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HISTORY
The Imperial Palace was located at the site of the ancient acropolis with an incredibly beautiful view of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. The palace, known by the name Topkapi, served for about four hundred years as the residence of Sultans as well as the administrative headquarters of the empire.
Later on, in the 19th century, palaces and lodges began to be built on the coast of the Bosphorus in the European architectural style. These palaces, built within a short time, are regarded by many as symbols of the decline of the Ottoman Empire that had begun even earlier.
The decline of the Empire proved irreversible, and in the years following the end of World War I, the historic city that once was Byzantium witnessed the end of another great empire. However, the end of the Ottoman Empire did not mean the end of the determination of the Turkish people to live as an independent nation on the land which they had made their home for more than nine centuries.
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While the victors of the World War were engaged in heated debate among themselves concerning the way Turkish land would be split, a noble commander of the Ottoman Army, Mustafa Kemal, left Istanbul for Anatolia (partly occupied already) with the purpose of kindling the fire of independence.
The fire he started spread rapidly to cover the whole country, and after a four-year struggle supported by almost no resources except willpower and determination, cannons in Istanbul and all around the country were fired on October 29, 1923 to celebrate the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.
From then on, the first president of the very first republic in Asia, now given the surname Ataturk ("Father of the Turks"), led the country on the path towards western civilization. This new phase in the history of Turkey involved, among other things, the expatriation of the last Sultan and the imperial family, the adoption of the Latin alphabet, the abolishment of the Caliphate and the prohibition of such garments of eastern origin as the fez and veiled dress.
By the time Ataturk died in 1938, Turkey was recognized as a member of the western world. Although the capital of the new republic was Ankara, this never reduced the importance of Istanbul, and the largest city of modern Turkey continued to maintain its enchanting outlook and its vivacious way of life.
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