Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. 
A mesmerizing mix of the exotic and the grandeur as well as the ancient and the modern, Turkey is much more than its clinched image of a “bridge between East and West”. 
It combines influences from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, the Balkans and Central Asia besides Islam and Islamic values. 
Old mosques, castles, ceremonies and gypsy festivals are as much a part of the social landscape as classical music concerts or football matches.
The friendliness of the Turkish people makes visiting a pleasure; indeed one risk causing offense by declining invitations, and find yourself making friends through the simplest of transactions. 
At the big resorts and tourist spots, at public places and supermarkets or even in the streets of Turkey, the warmth and generosity are genuine.
Politically, modern Turkey was a grand experiment, largely the creation of one man — Kemal Ataturk. 
With superhuman energy, he salvaged the Turkish state from the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire and defined it as a modern nation. 
Despite official efforts to enforce a uniform Turkish identity, the population is remarkably heterogeneous. When the Ottoman Empire imploded, refugees streamed into Anatolia, including Muslim Slavs, Greeks, Albanians, Crimean Tatars, Daghestanlis, Abkhazians and Circassians.
There they joined an already mixed population that included a very sizeable minority of Kurds. 
Thanks to recent arrivals from former Soviet or Eastern Bloc territories, that diversity endures. 
Another surprise may be Turkey’s sheer youthfulness as more than half the population is under 30 or 40, with legions of young people working in coastal resorts, and shoals of school kids surging through the city streets.
A huge part of Turkey’s appeal lies in its archaeological sites, a legacy of the bewildering succession of states — Hittite, Urartian, Phrygian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Armeno-Georgian — that held sway here before the 12th century. 
From grand classical cities to hilltop fortresses and remote churches, some still produce exciting new finds today. 
In addition, Turkey holds a vast number of graceful Islamic monuments, as well as intriguing city bazaars, still hanging on amid the chain stores and shopping malls.
On the other hand, inland Turkey, with its Asiatic expanses of mountain, steppe, lake, and even cloud-forest, may leave a more vivid memory, especially when accented by some remnants of mosques or castle. 
In fact, tourism in Turkey is focused largely on a variety of historical sites, and on seaside resorts along its Aegean and Mediterranean sea coasts. In recent years, Turkey has also become a popular destination for culture, spa, and health care tourism.
In 2014, Turkey attracted around 42 million foreign tourists, ranking as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world. The current promotional campaign of Turkey is “Turkey Home.” 
This slogan is indeed fit for a country like Turkey, where cities are more cosmopolitan with a large number to tourists and businessmen from Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia.
Today, Istanbul is one of the most important tourism spots not only in Turkey but also in the world. 
There are thousands of hotels and other tourist-oriented industries in the city, catering to both vacationers and visiting professionals. 
Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. 

Source: Arab News