•Todays Turkey is a country that is inhabited now by people of many ethnic groups, that have very much been intermixed over the centuries of co-existence. In forming the national identity,
•The Founder of Modern Turkey, Ataturk placed emphasis not on a citizens ethnic origins or religion, but on loyalty to Turkey - that land of Anatolia which forms the modern borders. One of his most famous sayings is "Happy is He who calls himself a Turk!" In this meaning of Turk, however, Ataturk is not just referring to the original, ethnically Turkish elements, but of a Turk as a citizen of Turkey, that encompasses all mixtures of ethnicity.
•Not all of the Turkic peoples left Central Asia. After the collapse of communism the Soviet Union, creating the republics of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgzstan. Additionally, there are still many Turkish people who live in Russia, such as the Chechens, and the Tatars, or in Georgia and the Ukraine. There are also Turkic people who live in China (the Xingxhang Province, otherwise known as Eastern Turkestan). There is also the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.