GENERAL OUTLINES OF THE CHANGING TURKISH HISTORY AND THE ANCIENT TURKISH TYPE

The general outlines of Turkish history is dealt with in this first paper starting with the pre-Islamic period in the sixth century A.D., as depicted in the first written historical documents in Turkish, found in the basin of the Orhon and Yenisey rivers. The conversion to Islam gave impetus to a movement westward towards the Mediterranean, which culminated in the conquest of Anatolia in 1071 followed by the expansion of the Turkish people into Europe within a few years. The Seljuks were followed by the Ottomans in the thirteenth century and the establishment of Turkey as a Mediterranean, European power, in spite of their allegiance to Islam, was realized by the conquest of Istanbul in the middle of the fifteenth century. This resulted in the rise of the Ottoman Empire as the most powerful state in Europe and Asia for three centuries. This empire endured into modern times, lasting for over six centuries.