All language subtitles for Turkey with Simon Reeve 1of2 Gallipoli to the Syrian Border 720p HDTV

I'm on a journey around Turkey...

HE CHEERS

'..a land of beauty and extremes...'

This is terrifying and awesome all
at the same time.

Look at the size of that!

'..a nation torn by conflict
and division...'

It goes on and on.

Look at this over here.

The war is not something distant at
this point.

'..with an increasingly
authoritarian regime.'

Just to my left, there's a protest
developing.

'..crushing opposition at home
and abroad...'

Unbelievable.
"BBC, English terror agency."

'..Turkey is at the very heart of
global events.'

THEY CHEER

Assalaamu Alaikum.
Assalaamu Alaikum.

'On this first leg of my journey,
I'll be visiting Istanbul,

'before heading to the turquoise
coast of the Aegean Sea

'and on to the border with Syria.

'I meet the billionaire

'cashing in on Turkey's economic
transformation...

'..Syrian families struggling to
carve out a new life...'

Family, family, family.

'..in the country now staking
a claim to be a beacon

'for the entire Islamic world.'

I'm on a very windy ferry,

approaching what's often
called the European side of Turkey.

In that direction is Greece
and the European Union,

in that direction
is the Middle East.

It's the boundary between Europe
and Asia.

I landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula,
on the European side of Turkey.

And so the journey begins.

Look at this. Vineyards.

Wine production isn't something I'd
expect to find in an overwhelmingly

Muslim country. Most Muslims believe
Islam forbids alcohol.

Some experts think Turkey
is the birthplace of winemaking.

Certainly it's been produced here in
the region for thousands of years,

but recently, if you can forgive the
pun, there's been a bit of a hiccup.

Selim? Merhaba. Merhaba.
How are you? I'm very well.

Thank you very much indeed
for having us.

It's beautiful! Thank you.

They look good. Look at these.

'13 years ago,

'Selim Ellialti gave up
a successful career in IT

'to follow his dream
and own a vineyard.

'He now employs more
than 250 growers, presses,

'packers and pickers.'

Merhaba.

The weapon of choice.

LAUGHTER

I will try very hard not to.

I can't even see them,
where are they?

Do I just cut them there?

Happy with that? It's a little bunch
of grapes, but, you know,

every bit helps.

What's your favourite part, Selim,
of the process?

The most joyful part is drinking...

THEY LAUGH

..at the end of the day.

Selim's here, you'd better
be careful what you say.

I'm eating far too many,
but they are so delicious. Mmm!

The vast majority of
the 80 million Turks are Muslim,

yet many here still like a beer
or a glass of good wine.

Modern Turkey was founded as
a relatively liberal, secular state,

where religion was kept in check.

For decades, religious Turks

were kept out of many positions
of authority,

but now they're in power.

In a strange way,

these grapes have come to symbolise

the tensions that exist here
in Turkey.

Turkey is home to both people
who are pious and conservative

and people who are secular as well,

people who look to Europe
for their identity.

And in recent decades,

Turkey and the Turks
have really struggled

about which way
this country moves,

the direction of the nation.

Does it look to the West
for inspiration or to the East?

And that's never really been
resolved, and now,

alcohol and wine has become
the battleground.

CELEBRATORY MUSIC PLAYS

It's the start of harvest, so it's
time to celebrate.

These are fresh, easy-going,

fruity, aromatic wines.

That's really delicious.

HE LAUGHS

Behind the celebrations,

these are worrying times
for Selim and his wife, Pinar.

Just when Turkish wines were being
recognised internationally,

the conservative government

started actively discouraging people
from drinking.

Tastings, promotions and advertising
of alcohol have been banned.

MUSIC STOPS

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It is a difficult year
for the industry, for sure.

It was not a very nice,

polite period for me,

and most of
the wineries, er, wine brands

are diminishing.

The marketing side, presumably,
has become more difficult?

Yes, exactly.
You need to be more creative.

We have a small group of bloggers

who came from Istanbul to see our
festival. A small group of bloggers.

I love it. This country is so rich
and varied, isn't it?

Of course, you have ladies wearing
headscarves doing the picking and

you have bloggers from Istanbul.
It's a very colourful country.

