To what extent did the religion, ethnicities, and languages in the Turkey region changed because to its exposure to other cultures?
By Baron M
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The ethnicity in antiquity of modern-day Turkey was the *HITTITES (wild tribesmen) who spoke an *INDO-EUROPEAN (similar to English) language and practiced an unknown religion that is thought to be *POLYTHEISTIC (worship of more than one god). Most of what is known about the *HITTITES was learned from thousands of clay tablets found in 1906 near Bogaz Koi, Turkey. They took decades to translate and understand. -
The Muslims are a religious group of people that live in all parts of the middle east. During the early 1900s the Arabs came to Turkey, and brought their religion, Islam, to Turkey. Now their religion consists of nine tenths of Turkey. Muslims in Turkey date back to the early 8th century when Turkish tribes fought alongside Arab Muslims against Chinese forces at the Battle of Talas in 751 A.D. -
The Hagia Sophia, meaning Holy Wisdom, was an important temple for the Byzantine empire during their reign. It served as a church and place of meeting during this time. It was also an important site of Muslim worship after Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453 and designated the structure a mosque. Many Christians escaping religious persecution in Jerusalem fled to Anatolia and settled in Turkey. Some of the Christian apostles traveled and even settled in regions in Turkey. -
The Kurds are an ethnic group of people that have a poorly known history. It is estimated that the Kurds came to Anatolia (modern day Turkey) in about 1500. Anatolia was in the peninsula connecting the Middle East and Europe which made it a hot spot for many tribes as they migrated or conquered from either direction. The Kurds, having been in Turkey since the early 1500s, were taken over by the Turks, in about 1915 when the Ottoman Empire was defeated. -
In modern-day, the *TURKS (people who live in Turkey) speak *TURKISH, and practice *ISLAM. Although the *TURKS are the main ethnic group, the next largest minority group would be the *KURDS. The second most spoken language is *KURDISH. *TURKISH interestingly is traditionally written with *ARABIC script. *ISLAM is by far the most practiced religion with a whopping 99% of people are *MUSLIM’S.