HISTORY of TURKEY
7500 BC First Stone age settlements at Catalhuyuk
1900-1300 BC Hittite Empire with Hattusas as capital, contemporary with ancient Egypt and Babylon
1250 BC The Trojan war and the fall of Troy
1200-700 BC Migration of Greeks to Aegean coastal regions. Establishment of the Phrygian, Ionian, Lycian, Lydian, Carian and Pamphylian Kingdoms. The East of Turkey is the home of the Urartians
700 BC Homer is born in Izmir (Smyrna). Aegean Hellenism begins
546 BC Cyrus the Great leads the Persians into Anatolia
334 BC Alexander the Great drives out the Persians
130 BC The Romans incorporate Anatolia as the province of Asia, controlled from Ephesus (Efes)
40 BC Antioch sees the marriage of Antony and Cleopatra
47-57 AD St. Paul spreads Christianity and a community at Antioch is established
313 Roman Empire adopts Christianity
330 Constantine lays out the boundaries of his new capital, Constantinople
527-65 Glory of Byzantium under Justinian
638-718 Muslim Arabs besiege Constantinople
1054 Greek and Roman Churches split over theology
1071-1243 Rise and rule of the Selcuk Turks in Anatolia, Konya is their capital
1096-1204 The Crusades, marking the beginning of the end for Byzantium, a fascinating period in Byzantine history
1288 Ottoman Empire appears in Bursa
1453 The fall of Constantinople - the birth of Istanbul
1520-66 Suleyman the Magnificent sits on the Ottoman throne controlling a huge and powerful empire
1682-1725 Peter the Great initiates Russo-Turkish rivalry
1854 Crimean war
1909 Abdul Hamid, the last of an unbroken line of Ottoman sultans is deposed
1914 Turkey allies with Germany in the first world war
1915 Gallipoli
1919 Ataturk leads resistance to the allied plan to carve up Turkey
1923 Foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Many things happen all at once
1938 Ataturk dies in Istanbul's Dolmabahce palace
1939-45 Turkey manages to remain neutral during the second world war
1946 Charter membership of the UN
1952 Turkey joins NATO
1960 Military coup, successive governments ineffective
1964 Associate member status of EU
1974 Cyprus crisis
1980 Kanan Evren leads military coup. 3 years of military government
1983 Turgut Ozal elected prime Minister
1985-90 Full EU membership for Turkey impeded by Cypriot issue and questions over human rights record
1991-93 Suleyman Demirel elected Prime Minister, inflation at 70%
1993-96 Demirel President, Tansu Ciller Prime Minister, Turkey joins EU Customs Union
1997-98 5 attempts at forming coalition governments, Islamic Welfare party disbanded, reforms as Virtue and is the largest single party in parliament. Military intervenes to prevent Islamicists forming governments. 75th Anniversary of the Turkish Republic (and 15th of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) celebrated.
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