Turks have a long and interesting history, the first peoples who were known as "Turk" came from Central Asia, they were nomadic. They had their own language and alphabet (Old Turkic script).

If we go further back in time we got the Sumerians who were also ancient Turks.

http://www.maya12-21-2012.com/2012sumerian.html << There is more info on this link about the Sumerians who were proto-Turks.

They invented the wheel, writing system, literature, astronomy, mathematics and time. The Sumerians were the first civilization in world history.

The first Turkic people in Europe were the Huns. Attila the Hun is well known in popular culture as the warrior who was the greatest threat to the Roman Empire.

After that human history saw many great Turkic empires that were ruling the world for centuries, as a matter of fact, almost 75% of the world was under Turkish rule.

For example when the Ottoman Empire was established there was also the Timurid Empire ruled by the great Turkic ruler Timur. (Timurlane)

The Seljuks were another Turkic people that left their mark on world history, Alp Arslan the famous Seljuk emperor was notbale for defeating Romanos IV in the battle of Manzikert, this victory opened the doors for the Turks to enter Anatolia, without the Seljuks there wouldn't be the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman bey (Osman I)
the son of Ertugrul. The Seljuks and Ottomans were both Oghuz Turks.

The world saw many interesting Turkic leaders, rulers and warriors, I can tell you more about Turkic peoples in general if you wish, you can e-mail me.

Turkic mythology is also very interesting.

The 16 Great Turkic Empires

1) The "GREAT HUN EMPIRE" - 204 B.C - 216 A.D


Founder - Mete (Bagatir)
Area - At the north, Siberia; south, Tibet - Kashmir; east, Pacific Ocean; west, Caspian Sea; (Total Area - 18,000,000 Km 2)

2) The "WESTERN HUN EMPIRE" - 48 - 216 A.D


Founder - Panu
Area - The area over present Central Asia

3) The "EUROPEAN HUN EMPIRE" - 275 - 454 A.D


Founder - Muncuk, Oktar, Rua & Aybars (brothers)
Area - Southern Russia, Romania, Northern
Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Chekoslovakia, Southern & Central Germany; The area from eastern France to the Ural mountains; from northern Hungary to the Byzantine Empire; (Total Area - 4,000,000 Km 2)

4) The "WHITE HUN EMPIRE" - 420 - 552 A.D


Founder - Aksuvar (Aksungur)
Area - Half of northern India,
Afghanistan, parts of Turkistan (Total Area - 3,500,000 Km 2)

5) The "GOKTURK EMPIRE" - 552 - 743 A.D


Founder - Bumin Khan (Tumen)
Area - The inacessible valleys of the Altay Mountains (Ergenikon) (Total Area - 18,000,000 Km 2)

6) The "AVAR EMPIRE" - 562 - 796 A.D


Founder - Bayar Khan
Area - The area between the Volga, Hungary and Bessarabia

7) The "HAZAR EMPIRE" - 602 - 1016 A.D


Founder - There are no historical data as to the original founder, however, its greatest ruler was Hakan Yusuf.
Area - The Hazars who are believed to be an offshoot of the Gokturks migrated to the West and formed a state stretching from the Caucasian Mntns to the Danube and to the middle of and Southern Russia.

8) The "UYGUR EMPIRE" - 740 - 1335 A.D


Founder - Kutlug Bilgekul Khan
Area - Central Asia and Northern Mongolia.

9) The "KARAHAN" - 932 - 1212 A.D


Founder - Saltuk Bugra Han
Area - All the Trans-Oxus area including the area between the Issyk and Balkash Lakes

10) The "GAZNELI EMPIRE" - 962 - 1183 A.D


Founder - Alptekin
Area - The area from the Trans-Oxus to the Ganges River, and from the shores of the Caspian to the steppes of the Pamir. (Total Area - 4,700,000 Km 2)

11) The "SELCUK EMPIRE" - 1040 - 1157 A.D


Founder - Seljuk
Area - At the East, Balkash and Issyk Lakes and the Tarim Derya; At the West, Aegean and the Mediterranean shores; At the North, Aral Lake, Caspian Sea, Caucasian and the Black Sea; At the South, the area including Arabia and the sea Omman. (Total Area - 10,000,000 Km 2)

12) The "HARZEMSHAH" - 1077 - 1231 A.D


Founder - Kudrettin Mehmet (Harzemshah)
Area - Persia, Southern Caucasia, Dagistan, Afghanistan and most of Central Asia. (Total Area - 5,000,000 Km 2)

13) The "GOLDEN HORDE" - 1224 - 1502 A.D


Founder - Batur Han
Area - Eastern Europe, the Western Ural Area, the Crimea and the area to the north of the Volga.

14) The "EMPIRE OF TIMUR KHAN" - 1369 - 1501 A.D


Founder - Timur Gurgani
Area - At the West, Balkans; At the North, Volga shores; At the South, Indian Ocean; At the East, Central Asia;

15) The "EMPIRE OF BABUR" - 1526 - 1858 A.D


Founder - Babur Shah
Area - Afghanistan and India (Total Area - 2,700,000 Km 2)

16) The "OTTOMAN EMPIRE" - 1299 - 1922 A.D


Founder - Osman Bey
Area - Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Anatolia, Caucasia, the Crimea, Bessarabia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, the Sudan,.....and, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea were for a time - Turkish Lakes. (Total Area - 20,000,000 Km 2)

For more info you can e-mail me.