With coastlines on the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Aegean, this country is vast, diverse and as enchanting as any holiday destination you could wish to visit. From pine covered mountains to miles of golden sands, the Turkish landscape is one of the most stunning in Europe, if not the world.

Even those who have visited Turkey on a regular basis are often not aware of the sheer size of the country, and many tend to think it consists only of the area on the Mediterranean which is home to the most well-known resorts such as Marmaris, Dalaman, Antalya and Bodrum. There is much more to this country than just beaches and belly dancers, and exploring the interior countryside is highly recommended. Hiring a car at Bodrum, Dalaman, Marmaris or any of the Turkish airports is recommended if you want to discover the interior of this beautiful country.

There will always be those who bemoan the demise of the old Lira, when the spending money for a holiday could make you a Turkish millionaire. As with all currencies when they are devalued to such an extent as the Lira was, the price of living inevitably goes up. It has to be said however that you will get more for your money in Turkey than you will get almost anywhere else in Europe.

Once you are in Turkey, don’t just lie by the pool or on the beach all day soaking up the rays with a cold drink in your hand, there is so much to do and see. Turkish baths are famous the world over, and obviously the best in the world are found in their original country of origin.

Boat trips from the various harbours around the extensive coastline are a treat that nobody should pass up the chance to go on. A relaxing day cruising around the dozens of islands that are dotted all around the coast is an amazing experience, and one that this writer can’t wait to do again.

The word is that no man has had a real shave until they have had a Turkish shave. Hot towels, a balm made to an ancient recipe and a cut throat razor will give a man a shave and the skin that they didn’t know existed. Turkey is somewhere that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime, if only to investigate the myths that we all build up in our minds about faraway lands that have an air of mystery.
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Or Loving Many Wives

Polygamy is the practice where one person has more than one spouses at the same time. There is a distinction between polygyny (more than one wife) and polyandry (more than one husband) but the term has entered common speech with its more common incidence of having more than one wife.

Among Buddhists it is considered a lesser marriage but practiced in Thailand, Burma, Tibet, parts of China. In modern times it is still an existing practice among the American Mormons, in African and in Muslim states.

Polygamy in Turkey was officially criminalized in 1926 as another step towards the secularization of the state. Nonetheless, it is still practiced in some parts of the country. The problem arises from the fact that there are no punitive actions taken against people who do this despite the legislative regulations.

Recently a scandal broke in the Turkish media about a recently appointed councilor of the prime minister. It was confirmed that Ali Yuksel has three religious marriages with three women. Moreover, he has called himself “sheikh-al-islam”- a title of superior authority on religious matters.

This new scandal comes in a long line of scandals connected to the government of the Prime Minister Tayyir Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Yuksel’s alternative way of life became came to public knowledge when he gave an interview in which he said he has three wives and intends to marry a forth one. According to some interpretations of Islam it is allowed for a man to have up to four wives as long as he can support all of them and give them equal attention.

The ruling party has been criticized for considering it normal to have such people among its community. It is a fact that there are more cases of such husbands among the members of the party. According to their understanding this is not adultery but Islam.

Other ultra conservative notions have been brought up by party officials. The Prime Minister Erdogan recently encouraged all Turkish families to have at least three kids. The party tried to pass a bill banning adultery in the state but was quickly revoked because of criticism from the European Union.

Maybe one of the most outrageous scandals was when the Major of the province Rize (also from AKP) suggested using polygamous marriages with Kurdish women to solve the problem with that minority. In his words, this way the issue will be resolved without military conflict by assimilating the ethnical group.

If you plan to travel in the country you might consider hiring a car. Car rental companies in Turkey are Europcar, Filo Cars, Aga Oglu Rental and Miller Car Rental.

Turkey has become in the last few years a hot spot for tourists. Millions of them travel every year to admire Turkey’s natural beauty and its cultural and tourist attractions. From enormous mosques to beautiful beaches, from Eastern delightful tastes and spices, creamy sweets like baklava and kebabs to the historical sites of Istanbul, Ephesus, mietwagen Phanar and many others. With a dynamic marketing campaign Turkey has managed to achieve doubling its foreign visitors and by this entering the top ten at tourist destinations. This of course was accomplished not only due to the advertising campaign, but because Turkey has beauty which has been simply shown and advertised properly.