We have different types

of people, different lives,
different beliefs

and we have to learn to live
altogether in respect.

If we can achieve this as a country,
we are, for sure,

will be capable of making much
better wines.

Much better business.
THEY LAUGH

It's all about the business,
isn't it? That's why we're all here.

It feels like different aspects
of Turkey

coexist quite happily here
at this party.

I wonder if this level of harmony

is something I'll see on the rest
of my journey.

I went east,
around the Sea of Marmara,

to a city I love...

..Istanbul.

We're still a hell of a distance
from the centre of the city but...

we're in it. It is huge.

Istanbul is now a proper mega city.

Stretching over more than
2,000 square miles,

Greater Istanbul is now six times
the size of New York.

Ah!

With traffic to match.

The city is home
to 16 million Turks.

It's been the scene of extraordinary
recent events -

terrorist attacks, political crisis
and, of course,

a failed attempt to overthrow

the nation's hugely
controversial leader.

Come and have a look at this.

So, that's the president of Turkey,
President Erdogan.

He's a hugely significant figure
in recent Turkish history,

probably THE most significant figure
in recent Turkish history.

You see his poster up
all around Istanbul,

and that's actually something

that's pretty rare
in a serious democracy.

Opponents often portray the
president as a would-be dictator.

He portrays himself as a devout
Muslim from a humble background

on a mission to make Turkey great.

Under his rule, the country's
experienced dramatic change.

Millions of people from the poorer
east of Turkey have migrated here

to Istanbul,
and they've transformed it.

The new arrivals are mostly
conservative religious families.

Many settled in what were originally
shanty districts within the city.

I think we're here.

CALL TO PRAYER

This is a part of Istanbul
that's away from the tourist trail -

an area of often illegally built
blocks known as Gezi condos,

houses that landed in the night.

I went to meet a family
who call it home.

Merhaba. Merhaba. Merhaba. Merhaba.

'Many outsiders still call this
a shanty town, but domestic life for

'the Jamar family looks
surprisingly comfortable.'

Oh, look. Look at this!

Slippers for visitors.

They're very nice,
thank you very much.

It's the new bride
that does all the work.

I have been in a lot of shanty areas
in a lot of countries on the planet

and, honestly,

this is unlike any I have seen
before.

President Erdogan's success has
been built on improving the lives of

millions of families like this.

He's become a hero to the pious
and the poor,

providing housing,
jobs and growing the economy.

After winning multiple elections,

Erdogan's now arguably

the most successful democratic
politician in the world.

And during the recent failed coup,

when a faction of the Turkish
military blocked bridges and streets

with tanks, his millions of
supporters remained loyal.

The people who live here have not
been forgotten.

They are being looked after,
if you like,

they're being provided with
the essential services of a state.

Sewerage, for goodness' sake!

And if you're the politician
who makes this happen,

you're guaranteed votes.

The religious majority here used
to be often oppressed and silent.

Now they run the government.

Secular Turks worry that religion

will soon rule
every aspect of daily life,

as it does in much
of the Middle East.

Wow.

President Erdogan isn't
exactly reassuring them.

Rising over Istanbul for all to see
is his signature project -

the giant Camlica Mosque.

Look at the scale of it!

This is one of the largest mosques
in the world.

I met up with the man in charge of
the build, Ergun Kalunk.

The president personally asked you
to be involved in the project?

No pressure, then.

The Ottoman sultans were the last
to build huge mosques in Turkey.

Their Islamic empire stretched
from the Middle East to Spain.

Right.

Modern Turkey emerged from the ashes
of the vast Ottoman Empire

and the president makes no secret of
his respect for the Ottoman sultans.

I'd arrived during a landmark
in the build,

the completion of the mosque's
central dome.

Turkish flag goes atop grand mosque.

It's quite a moment.

It's up.

What does that moment mean to you?

It really is going to dominate
the skyline of Istanbul

for centuries to come.

It's extraordinary.

Supporters of it would doubtless say

that it's sort of helping
to rebalance the country,

moving cultural power,
religious power as well,

away from the secular elite and
towards the religious majority.

Critics, of which there are many,

have been a little bit ruder
about it and quite cheeky.

