Interesting Facts about Turkey

1.       Cultural Crossroads: Turkey is the only country that spans two continents—Europe and Asia—separated by the Bosphorus Strait.

2.       Alphabet Shift: Turkey adopted the Latin alphabet in 1928, replacing the Arabic script in an ambitious language reform led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

3.      Oldest Shopping Mall: The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, dating back to 1455, is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world with over 4,000 shops.

4.      Education Focus: Turkey’s Vision 2023 education policy includes AI integration, digital literacy, and multilingualism as early as Grade 1.

5.       Compulsory Education: Education is compulsory for 12 years, and the government has introduced special scholarships to promote girls' education in rural areas.

6.      Engineering Feat: The Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, inaugurated in 2022, is now the world’s longest suspension bridge, symbolizing Turkey’s infrastructural ambitions.

7.      UNESCO Giant: Turkey has 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Troy and the rock sites of Cappadocia.

8.      International Students Hub: Over 250,000 international students are currently enrolled in Turkish universities, drawn by affordable education and English-medium courses.

9.       Symbolism in Schools: The “nazar boncugu” (evil eye bead) is often placed near school entrances to ward off bad luck—a cultural tradition embraced even in modern education spaces.

10.     Olympiad Stronghold: Turkish students frequently win medals in international science and math Olympiads, with special training academies set up by the Ministry of National Education.