Turkey: Türkiye Çumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey)

Abstract

In the 13th century the kingdom of Othman I became the dominant power in Asia Minor (now the Asian part of Turkey). In 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople and destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire. Thereafter, the Ottoman Empire expanded to include an area from Morocco to Persia and westwards into the Balkans. From the 17th century, however, the Empire began to decline, its power weakening rapidly in the 19th century.