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.
SamsunSamsun, historically known as Sampsounta (Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Ἀμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. Over 700,000 people live in the city. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of over 1,350,000. The city is home to Ondokuz Mayıs University, several hospitals, three large shopping malls, Samsunspor football club, an opera house and a large and modern manufacturing district.
RizeRize (Ρίζα; რიზინი; რიზე; ريزه) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District. Its population is 119,828 (2021). Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. However the border with Georgia has been open since the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and the town is much wealthier than it used to be.
History of TurkeySee History of the Republic of Turkey for the history of the modern state. The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the region now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, includes the history of both Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (the European part of Turkey). These two previously politically distinct regions came under control of the Roman Empire in the second century BC, eventually becoming the core of the Roman Byzantine Empire.