Istanbul for example, doesn’t need much of a marketing plan, when it has sightseeings as the Hagia Sofia, a Greek-Turkish Ottoman cathedral let’s say that has been converted through the course of history from a Christian church into an Islamic mosque, and from 1930 into a museum where now anyone can admire the influence of the civilization of each empire has offered to that historical building..Also The Blue Mosque stands proud and equal to Hagia Sophia, and last but not least the Topkapi Palace, house of many Ottoman Sultans for hundreds of years of the Ottoman Empire.

Ephesus or Efes, known in history for one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis, the Greek Olympian goddess of the hunt and wildlife, which temple unfortunately does not exist any more. Although, another imposing old building still exist, after restoration of course since this city suffered from intrusions and an earthquake (614AD) and I’m talking about the Library of Celsus.

You probably have heard of the Trojan War. You were probably not sure if the city of Troy is fictional or not. Well you can see with your own eyes the legendary half-destroyed walls of the site that the Trojan war took place, if you travel northwest to the archaeological site of Troy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

Beaches of course are magical in Turkey. A term called ‘’Turkish Riviera’’ was invented to describe the beauty of the coastal area of southwest Turkey, where you can enjoy the smooth climate and warm waters of the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea. The Roman emperor Marcus Antonius is said to have chosen the Turkish Riviera as the most beautiful gift he could find for Cleopatra when the got married.

If you have an appetite, after a little swim in the sea, for delights, Turkey is full of it. You may taste kebab or kabab, a dish made of a variety of meat mixed with spices, and then something sweet like kanefeh or maybe a slice of baklava? Either is melting in your mouth and you are going to remember the taste forever.

If you travel to see the majestic beauties of Turkey and you are in need of a car to visit all or some of these places, car rental companies in Turkey are Europcar, Filo Cars, Aga Oglu Rental and Miller Car Rental.

Turkey is a country that is situated on two different continents. The bigger part of the state is in the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and the smaller one is in Eastern Thrace in South-Eastern Europe. The two parts of the country are separated by the Turkish Straits- the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Those two straits divide the Black Sea from the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean Sea. They have had great historical, economical and political significance during the centuries.

The state has approximately 72 million inhabitants. Turkey has a rather young population compared to most of its European neighbors with 70 percent in working age and twice as many children as retired people. The official language in the state is Turkish which is written using the Latin alphabet. The majority of the population is Sunni Muslim with sizable minorities of Jewish, Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians. The European part of Turkey covers only 3 percent of all the territory but has a very high population density and economic importance.

The coastal parts of the country enjoy Mediterranean climate with more rains especially in the Black Sea parts. There the summers are warm and dry and the winters cool and rainy. The inner parts of the Anatolian peninsula have continental climate with four distinct seasons. There are regions especially in the mountainous areas that have very severe weather conditions with extreme heat and drought and extreme cold and heavy snowfalls in the winter.

The modern day Republic of Turkey is the decedent of the Ottoman Empire that existed from the 13^th to the 20^th century that ruled territories from Algeria, to Austria, Russia and Pakistan. The current state was formed as a republic after the end of the First World War.

The Republic of Turkey is constitutional, democratic and secular republic with a very Western outlook. The country is part of NATO and has applied for membership in the European Union. The majority of the Turkish people are Muslims. It is given as a good example of how modernity and Islam can coexist. The capital of the state is the city of Ankara that is situated roughly in the middle of the Anatolian part of the country.

Turkey has strong traditions of secularism and parliamentary democracy ever since its independence and modern form shaped by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. The country’s main document is the constitution. The head of state is the President of the Republic. The executive power is exercised by the prime minister and the legislative power lies in the hands of the parliament.

The military has a big role in Turkish politics. It is considered the main guardian of the secular nature of the state and has intervened at times when it was considered that this form of government was threatened. Turkey has one of the biggest armies in the world. Its armed forces of about one million people are the second in size in NATO after those of the US. The government has invested a lot in modernizing the army that is now a modern, technological force. Furthermore, the state is a nuclear power with 90 B 61 nuclear bombs. The Turkish army takes part in international peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and others.

Car hire companies that operate in the Turkey are Europcar, Filo Cars, Aga Oglu Rental and Miller Car Rental.