Some of them have said that it's
a vanity project for the president

and have labelled it the Mosque of
Erdogan the Magnificent.

A more charitable view might be

that Ottoman history and Turkey's
Islamic faith are being used

by the president to unify
the country and make Turks proud.

Many love his grand projects
and big vision for Turkey.

It's not just mosques he's building.

Turkey's had a property boom
that has made some here very rich.

Istanbul is now
one of the major bases

around the world for billionaires.

And we're off to meet one.

It might seem like a contradiction,

but while the nation's leaders
stress modesty and piety,

the flash and the super-rich
can thrive here.

We're here.

People like the shy and retiring
so-called king of real estate,

Ali Agaoglu.

HE KNOCKS

Should knock, knock.

Merhaba. Merhaba. Mr Ali.

Merhaba. Merhaba.

Is this your home?

It feels like we're being invited
into a very personal space here.

It's an incredible view,
an astonishing location.

Connected at the highest levels,

Ali is rarely out
of the national newspapers

for his colourful
and extravagant lifestyle.

'Ali's appeared almost from nowhere

'and now owns a 50 acre estate

'in one of the swankiest areas
of Istanbul.'

It's a billionaire's home,
look at this.

The mind just boggles.

Come on.

These aren't your shoes
or your handbags, are they?

'Next, it was his cars.'

Oh, my goodness.

Ali took me to see his latest
and largest development so far.

'Whatever you think of him,
Mr Ali's a powerful man.'

Look at this view.

It is astonishing.

'I wondered what he made
of the changes affecting Turkey.'

It was time for me
to leave Istanbul.

I crossed the Bosphorus from Europe

and began travelling around
the Asian side of Turkey.

So this is the Osman Gazi Bridge.

It's named after the founder
of the Ottoman Empire.

This bridge is part of a number of
projects around the country

that's designed
to connect up Turkey,

connect up the transport
infrastructure, if you like.

Look at this, nothing on the road.

These mega-developments
have cost billions

and been made possible
by enormous borrowing.

SHE SPEAKS TURKISH

HE LAUGHS

Maybe that's why the bridge was
so empty.

It cost us more than 20 quid
to cross it.

President Erdogan wants Turkey to be
one of the world's top ten economies

by the middle of the next decade.

It's a tall order.
Like the empty bridge,

some of his mega-developments
seem to be white elephants,

and during the last few years,
the economy has stumbled.

My route around Turkey was taking me
towards the beaches

and crystal clear waters
of the Aegean Sea.

It looks amazing.

We're just approaching
the Turkish Riviera,

which is the heart
of the Turkish tourism industry.

This is such a classic example
of how the world has changed,

how Turkey has changed
in the last few decades.

You know, you see,
driving down into the town,

you arrive into this
extraordinary bay.

The hills around covered in trees,
absolutely stunning.

You come round here and then you see
what the result of that is -

people want to come
and have a holiday here,

so look at all the hotels
along the front.

This is just a small bit of Turkey's
enormous tourism industry.

It is not just a small part
of the economy,

it is a massive employer and revenue
provider for the entire country.

This is the Turquoise Coast.

HE CHEERS

'40 million tourists come to Turkey
every year.

'At one point,

'it was the sixth biggest tourist
destination in the world.

'Legend has it that Mark Antony
gave this stretch of coastline

'to Cleopatra as his main
wedding gift.'

Wow.

'You can see why.'

It's really stunning.

The country completely
depends on tourism.

But for hotel and boat owners like
our skipper, Ethem Yeet,

times are hard.

Ethem, it's beautiful here.

Thank you. Really gorgeous.

How is business at the moment?

How bad is it getting, are you
having sleepless nights?

Turkey's position between Europe
and the Middle East

makes it strategically vital
but also incredibly vulnerable

to the catastrophes that have
afflicted the region.

War in neighbouring Syria has been
a hammer blow

to millions
in the tourism industry here.

It is weird to be here.

Looking out onto Greece over here,
this is the island of Lesbos.

A year ago, I was on Lesbos watching
as hundreds and hundreds of migrants

and refugees landed there.

It was a complicated
and upsetting situation then,

it remains a complicated
and upsetting situation today.

There is still no solution to it.

