What is the history of Turkey and Thrace?

The history of the territory forming the Republic of Turkey spans Anatolia and Eastern Thrace, encompassing classical empires, the Seljuk and Ottoman eras, and the modern republic. These distinct regions unified under Roman rule before becoming the core of the Byzantine Empire. Over centuries, successive Turkish dynasties shaped the land, leading ultimately to the establishment of the modern republic in the 1920s.

What we know

• The history of the territory of the Republic of Turkey includes both Anatolia and Eastern Thrace. [2]
• Anatolia and Eastern Thrace came under Roman control in the second century BC and formed the core of the Byzantine Empire. [2]
• The Ottoman state was practically wiped away after World War I, leading to the creation of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. [4]
• Jews have lived in what is now Turkey for 2,400 years, with populations including Greek-speaking Romaniotes and Sephardic refugees. [5]

Where to go next

• what caused itHow did the Ottoman Empire begin?
• how it workedWhat was the Turkish War of Independence?
• whoHow did Mustafa Kemal Atatürk form the republic?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the broader history of Europe?
• compared withHow did the Byzantine Empire shape the region?
• an unexpected connectionHow did Sephardic Jews escaping Spain shape the Ottoman Empire?Expelled by the Alhambra Decree in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Sephardic refugees fled to the Ottoman Empire and helped create what was then the largest Jewish population in the world.

Sources

• [1]history of Turkey (Wikidata Q190876) · CC0 1.0
• [2]History of Turkey · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Military history of Turkey · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]History of the Republic of Turkey · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]History of the Jews in Turkey · CC BY-SA 4.0