The
culture of Turkey combines a heavily diverse and
heterogeneous set of elements that have been derived from the various cultures of the
Eastern Mediterranean (
West Asian) region and to a lesser degree, Southeastern European, Caucasian, and Central Asian traditions. Many of these traditions were initially brought together by the
Ottoman Empire, a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. The present-day
Republic of Turkey, which was declared in 1923 after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, is still a transcontinental country that spans Europe and Asia.