From the early beginnings almost 10,000 years ago of wall paintings in central Anatolia the history of Turkish art has evolved to a modern multi layered medium.

Decorative arts in the life of the Turks go back to the first century B.C. The most striking examples of decorative art were produced during the Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Being entirely applied arts, these forms were regarded as crafts rather than art. Though styles were many and varied, artists never signed their work.

Ottoman expressions of art conformed to the rigors of Islam which forbade representations of any form with an immortal soul i.e. animals and humans. Painting and sculpture regarded as such in the West did not exist within the empire. However instead of portraying the forbidden images, Islamic artists worked at Arabesque decoration, filigree, geometric stained glass, gilding, marquetry, calligraphy and illumination, textile design horticulture and landscaping. In the museums you will see examples of these vast achievements, which reached their zenith during the great age of Ottoman power from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. Fine examples of delicate colored tiles from Iznik, beautiful glassware from Istanbul, carved wooden Mosque doors, glittering Korans and impressive jewelry and costumes are in abundance.

Folk art has always been an integral part of the culture. Embroidery and lace making are still evident today on the streets of rural towns and major cities. Artisans still produce centuries old style decorated items such as wooden spoons, lamps and glass, mainly now for tourists and affluent designer home owners but in doing so keeping the art alive.

Carpets, whether knotted or flat woven (kilim) are among the best-known art forms produced by Turkey. There are environmental, sociological, economic, and religious reasons for the widespread art of carpet weaving among the Turkish people from Central Asia to Turkey. The geographical regions where Turks have lived throughout the centuries lie in the temperate zone. Temperature fluctuations between day and night, summer and winter may vary greatly. Turks-nomadic or pastoral, agrarian or town-dwellers, living in tents or in sumptuous houses in large cities-have protected themselves from the extremes of the weather by covering the floors, and sometimes walls and doorways, with carpets. The carpets are always handmade of wool or sometimes cotton, with occasional additions of silk. These carpets are natural barriers against the cold. The flat woven kilims, which are frequently embroidered, are used as blankets, curtains, and covers over sofas or as cushion covers. Turkish carpets are among the most sought after household items all over the world. Their rich colors, warm tones, and extraordinary patterns with traditional motifs have contributed to the status that Turkish carpets have maintained since the 13th century, a time when Marco Polo, who traveled through Anatolia, commented on their beauty and artistry. A number of carpets from this period, known as the Seljuk carpets, were discovered in several mosques in central Anatolia. These were under many layers of subsequently placed carpets. Turkish carpets in the 15th and 16th centuries are best known through European paintings. For example, in the works of Lotto (15th century Italian painter) and Holbein (16th century German painter), Turkish carpets are seen under the feet of the Virgin Mary, or in secular paintings, on tables. In the 17th century, when the Netherlands became a powerful mercantile country, Turkish carpets graced many Dutch homes. The Dutch painter Vermeer represented Turkish carpets predominantly to indicate the high economic and social status of the persons in his paintings.

Painting in the western sense started to develop in Turkey in the nineteenth century. Artists such as Namik Ismail, Ibrahim Calli, Avni Lifij, Feyheman Duran and Hikmet Onat, who had their art education in Europe in the 1910s, became impressionists. Extensive research carried out by Public Centers (Halkevleri) on Anatolian peoples' art and culture in the 1930s influenced many artists In this period, the D Group, established by Zeki Faik Izer, Nurullah Berk, Elif Naci, Cemal Tollu, Abidin Dino and sculptor Zuhtu Muridoglu, ignored the impressionist tendencies and set out to create a joint language, and sought to achieve a synthesis between certain elements of traditional Turkish art and the ideas of the new art movements in Europe. On the formation of the republic the Government established painting and sculpture academies to encourage a more secular outlook. Within the art and culture development program, the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul was restructured. It was taken under the structure of the Ministry of National Education. The French artist, Leopold Levy, was appointed as the chairman of the painting department between 1949 and 1950. Levy's students founded a group aptly called the Yeniler Grubu (The New Group) which experimented with new styles and new techniques. The members of this group, who continued exhibitions until 1955, were focused on social issues in the beginning, but later distanced themselves from the social-realistic manner of expression. In the 1950s, when the art movements were followed more closely, the first abstract painters emerged in Turkey. Among these are Adnan Coker, Lutfu Gunay, Semsi Arel, Abidin Elderoglu and Sabri Berkel who tried to give a traditional and local touch to abstract forms by using calligraphy. Neset Gunal's paintings on social issues, the miniature-like paintings of Devrim Erbil, Cihat Burak's paintings which have traces from folk art, the animal figures and Anatolian landscapes of Orhan Peker which he painted with staining techniques, are all examples of the diversity of figurative tendencies in the 1960s and the 1970s. By the 1970s, many artists managed to reach some synthesis between the competing tendencies such as abstract-figurative and universal-domestic. Meanwhile pioneering and experimental works were supported by the annual exhibition "New Tendencies" held within the framework of the Istanbul Art Festival, which was first organized in 1977. Since 1980, conceptual art works are also common along with the traditional paintings on canvas.

