the Young Turks most prominent reforms was in the secularization of the Muslim schools and courts and the introduction of women's rights during World War I.

In World War I, the Turkey originally tried to avoid any involvement. However, the stakes changed when the Germans offered to help Turkey regain lost provinces. With this in mind, the Turks allied with the Central Powers in 1914. The Turkish army was able to capture a British force in Iraq, and preformed well during the Gallipoli campaign. They were, however, unsuccessful at capturing the Suez Canal and Egypt, which led to the British organization of an Arab revolt. The British force, with the help of the Arabs, invaded Syria and reached Anatolia by the end of the war. After the war ended, the Russians invaded Anatolia for another two years. These invasions devastated the economy and some six million people were killed or died due to internal revolts, famine, starvation, or disease. After their surrender, the Turkish government was at the mercy of the Allied occupation powers led by the British. After losing their independence and being attacked by the Greeks on several occasions, the Turkish War of Independence began in 1918 and lasted until 1923. During this period, the Treaty of Lausanne was created after which a Turkish republic was proclaimed.

The Turkish Republic was founded on six basic principles, those being republicanism, Turkish nationalism, populism, secularism, statism, and revolutionism. The first 15 years of the republic resulted in economic growth and general development. Turkey was kept neutral during almost all of World War II; it was not until February of 1945 that Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan. During the war, the USSR attempted to include Turkey within its spheres of influence, but with the aid of the United States, Turkey became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and joined into a western alliance. With this association with the democratic west, Turkey was democratized and led to the 1950 triumph of the Democratic Party. This party, led by President Celâl Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, and Foreign Minister Fuat Köprülü controlled the Turkish government from 1950 to 1960. Turkey's economy expanded rapidly during this time but ultimately too rapid growth and poor management led to severe economic and social strains. An army coup finally overthrew the democratic government in 1960 and many of the leaders were hanged for their corruption.

Another constitution was adopted in 1961 and Turkey became weak with the lack of a good government. An active leftist movement spawned violent extremist groups and many right-wing terrorist bands counterattacked. Two major labor confederations were created to appease the right and left wing activists. Political affairs were also polarized in the two major parties, but, due to the fact that the groups were equally sized, it made it difficult for any party to gain the majority.

Even with its interior strife, Turkey remained faithful to its alliance with the west. In 1974, when Turkey occupied northern Cyprus in response to a Greek engineered coup on the island, the alliance did have some strain. The US thus suspended military and economic aid and Turkey closed all the US bases within the republic's lines. The Turkish troops stayed in northern Cyprus and Turkey supported a separate Turkish Cypriot government, defying both the United States and the United Nations. Eventually the US resumed its assistance and the Turks reopened their bases, but the incident left suspicions on both sides. Even after this, the government of Süleyman Demirel at the end of the 1970s chose to continue the close alliance between Turkey and the West. The reactions to this choice were great; activists on both the right and left turned to political assassinations and other violent acts. In September of 1980 the army took over the government and suspended the constitution. The military governed Turkey through the National Security Council, led by Kenan Evren, chief of state, until 1983.