TURKISH CIVILIZATION
While the Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks and Romans each inhabited only
certain parts of Anatolia, the Turks were the first to occupy and dominate the peninsula
in its entirety. The Turks, who came from the steppes between the Ural and Altay mountains
in Central Asia, began by developing, along with the Arabs and Iranians, a common Moslem
culture which flourished in the Near Eastern world from the 9th to 14th centuries AD In
this common culture, which was based on ancient Greek traditions, the Islamic communities
created the first "Renaissance" long before the European Renaissance. By the
13th century, however, the Islamic world, under the strong influence of mystic philosophy,
abandoned the methods of the exact sciences and entered a period of stagnation which
lasted until modern times.
The Seljuks (1071-1300) developed an original art and architecture,
forming it with Iranian and Arab elements and also the Turkish elements which they had
brought from Central Asia. They built attractive monuments of fascinating beauty, which
display a common spirit with a homogeneous style although they were produced in regions of
the peninsula widely distant from one another.
The Ottoman Turks (1299-1923), who formed a huge empire and became the leaders of the
whole Islamic world, adhered strictly to Seljuk tradition and created a national art of
high quality which also influenced other Moslem countries. .
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