Turkey is located in both Europe and Asia, bordering 8 countries. It has a population of over 80 million people and its largest cities are Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and Ankara. Turkey has a secular government and Islam is the dominant religion. The document provides details on Turkey's geography, history, politics, education system, cities like Istanbul, and popular Turkish cuisine. It was presented during an Erasmus+ project meeting in Silistra, Bulgaria from April 15-20, 2015.

1. TRAVELLING WORDS
ERASMUS+ PROJECT
SECOND INTERNATIONAL MEETING
15-20 APRIL 2015, SILISTRA

2. TURKEY - FACTS
Location: Southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. Turkey is bordered by eight
countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
Area: 783,562 square kilometers
Official name: Republic of Turkey
Flag:
Capital: Ankara
Official language: Turkish
Currency: Turkish lira

3. NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES OF TURKEY

4. TURKEY - FACTS
Population: Just over 80 million people live in Turkey
(80,694,485) as of July 2013.
Larger cities: Istanbul, İzmir, Bursa, Ankara
Climate: Mild, hot, dry summers; wet winters
Religions: Islam (mostly Sunni) 99.8%, other 0.2% (mostly
Christians and Jews). Turkey is a secular country, that means
religion and state are strictly separated.

5. TURKEY - FACTS
Geography: Turkey is a large peninsula that bridges the
continents of Europe and Asia. Turkey is surrounded on three sides
by the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea.
Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, is partly in Europe and partly in
Asia.

6. TURKEY - FACTS
Regions: The 1st Geography Congress, held in Ankara City
in 1941, divided Turkey into seven regions after long
discussions and work.

7. TURKEY - FACTS
History: Turkey has only existed in today’s form since 1923.
Until then, Turkey was not Turkey but a part of the Ottoman
Empire. When the Ottoman Empire fell apart towards the end of
the 20th century the foreign countries occupied parts of today’s
Turkey. This led to the Turkish War of Independence, led by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. On 29 October 1923, Atatürk
proclaimed the Republic of Turkey in today’s form and with
today’s borders.

8. TURKEY - FACTS
 Politics:
• Turkey is a parliamentary democracy with a multiparty
system.
• President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2014)
• Prime Minister: Ahmet Davutoğlu (2014)

9. TURKEY - FACTS
Sports: The most popular sports in Turkey are oil wrestling, football,
basketball and voleyball.
Eating habits:
•A traditional Turkish breakfast consists of çay (black tea), fresh
bread, cheese called «Beyaz peynir», black olives, butter, jam or
honey, a boiled egg and domatoes and cucumbers...
•A traditional dinner starts always with soup.
•Vegetables are widely enjoyed by the Turks.

10. TURKEY - FACTS
Popular street food:
•Kebap: Kebap actually means small pieces of broiled or roasted
meat — generally cow, sheep or chicken.
•Döner: this tightly packed meat roasted on a large vertical spit is
the basis for fast-food snacks (or even full meals) such as Pilav
Üstü Döner, İskedender and Dürüm.
• Lahmacun: a Turkish-style pizza.
•Balık&ekmek: literaly translated ‘fish&bread’.

11. TURKEY - FACTS
• Simit: a crisp, ring-shaped, savory roll covered with sesame.
• Kumpir: baked potato with a myriad of toppings like kaşar
cheese, sausages, corn, mayonnaise salad, peas and carrots.
• Pilav (turkish rice) with chickpeas.
• Kokoreç: spiced and skewered sheep’s intestines.
• Midye dolma: mussels on the half shell, mixed with spicy rice.

12. TURKEY - ISTANBUL
Although Ankara is the capital of modern day Turkey, Istanbul
has been the capital of three great empires: the Eastern Roman,
the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires. The traces of these
empires can still be seen today in Istanbul where magnificent
mosques and churches stand side by side.
 “Ιstanbul” derives from the Greek phrase “εις την Πόλιν”
meaning “in the city”.

13. TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM
The Turkish National Education system is divided into two main
sections as:
1.Formal education
2.Non- formal education
Formal education includes: pre-primary education, primary
school education, lower secondary school education, upper
secondary (high) school education and higher education
institutions (universities).

14. TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM
Pre-primary education is optional.
Primary (1st to 4th grades) and lower secondary education
(5th to 8th grades) are compulsory and free of charge in public
schools.
 When the students finish the secondary school, they get their
document of complement and can continue their education.

15. TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM
High school education (9th to 12th grade) covers general,
Anatolian, science and vocational high schools.
High school education is also compulsory.
When they finish high school students get their high school diplomas.
Students have to take two general exams shortly called YGS and
LYS to enroll a university.
Every year around two million students attend these exams and
630,000 students get a chance to enroll any faculty according to their
points.

16. TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM
University education is mostly four years.
There are 196 universities in Turkey (123 state universities and
73 foundation universities).
 Students apply universities with their YGS and LYS exam
grades.
 Non-formal education is offered by a network of training
centers that are supervised by the Ministry of National
Education (MEB).
 There is also the Distance Higher Education which is offered
at the Open Education Faculty of Anadolu University.

17. TRAVELLING WORDS
ERASMUS+ PROJECT
SECOND INTERNATIONAL MEETING
15-20 APRIL 2015, SILISTRA
THANK YOU!!!