turkey is a republic. there are 81 provinces in turkey. the money of turkey is called the turkish lira. the capital city is ankara, a city in the central region, called anatolia. the cultural and economic centre is in the european side of istanbul. in the past istanbul was called constantinople. the republic was founded in 1923, after world war i and a war of independence ("kurtuluş savaşı"). before that, turkey was the core of the ottoman empire.