TurkmensTurkmens (Türkmenler, Түркменлер, توركمنلر, tʏɾkmønˈløɾ; historically "the Turkmen") are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus (Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages.
TurkeyTurkey (Türkiye, ˈtyɾcije), officially the Republic of Türkiye (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ˈtyɾcije dʒumˈhuːɾijeti), is a country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in West Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is off the south coast.
ErzincanErzincan (æɾˈzindʒan; Erzîngan), historically Yerznka (Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Sunni Turkish with an Alevi Kurdish minority. The city had a population of 150,714 in 2022, an increase from 86,779 in 2007.
SöğütSöğüt (ˈsœ.yt, willow; Greek: Θηβάσιον or Θηβάσιο, Thêbásion) is a town in Bilecik Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Söğüt District. Its population is 13,566 (2021). The mayor is İsmet Sever (MHP), elected in 2019. Söğüt is notable as the founding location and first capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1335. The name of the settlement is first attested under the Greek name Thêbásion in 13th century.
KaramanidsThe Karamanids (Karamanoğulları or Karamanoğulları Beyliği), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Province. From the mid 14th century until its fall in 1487, the Karamanid dynasty was one of the most powerful beyliks in Anatolia. The Karamanids traced their ancestry from Hodja Sad al-Din and his son Nure Sufi Bey, who emigrated from Arran (roughly encompassing modern-day Azerbaijan) to Sivas because of the Mongol invasion in 1230.
Gaziantep ProvinceGaziantep Province () is a province in south-central Turkey. It is located in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep. It neighbours Adıyaman to the northeast, Şanlıurfa to the east, Syria and Kilis to the south, Hatay to the southwest, Osmaniye to the west and Kahramanmaraş to the northwest. An important trading center since ancient times, the province is also one of Turkey's major manufacturing zones, and its agriculture is dominated by the cultivation of pistachio nuts.
GaziantepGaziantep (ɡaːˈziantep), historically Aintab and still informally called Antep (ˈantep), is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. It is located approximately east of Adana and north of Aleppo, Syria and situated on the Sajur River. The city is thought to be located on the site of ancient Antiochia ad Taurum and is near ancient Zeugma.
Population transfer in the Soviet UnionFrom 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly transferred populations of various groups. These actions may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population (often classified as "enemies of the people"), deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite directions to fill ethnically cleansed territories.
Western ThraceWestern Thrace or West Thrace ([Δυτική] Θράκη, [Dytikí] Thráki ˈθraci; Batı Trakya; Западна/Беломорска Тракия, Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.
Young TurksYoung Turks (Jön Türkler or Genç Türkler) was a political reform movement in the early 20th century that favored the replacement of the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy with a constitutional government. They led a rebellion against the absolute rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution. With this revolution, the Young Turks helped to establish the Second Constitutional Era in the same year, ushering in an era of multi-party democracy for the first time in the country's history.