The Ottoman Empire or Turkey is a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious state.The English word "Turkish" comes from the ancient Turkish word Türk. In Turkish, the name of the country is Türkiye. After decades of nationalistic indoctrination, most citizens self-identify as Turks regardless of ethnic background. Some of the major non-Turkish ethnic groups—the Kurds in the southeast, the Arabs in the south, the Lay of the western Black Sea coast, and the Georgians in the northeast and northwest—express double identities.
The culture of Turkey, combines an extremely diverse, as well as, a heterogeneous set of elements that have been derived from the various cultures of the Caucasian, Central Asian, Eastern European and Eastern Mediterranean (West Asian) traditions. The majority of these traditions were originally brought together by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire is a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious state. During the early years of the republic, the government invested a really large amount of resources into fine arts such as architecture, paintings and sculpture. Architecture and the use of space have been influenced by economic factors, political ideology, environment, tradition, and foreign ideas. Ottoman architecture with its Byzantine and Islamic elements represented a clear cultural expression of the imperial past. Leaders of the new republic wanted a different architecture that would proclaim their new vision of a Western, secular nation-state. One goal of the republic was to catch up with the material culture and technology of the West. Hence, they turned to western Europe to help create a new capital in Ankara. Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia such as yogurt.
This was done as both a process of modernization and of creating a cultural identity. Due to the different historical factors defining the Turkish identity, the culture of Turkey combines clear efforts of modernization and Westernization undertaken in varying degrees since the 1800’s, with a simultaneous desire to maintain traditional religion, as well as, historical values. Turkish cuisine inherited its Ottoman heritage which could also be described as a fusion and refinement of Armenian, Greek, Persian and Turkic cuisines. Turkish cuisine also influenced these cuisines and other neighboring cuisines, as well as, Western European cuisines. Turkish cuisine includes many different stews of vegetables and meat (lamb and beef primarily); borek, kebab, and dolma dishes; and a sourdough bread eaten with almost every meal. Borek is a pastry made of many thin layers of dough interspersed with cheese, spinach, and/or ground meat. Kebab is the common word for meat roasted in pieces or slices on a skewer or as meatballs on a grill. Dolma is the generic name for dishes made of vegetables (e.g., tomatoes and peppers) and leaves (e.g., grape, cabbage, and eggplant) that are stuffed with or wrapped around rice or bulgur pilaf, ground meat, and spices. Turks are especially fond of eggplant.
In the winter, many Turks eat a breakfast of bread with hot soup. In the warmer seasons, they commonly eat bread and jam, hard- or soft-boiled eggs, a white cheese made from sheep's milk, salty olives, and warm milk or hot tea with milk. A typical noon meal consists of vegetable and meat stew with a side dish of rice or bulgar pilaf and salad, with fruit for desert. Borek or dolma may substitute for the stew. Sweet deserts, such as baklava, are served on special occasions. The evening meal is usually lighter, consisting of leftovers from noon or a kebab with salad. Ordinarily, only water is drunk with the noon and evening meals.
The government founded and supported historical and linguistic societies that researched and, if necessary, invented a glorious Turkish past that would instill pride in the country's citizens. The official policy of Turkish nationalistic indoctrination has been largely effective. Most citizens, regardless of their non-Turkish ancestry, self-identify as Turks both ethnically and nationally, with the exception of some Kurds. The Turks originated in inner Asia. Their language belongs to the Altaic family. The earliest evidence of Turkish writing dates to eighth-century C.E. runic inscriptions on steles along the Orkhon River near present-day Ulan Bator, Mongolia. The language was influenced by Persian and Arabic after the ninth century, when Turks began moving into the Middle East and converting to Islam. After the establishment of the Turkish Republic, many Arabic and Persian words were replaced with words derived from ancient Turkish. As part of Atatürk's Turkification program, all Muslim citizens were legally required to speak and write in Turkish. Until 1991, publications, radio broadcasts, and public speaking in many non-Turkish languages were legally prohibited. Today the vast majority of young people speak only Turkish. However, most Kurds raised in southeastern Turkey speak Kurdish as well as Turkish.