Turkey is the land where great battles were fought and many a great rulers established their reign. While the glorious days are lost, what they have left back is a testimony to the grand era. The castles and other ruins in Turkey speak volumes about the history of the place. Rent a car to witness all of them.

 

Measuring 780,000 sq km in area, the population of Turkey is 73 million. Since time and with the progressing world Turkey has not been left behind. What has been a powerful past still reflects in the essence of the Turkish culture. It’s a true magical world full of humanity, culture, history, commerce and gastronomy.

 

What gets most exciting with a car hire in Turkey is the beachside drive. Zoom along the coast of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea to enjoy the surreal beauty of the place. The city consists of colorful marketplaces, bazaars and of course the historical ruins. What you must not miss in the place are drives to the Old City of Istanbul, Blue Mosque, The city of Bursa (Old Ottoman), camel and other forms of wrestling arenas, Dardanelles, Gallipoli Peninsula, Troy, Bodrum, Ephesus, Castle of St John, Lycian tombs, Antalya, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and Ethnographic Museum at Ankara, Sumela Monastery, Safranbolu, Cappadocia, Lake Van among the few.

 

There are other modes of travel available with excellent bus and train services which can be very comfortable but you will not get access to each territory. So to get a deeper look at the history and the associated ruins in turkey you got to comfort yourself with a rented car. Don’t worry the least as the deals are real cheap with a large variety of available models. Imbibe in the civilization.

Ataturk- Father of the Turks

 

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is a famous Turkish army officer, revolutionary, statesman, writer, founder of the republic of Turkey and its first president.

 

He was born in Salonika in the family of a deed clerk and trader. He received the name Kemal meaning perfection during his studies for his excellence. He received military education in a junior high school in Thessaloniki, high school in Manastir and military academy in Istanbul.

 

He had a very active professional life taking part as an officer in the military conflicts in Italo-Turkish War, the Balkan Wars and the First World War. He became famous as an exceptional military frontline commander and quickly grew through the ranks. By the end of the First World War, a war that Turkey (the Ottoman Empire at that time) lost, he was a colonel. He was also very politically active. He took part of reformist movement, revolution and consequently of the national movement against the foreign occupation after the end of the war.

 

Keman Ataturk took a very important role in the Turkish national independence movement. He was one of the founders and leaders of the organized resistance faction. Consequently, he resigned from the Ottoman army and was condemned by the official authorities. In 1920 he organized the Grand National Assembly that created a National Army aimed at protecting the interests and independence and keeping the Turkish peoples in one country. He led three wars against the French, Armenian and Greek forces in order to achieve that. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey he was elected the first president.

 

His presidency can be characterized as a series of reforms leading to the modernization and secularization of the state. He introduced various reforms directed towards complete progression of the state and division of the three powers- executive, legal and judicial.

 

His social reforms were aimed at suppressing the role of religion in society, changing the social structures and giving women equal rights. His legal reforms introduced a constitution, secular civic code, and full legal and political equality for the sexes. He also made reforms in education. He introduced secular orientation in public education, changed and modernized the Turkish language as well as introducing a new alphabet based on Latin in comparison to the older one based on Arabic. His economic reforms were aimed at building big state owned enterprises and establishing public railway system.

 

Ataturk’s rapid revolutions in every sphere of society were profound and not always successful. He had to change century old traditions conditioned into the mindset of the general public. His reforms supported by the urban elite faced opposition by the majority living in the countryside accustomed to religious and traditional norms.

 

The biggest airport in Istanbul, Turkey is named after Kemal Ataturk. It was built in 1924, renamed Ataturk International Airport in 1980, and has become one of the busiest in the world in recent years. Car rental agencies like Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt have their desks there.