There is still war in Syria,

there are still hundreds of
thousands of people

who are refugees,

and, of course, there are plenty
of other migrants on the move

around the world at this time of
unprecedented migration and crisis.

At the height of the crisis,
thousands of migrants and refugees

were leaving Turkey for Europe
every day.

The credibility of the entire
European Union was threatened.

The EU says it stopped the influx
by striking a deal with Turkey

to keep migrants and refugees
in the country

and it's giving Turkey billions
of euros in aid.

I met up with a people smuggler.

He insisted his identity
must be concealed.

At the moment, the flow of
refugees and migrants

across the water to Greece seems
to have almost stopped.

Why?

So it's not the Turkish government
that has switched off the tap,

it's the Macedonian government

closing the border that has really
made the difference?

With European borders
finally closed,

many Syrians believe their best
options are back in the Middle East.

It's not the wealthiest Islamic
states they turn to,

like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait -

many Syrians see
their future here in Turkey.

Good Lord, people are paying

to be smuggled back out of Europe
into Turkey. That's astonishing.

'There are now more than 65 million
people around the world

'displaced by conflict, the largest
number since the Second World War.

'Almost three million Syrian
refugees are living in Turkey.

'Many have found work
in the country's black economy.

'They're hard to track down,
living on the margins of society.'

Jump in, jump in.

'So I met up with Musab Yousef,

'a photographer who's been
documenting the refugee crisis.'

Hi.

He's heard about a group of Syrians

working at a stone cutting factory
inland.

Assalaamu Alaikum.
Assalaamu Alaikum.

Syrians are rarely paid as much
as Turkish workers,

leading to claims businesses are
exploiting a cheap new labour force.

Employers here have said they're
training and often housing Syrians,

which is why they're paid less.

It's very hard to make a judgment on
the morality of this situation

because this is not...

This is not a normal situation, this
is a time of chaos in this region.

The West and the Middle East are not
providing enough support,

so people are going to have
to look after themselves

and they're going to need to earn
some money for their families.

Jassim Mohammed taught electrical
engineering at a technical college

in Syria before he was forced to
flee across the border

with his young family.

I'm sorry to ask,
but why did you leave Syria?

So is this where
you're living now?

Assalaamu Alaikum.
You're living in here?

Is it OK to come in?

Assalaamu Alaikum.
Assalaamu Alaikum. Hi.

Family, family, family.

Wow.

In a building not much
bigger than a garage,

there were dozens of people
living together.

We're near the Turkish coast here,
we're near a coastline from which

tens of thousands of Syrians left to
try and find their way to Europe.

Were any of you planning
to go to Europe?

Turks and Syrians share a faith but
their culture and their language are

profoundly different,

yet Turkey is doing more
than any other country

to host refugees like these.

I wondered what Jassim thought the
future holds for his two boys.

Do you think you'll ever
be able to take them home?

The war across Turkey's southern
border in Syria continues

with devastating effects.

The refugee crisis isn't
the only consequence for Turkey.

The country has been the victim of
brutal terror attacks

by so-called Islamic State,
targeting cities,

the main national airport
and holiday-makers.

I headed back towards Turkey's
glorious Aegean coast to Antalya,

past huge themed hotels built like
palaces, castles and wedding cakes.

There's even one modelled
on the Kremlin.

Well, this really is the resorty bit
of the coastline.

This has the feel, to me, of Dubai.

The perfect storm of crises that
have hit Turkey have come after

many resorts here had
invested heavily

to appeal to wealthier
western and Russian guests.

Wow.

That's a statement all right.

Let's get our bags.

I had come to the most expensive
hotel ever built in Turkey.

Hello. Hi. Welcome to Mardan Palace.
Thank you very much indeed.

'Cetin Pehlivan has been general
manager of the Mardan Palace

'since it opened eight years ago.

'Costing an eye-watering £1 billion,
the hotel has more than 500 rooms.'

Wow, look at the size
of the chandeliers,

I was going to say singular, but
plural. We have five chandeliers.

Sun is shining in Antalya

and Mardan Palace also is shining
with that chandelier.

I look at it and I worry
about the cleaning.

We have a special team for
that. I'm sure you do.

Yeah. I'm sure you do. Yeah.

With 10,000 square metres
of gold leaf...

