From the Hittites to the Republican Era the land of Anatolia has a rich history.
Asia Minor was known as the Cradle of Civilisation. The Lydians and Urartians
established their kingdoms here. When the Roman Empire split in two Byzantium became the eastern capital. The Turkic tribes swept in from the east and the Ottoman Empire was to reign for many centuries before Atatürk was to declare
Turkey as a Republic.