Knocking at Europe’s door yet on the threshold of Asia, Turkey is truly a land of contrasts. Here you can scale the icy heights of remote Mount Ararat in search of Noah’s Ark, cross the historic Euphrates and Tigris rivers, follow in the footsteps of St Paul or simply relax on the golden Mediterranean sands of Patara beach. Vibrant Istanbul, straddling the blue waters of the Bosphorus separating Europe from Asia, beckons with its skyline pierced by countless minarets, chaotic bazaars and a history redolent with harem intrigue and despotic Sultans.

In Turkey, you can also cruise along more than 1000km (620 miles) of Mediterranean coastline, past secluded coves, rocky headlands and pretty fishing villages, or explore a hinterland rich in the wonderfully preserved remains of Graeco-Roman cities such as Ephesus. For the adventurous, the austere beauty of the Anatolian plateau, the surreal rock-chimney landscape of Cappadocia and the atmospheric ruins of the enigmatic Hittites await discovery. Here, too, is the unique experience of watching the dervishes whirl in pious Konya.

With a code of hospitality nurtured by their Islamic beliefs yet with a remarkable tolerance of other customs, the Turks offer a warm welcome wherever you travel – be it sipping sweet black tea or thick coffee with friendly villagers or sharing a bottle of raki over mezes (hors d’oeuvres) with cosmopolitan Istanbul ‘city slickers’.

The modern Republic of Turkey was established in the 1920s by nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk. His ambition and achievement was to transform Turkey into a modern, secular state, and his legacy of political secularism was guarded throughout the 20th century by the powerful Turkish military, which has intervened in national politics whenever it has deemed the country’s stability to be at risk. In recent years, however, as Ankara has set its sights firmly on European Union membership, the military has kept a lower profile in public life.

Turkey became an official EU candidate country in 1999, whereupon it initiated a series of important human rights and economic reforms in accordance with EU requirements. The death penalty was abolished, tougher measures against torture were introduced and the penal code was revised. There were also important reforms in the areas of women's rights and Kurdish culture, language education and broadcasting. Membership talks with the EU started in 2005.

Both culturally and politically, Turkey is a fascinating society - a modern, westernised country, with a largely Muslim population, cautiously spanning the divide between religions and cultures.