..and three football pitches
of Italian marble...

..the Mardan Palace appeals
perfectly to guests who like luxury

and a ton of bling.

SIMON CHUCKLES
You've got a gondola here.

Yeah. Of course. And we're going
to go on a gondola? Yeah.

Of course, of course. What could be
more normal? Should be unique.

Merhaba.

Right now when you go to Istanbul

you can see the same
in the Bosphorus. Yeah.

But we're in a gondola
inside your hotel.

Yeah.

Actually, we have not only one
gondola, we have two gondolas.

Every night... Why have one gondola
when you could have two?

The Mardan Palace
employs 1,500 staff.

Thank you.

It has a monthly electricity bill
of a quarter of a million pounds.

With overheads like that,
it needs to fill every room,

especially its most expensive.

Whoa. How much does it
cost to stay here?

Would you like to learn?
Yes, please.

15,000 euro per day.

15,000 euros per day.

Who is this gentleman who's walking
around, who is this?

Your butler.
What do you mean, MY butler?

He will assist you during
your stay, our guest.

Are you suggesting
I am staying here?

I'm staying here? Yeah.

Hello, by the way. Hello.

Merhaba, I'm Simon. Merhaba.
Nice to see you again.

I didn't realise you were
going to be, you know,

accompanying us into the room.
THEY LAUGH

It's... It's...

It's very nice to see you.
Yes, OK. Thank you.

HE GASPS

(Look at this!)

This is the most...

how the other half live place
I think I've ever been to.

Just to be absolutely clear,

we are not paying thousands of
pounds for me to stay in this hotel.

No letters to
Points Of View, all right?

Or the Daily Mail.

A simple breakfast.

Like most tourist businesses here,

the Mardan Palace
is feeling the effects

of the drop in holiday-makers.

It's quite sad to see,
it's really empty out there.

I mean, maybe a dozen
of the sunbeds are occupied.

You're going to have
to find new customers

and some hotels around here

think they've got the answer.

The solution could be a new tourism
market that seems to fit very neatly

into President Erdogan's new,
more religious Turkey.

While the rest of the tourism
industry in Turkey sees a slump,

Ufuk Secgin is an entrepreneur
who sees opportunity.

How is business for you
in Turkey at the moment?

It's booming. Year-on-year, compared
to last year, we doubled our sales.

Doubled? Doubled, yes.

So, Ufuk, is this one of yours?

This is one of our
top-selling resorts, yeah.

Right. This is called
halal-friendly tourism.

Halal-friendly tourism?
Halal-friendly tourism, yeah.

Ufuk runs a booming firm
offering tailor-made holidays

specifically for Muslims.

What did you have to...?

You had to convert it into
a halal-friendly hotel,

no pork and no alcohol, presumably?

Absolutely. No alcohol.

Those are really
the basic requirements.

What we then focus on more
is the facilities.

Swimming pool or...? Yeah.

There's a complete separate swimming
pool for women and one for men

and there's also a mixed zone
as well for families.

So three swimming pools, then? Yes.

And what's this here?

So this is, basically,

behind the walls
that's the area for all the ladies.

So that's the outdoor pool area.

That's the ladies
swimming pool area?

Absolutely.

To cater for Muslims,

the hotel has built a 50-foot
barrier through its existing pool.

It's a high wall here to stop people
seeing in from the rooms over there,

is it? Yeah. I would say that's
the most important thing,

to have the outdoor pool area
100% private.

So what is this area here now?

So this is the mixed pool.

There's a rule in terms
of the swimming dress,

so ladies are wearing a burkini.

The mixed pool for families,

ladies can go there generally
but they would wear a burkini?

Burkini, yes. So inside...

They can wear a bikini.

Behind the wall there. Bikinis in
there, burkinis out there?

Burkinis, yeah. All right.

And so... Usually, people...
It's a common understanding.

Yeah. People who choose
these type of hotels,

they understand and that's actually
why they're coming here

because they know people are
observing the rules.

This hotel used to host
lobster-coloured Germans and Brits.

The wall down the middle
of the swimming pool

is a bit of a shock to me.

I struggle with that.

Demand for halal-friendly
holidays here is rising.

Within the next few years,

the global industry is expected to
be worth almost £200 billion.

