Ankara, historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and 5.8 million in Ankara Province, making it Turkey's second-largest city after Istanbul, but first by the urban area (4,130 km2).
Yunus Emre also known as Derviş Yûnus (1238–1320) was a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who greatly influenced Turkish culture. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passed a resolution declaring 1991, the 750th anniversary of the poet's birth, International Yunus Emre Year.
Selim III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. A group of assassins subsequently killed Selim.
The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling while performing dhikr. Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.
The Turkish makam is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam specifies a unique intervalic structure and melodic development (seyir). Whether a fixed composition or a spontaneous composition, all attempt to follow the melody type. The rhythmic counterpart of makam in Turkish music is usul.
The lira is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus, as well as one of the two currencies used in northern Syria under the country's interim government. One lira is divided into one hundred kuruş.
Ottoman music or Turkish classical music is the tradition of classical music originating in the Ottoman Empire. Developed in the palace, major Ottoman cities, and Sufi lodges, it traditionally features a solo singer with a small to medium-sized instrumental ensemble.
In Ottoman classical music, usul is an underlying rhythmic cycle that complements the melodic rhythm and sometimes helps shape the overall structure of a composition. An usul can be as short as two beats or as long as 128 beats. Usul is often translated as "meter", but usul and meter are not exactly the same. Both are repeating rhythmic patterns with more or less complex inner structures of beats of differing duration and weight. But a student learning Turkish music in the traditional meşk system first memorizes the usul kinetically by striking the knees with the hands. The student then sings the vocal or instrumental composition while performing the underlying usul. This pedagogical system helps the student memorize the composition while internalizing the underlying rhythmic structure.
Neşāṭī (نشاطى;?–1674) was the pen name of an Ottoman poet. He was a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, of the Mevlevi Order, and his poetry is often considered exemplary of the "Indian style" of Ottoman poetry, a movement which flourished beginning in the 17th century.
Tatyos Ekserciyan, or Tatyos Efendi, was a famous composer of classical Turkish music, and his works continue to be among the most played and revered examples of the genre.
Tanburi Cemil Bey was an Ottoman tanbur, Turkish tambur, yaylı tambur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who has greatly contributed to the taksim genre in Ottoman classical music. His son, Mesut Cemil Bey, was an equally renowned Turkish tambur virtuoso.
Peşrev, Pişrev, peshrev, or pishrev; called bashraf بشرف in Arabic; is an instrumental form in Turkish classical music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performance called a fasıl. It also serves as the penultimate piece of the Mevlevi ayini, ritual music of the Mevlevi order, under the name son peşrev, preceding son semai. It usually uses long rhythm cycles, stretching over many measures as opposed to the simpler usul the other major form of instrumental music uses, saz semai.
The fasıl is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic nawba and waslah.
Aydın Sayılı was a prominent Turkish historian of science. Sayılı's portrait is depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 5 lira banknote issued in 2009. He was the first PhD recipient in the world in the field of the history of science.
Mihrişah Sultan, was a consort of Sultan Mustafa III, and the mother of Selim III of the Ottoman Empire, and his Valide sultan for 16 years from 1789 until 1805.
There are three types of prison in Turkey: closed, semi-open, and open. A further distinction is made between ordinary closed prisons and high-security prisons. Many prisons have separate blocks for women and some also for children (juveniles), but there are also some prisons which are exclusively for women or children. Prisoners in Turkey are divided, as in many other countries, into remand prisoners and convicted prisoners.
Destizer Müşfika Kadın was the eighth consort of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.
Mehmet Suphi Ezgi was an Ottoman-born Turkish military physician who specialized in neurology, and a musician, musicologist and composer. He is best known for his studies of Ottoman classical music.
Gulçin Yahya Kaçar is a Turkish musician, Oud master, composer, singer, and academic.
