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The Anatolian peninsula (also called Asia Minor), comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest continually inhabited
regions in the world due to its location at the intersection of Asia and Europe. The earliest Neolithic settlements such as
Catalhoyuk (Pottery Neolithic), Cayonu (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A to Pottery Neolithic), Nevali Cori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic
B), Hacilar (Pottery Neolithic), Gobekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and Mersin are considered to be among the earliest
human settlements in the world. The settlement of Troy starts in the Neolithic and continues into the Iron Age. Through recorded
history, Anatolians have spoken Indo-European, Semitic and Kartvelian languages, as well as many languages of uncertain affiliation.
In fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the
hypothetical center from which the Indo-European languages have radiated.
The land that we know as Turkey has been
claimed by many people, and has changed hands many times as empires have come and gone. The first major empire that controlled
Anatolia is the Hittites in the 18th century BCE. The land then went through a long chain of control that included the Phrygians,
the Cimmerians, the Greeks, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuk Empire, and
finally the Ottoman Empire.
While in its decline, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the
Central Powers. The Central Powers lost World War I to the Allies and the Ottoman Empire was dismantled through the Treaty
of Sevres in 1920. Allied forces occupied Istanbul but the Turkish war of Independence pushed them out and created the new
Turkish state. The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 led to the international recognition of the Republic of Turkey as a country.
Its first president was Mustafa Kemal, who introduced radical reform to position Turkey as far as possible from the Ottoman
Empires former rule.
Turkey stayed neutral through most of World War II, but joined the Allied forces towards
the end. Turkey also became a charter member of the United Nations. After World War II, Greece and Turkey were both under
pressure from the Soviet Union to allow military bases to be constructed in their countries. This prompted the United States
to enact the Truman Doctrine, which gave Turkey and Greece Military and economic support.
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