The point is that this industry,

this sector of the
industry is booming.

This, clearly,

is the future.

For many here, segregated swimming
pools are part of a larger battle

over women's rights. Many women,
especially in rural areas,

have struggled to achieve
equal rights in Turkey.

The country ranks low on global
studies of gender equality.

Only half of all girls between 15
and 19 are in any kind of education.

Some suggest the
increasing dominance

of traditional Islamic values
won't help matters.

Shall we just stop on
the right here?

Brilliant.

This is a large mosque that's
being built over here.

It's part of a huge programme
of mosque building

across the entire country.

Supporters, I think,

would say that it's a recognition of
the faith of the majority of Turks

who are actually really
rather religious.

Critics would say Turkey could do
with a few more hospitals rather

than yet more places of worship.

More interesting for me, actually,

the workmen have just told us this
is a religious education centre

that's being built.

And religious education here's
hugely controversial.

I'm off to the town of Konya now,

to a religious school
that's agreed to let me visit.

I was heading into the rural
heartlands of Turkey,

to the country's most religious
and conservative city, Konya.

President Erdogan has said he wants
to raise a pious generation,

and religious schools have
proliferated in Turkey

in recent years,

with the number of students rising
from tens of thousands

to more than one and a half
million, an important issue.

The government's proud
of the schools, or so I thought.

So, I've arrived in Konya

expecting I'd be visiting a state
religious school this morning

but at the last moment

the government has pulled the plug
and said no.

Tesekkur.

I was hoping that it would
be a chance to learn more

about the growth of
religious schools in Turkey,

which is happening at quite
a pace at the moment.

I think the fact that we've got here
and then we're told we can't go

to the school might make
a suspicious person think

that the government has
got something to hide.

Certainly, one thing we were told is
that people were worried that if

we saw rows of young schoolgirls
wearing headscarves,

wearing hijabs and studying the
Koran it might make viewers think

that they were looking
at a classroom in Iran.

Many Turks feel the curriculum
in the religious schools

is far too narrow.

The government here hasn't responded
well to their criticism

or to anybody else's.

In fact, freedom of speech is
taking a battering here.

In the wake of the failed coup,
newspapers have been shut down

and Turkey now jails
more journalists

than China and Iran combined.

The remaining pro-government papers

have become a mouthpiece
for the regime.

Foreign media organisations
are also under suspicion.

Unbelievable.
This is the front page main article

on one of the big Turkish newspapers

and the main headline, the banner
headline, is,

"BBC English terror agency."

Apparently the BBC has been
supporting

or supportive of the organisation

which is suspected of having
organised the coup.

And they're basically saying the BBC
has been involved in plotting

against the Turkish government.

It's completely unbelievable.

The BBC can't even...

Well, it struggles to
get Top Gear right,

let alone organise a bloody coup
in another country.

Look at what the increasingly
authoritarian Islamic government

here says about faith,
women, democracy,

human rights, and it can seem the
country's lurching in a direction

many in the West find alarming.

But traditionally this country's
been a moderate force

in the Islamic world.

Turkey's a centre for a mystical
strand of Islam known as Sufism.

Every year, millions come to Konya
to pay their respects at the tomb of

a great Sufi poet and scholar called
Mevlana, who preached tolerance,

love and respect.

It's one of Turkey's holiest sites.

Even the president regularly visits.

Is this, as much as anywhere,
the soul of Turkish Islam?

Esin Celebi is a descendant of
Mevlana and deeply respected figure.

In fact, she's something
of a celebrity.

Why did you want to get your
photo taken with her?

I am...I'm astonished to see
all these police officers.

They've got their feet covered and
they've still got their side arms.

Sufis believe in a loving God,
not a vengeful one.

One of this nation's most famous
symbols is a dance Mevlana inspired.

But it's so much more
fundamental than that.

These are the whirling
dervishes of Konya.

As they spin, they try to connect
their souls to the Almighty.

Their deeply spiritual dance is part
of a Sufi tradition that has helped

to shape the traditionally tolerant
nature of Islam in Turkey.

And I think what I take
away from this is,

fundamentally Turkish Islam,

it is different to how
Islam is thought of

and practised to a certain
degree in other parts of the world.

