Religion
99% of Turkey's population is Muslim, although Turkey is a ‘secular state’. 80% of those Muslims are Sunni. The other 9% are Shia’s. Both branches of Islam though believe in one god and believe in the teachings and messages of the prophet Muhammad (P.b.u.h) from God. They also believe in the prophets from other religions which include Moses, Jesus, Abraham etc.
Language
Turkish comes from the Turkic language, which is spoken by about 70 million speakers in Turkey and 35 other countries that include: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iran, Iraq and Israel.Turkish was written with a kind of Perso-Arabic script which was known as the Ottoman Turkish Script until 1928. In 1928, as part of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's efforts to modernise Turkey, he replaced the Arabic script with the latin alphabet, which they have been using ever since. Today, only scholars and those who learned to read before 1928 can read Turkish written in the Arabic script.
Music
There are many types of Turkish music, ranging from classical Ottoman Turkish music to contemporary Turkish music. The sort of music found in turkey today differs between regions with more Arabic influence.
Turkey has a history of performing music for over a thousand years. Although they have been replaced by the modern forms, their music is still very active. The classical Ottoman Turkish music grew under the Ottoman sultans. It is quite different from the westerns music. Turkish music uses quarter tones where as western music only uses half tones and larger. The instruments used in classical Turkish music include the darbuka a Middle Eastern drum, the ney, which is a flute made from a hollow reed, and the traditional Turkish lute.
Turkey has a history of performing music for over a thousand years. Although they have been replaced by the modern forms, their music is still very active. The classical Ottoman Turkish music grew under the Ottoman sultans. It is quite different from the westerns music. Turkish music uses quarter tones where as western music only uses half tones and larger. The instruments used in classical Turkish music include the darbuka a Middle Eastern drum, the ney, which is a flute made from a hollow reed, and the traditional Turkish lute.
Architecture
Turkish architecture is influenced by the tents that the nomads from the past lived in. When the Seljuk Turks first came to Iran, they found an architecture based on old traditions. The Turks mixed these up with their own traditions, which led to their own style . The most important structure of this style is the Madrasa, or Muslim theological school.
ART
Islamic art differs significantly from western art because of the Quran rule on picturing human forms, so Ottoman art is based on color, line and rhythm in geometric patterns and designs. For Ottoman art, Calligraphy is the most important. Each one of the sultans had their own design called the Tugra. Some Sultans were skilled calligraphers themselves, including Sultan Ahmet III and Sultan Bayezit II. When Ataturk introduced the latin alphabet later on, it stopped the calligraphy with the arabic letters. Most of the greatest art works are from the Ottoman archives.