The county's architecture is outstanding. The Turks produced masterpieces of architecture during the Seljuk and Ottoman periods. The monumental buildings created by Turkish architects since the eleventh century have a distinguished place in the heritage of world architecture. The Selimiye and the Suleymaniye Mosques built by Mimar (Architect) Sinan, who is the symbol of Ottoman architecture, are masterworks reflecting the degree of maturity, which the Ottoman architecture had reached in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in dealing with space and mass compositions

The Turkish language belongs to the Altay branch of the Uralo-Altay linguistic family. Through the span of history, Turks have spread over a wide geographical area, taking their language with them. Turkish speaking people have lived in a wide area stretching from today's Mongolia to the north coast of the Black Sea, the Balkans, East Europe, Anatolia, Iraq and a wide area of northern Africa. Due to the distances involved, various dialects and accents have emerged. The history of the language is divided into three main groups, old Turkish (from the 7th to the 13th centuries), mid-Turkish (from the 13th to the 20th) and new Turkish from the 20th century onwards. During the Ottoman Empire period Arabic and Persian words invaded the Turkish language and it consequently became mixed with three different languages. At this time, history, geography and science works were written in religious terms and poetry along the traditions of Arabia and Persia, full of sensual love, fulfillment and ecstasy about the search for union with God.

During the Ottoman period, which spanned five centuries, the natural development of Turkish was severely hampered. Then there was the "new language" movement. In 1928, five years after the proclamation of the Republic, the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin one, which in turn speeded up the movement to rid the language of foreign words. The Turkish Language Institute was established in 1932 to carry out linguistic research and contribute to the natural development of the language.

There are many kinds of traditional Turkish music, most of them unfamiliar as some styles use quarter tone intervals which, at first, can sound flat to an unaccustomed ear. Ottoman classical music can sound somber and slow but was parodied by Mozart in some of his compositions. After the Republic, Turkish classical music was rarely performed as it was considered elite and backward but is slowly making a come back. The music features a modal system of notation which produces an ever-changing musical style and rhythm and singers require an immense amount of ability and control to cope with the challenge.

In contrast, folk music, which has a lively and appealing tempo, is an important part of the Turkish music scene, played with a long necked flute called a Saz, depicting centuries old songs to which most Turkish people know the words.

Fasil music on the other hand is a combination of different styles, Gypsy, Folk and classical, usually featuring four or five instruments, Darbuka a small hand drum, Violin, Clarinet, Kanun which is a plucked zither and Ud, similar to a small lute. Most of the songs are standards written within the last 50 years and produce a nostalgic atmosphere amongst the audience wherever they are played.

Despite the popularity of traditional music, Turkey has a progressive and extremely vibrant pop music industry with new artists appearing almost overnight. However sustainable stars exist. The Turkish diva Sezen Aksu still remains a top star after 30 years and is partly responsible for one of the most popular and indeed progressively more well known international artists, the male pin up Tarkan who first appeared as a performer in the early 90s. Selling millions of albums both in his own country and abroad in his quest to put Turkey on the musical map, he has become an ambassador for the country's music scene paving the way for others in the future.

The first cinema to appear in Turkey came in 1896 watched at first by foreigners and non-Muslims. However by 1914 everyone was enjoying this new form of entertainment. The first film company was established in 1922 by actor Muhsin Ertugrul to make patriotic films for the new republic and within a decade the industry was winning international awards. In 1952 Turkey's first color film by Lutfi Akad 'In the name of the law' went on to win the top prize at the newly inaugurated Turkish film festival, illustrating a new realism in film making instead of the previous melodramas. During the next decade filmmakers delved further into social and political issues, Metin Erksan's 'Dry Summer' was acclaimed at the Berlin and Venice festivals. The popularity of television throughout the 70s brought a challenge but the quality and depth of films continued to improve and by the 80s several directors were recognized in Europe and the US. More recently Ferzan Ozpetek's popular 'Hamam' was rewarded with commercial distribution and Kutlug Ataman's raw commentary on immigrant life 'Lola and Billy the kid' reached the international art house circuit.