Turkey

About Turkey

     Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest, Greece to the west, Georgia to the northeast, Armenia, Azerbaijan (the Nakhichevan exclave), and Iran to the east, Iraq and Syria to the southeast. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Black Sea to the north. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara, which is used by geographers to mark the border between Europe and Asia, thus making Turkey transcontinental.

     Because of its strategic location astride two continents, Turkey's culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasian landmass with strong cultural and economic influence in the area between the European Union in the west and Central Asia in the east, Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south, Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.

     Turkey, a developed country, is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West while continuing to foster relations with the Eastern world.

About Mersin

     Mersin is a large city and a busy port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey and is the capital of the Mersin province

     Today Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper, huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban amenities, although still nothing like the long-established nightlife and culture of Istanbul or Izmir.

     The municipality is now trying to rescue the sea front with walkways, parks and statuary, and there are still palm trees on the roadsides especially where the young generation like to hang out in the cafes and patisseries of smart neighbourhoods such as Pozcu or Çamlıbel. These are established neighbourhoods where there are many well-known shops and restaurants with years of experience and reputations to protect. The city centre is a maze of narrow streets and arcades of little shops and cafes, with young people buzzing around on scooters. The old quarter near the fish market is where you will find the stalls selling tantuni and grilled liver sandwiches.

     One of the most distinctive features of the city as a whole is the solar heating panels, they are everywhere, on top of every building.

     The local cuisine includes: kebab of course but especially the hot sandwich of grilled meats wrapped in flat bread called tantuni; the home-made sausage bumbar; carrot helva (cezerye); karsambaç (a kind of ice slush); künefe a baked cheese pastry (known throughout south-east Turkey including Mersin); and kerebiç, a semolina pudding, especially made in the month of Ramadan, and many other local soups and stews. The traditional drink of this corner of Turkey, including Mersin, is şalgam suyu (the water used to pickle turnips in).

     The port is the mainstay of Mersin's economy. There are 45 piers, a total port area of 785 km² (205 acres), with a capacity of 6,000 ships per year.

     Adjacent to the port is Mersin Free Zone established in 1986, the first free zone in Turkey, with warehouses, shops, assembly-disassembly, maintenance and engineering workshops, banking and insurance, packing-repacking, labelling and exhibition facilities. The zone is a publicly owned center for foreign investors, close to major markets in the (Middle East, North Africa, East and West Europe, Russian Federation and Central Asia. The trading volume of the free zone was USD 41,8 billion in 2002.

     Mersin has highway connections to the north and east, and is also connected to the southern railroad. Adana airport is 69 km (43 miles).

     70% of the male population and 46% of the female population is employed. Unemployment is about 6.7%

     Mersin port is an international hub for many vessels routing to European countries.Its now operated by PSA.