For example, Saudi Islam,
Wahhabism, which is such a dominant,

powerful force in Islam
around the world.

Rather than fearing the rise
of religion in Turkey,

some leaders here say the world
should welcome it

as a healthy balance to rich,
ultraconservative Islamic nations.

President Erdogan has said a
powerful, pious but moderate Turkey,

certainly when compared to other
countries in the Middle East,

is nothing less than the hope of
the entire Islamic world.

I was coming to the end of the first
part of my journey around Turkey

as I headed to its volatile
and dangerous

southern border with Syria.

Another refugee camp.

And another on the
left-hand side as well.

They're scattered
throughout this region,

housing tens of thousands of men,
women and children.

The Turkish government has built
more than 20 huge camps

hosting around a quarter
of a million Syrians.

It's an extraordinary act of
generosity and friendship.

Turkey's done more than any other
country to give shelter

to the millions of people fleeing
the unfolding tragedy in Syria.

And we are now arriving into one of
the main refugee camps in this area.

Government official Orhan Gurbuz was
keen to show me the facilities.

So it's a fully functioning
small town, effectively?

Exactly. Does the camp...?

DISTANT THUDDING

What was that noise?

Bombing.

That was artillery? I think so.

I'm not expert, but, yeah. No.

It's common here,
we hear all the time.

The hairs on my arms are going up at
that sound because that is the war

and that is just beyond
this wall right here.

And this, in fact, is basically
the Turkish border with Syria.

Just a few miles in that direction
was a so-called Isis stronghold.

The Syrian city of Aleppo
is a short distance that way.

War is raging there right now.

And we're here inside a refugee camp

with children around playing
on their bicycles...

..people going about their business.

It's like a porthole view
into another world.

After four long years of war...

ALL: Bye!

..for many Syrians
this is the closest they'll get

to some kind of normality.

Look at this!

There's a kiddy play area here.

This is really, really unusual.

And there's so many other things
about this camp

that really mark it out -

satellite dishes on loads of the
homes, there is street lighting,

there are fire hydrants,
there is a sewage system,

there's electricity
for people, shops, schools.

They've done something fundamentally
different here

and I do think Turkey
should be congratulated for it.

Some say these are the best
refugee camps ever built.

Turkey spent more than
£8 billion on the refugees.

With help from abroad, they even
hand out cash cards

topped up with credit, so people can
buy what they need in shops.

It's the supermarket.

The cost of all this
has hit Turkey hard,

but there could be
a solid political reason

behind the government's policy here.

President Erdogan has talked
about the possibility

of giving citizenship

to refugees in this country
and, of course,

if he was to grant them citizenship,

it's quite likely that they would
feel rather grateful to him

and would want to vote

for President Erdogan
and his political party.

As predominantly
conservative Muslims,

Syrians might be natural
Erdogan supporters.

There we go -
Turkish language school.

There are signs here that many
Syrians think they won't leave.

Thousands have already
taken advantage

of state-sponsored Turkish lessons.

THEY SPEAK TURKISH

Sir, is it possible to interrupt
for just a couple of minutes,

is that all right?

Why do you think you all need
to learn Turkish?

Who wants to be a doctor?

One, two, three doctors.

Four. Maybe, four doctors.

Five doctors.

Who wants to be an engineer?
Any engineers?

Is the fact that
you are learning Turkish

a sign that you don't think you
will necessarily be able to go home?

We were standing out on the main
street, I suppose, in the camp,

and I was really shocked to hear
the thud, thud of artillery fire.

Turkey is now playing
a key role in negotiations

aimed at ending the war.

Millions of Syrians
have come to see Turkey

as their ally and possible saviour.

It's all part of the country's
increasing global reach.

I have personally been in a number
of struggling and stricken countries

where the Turks are delivering aid,

where they're opening
and running hospitals,

and I think that's all part
of the rise of Turkey,

of Turkey becoming a wealthy and
powerful and influential country.

Turkey's one of the most important
countries on the planet -

a place where East and West meet
and sometimes collide

and with conflict raging in the
Middle East, Turkey, more than ever,

finds itself at the centre
of world events.

My God!

We've just come up a hill just...

The camp is here.

And rockets...

There's outgoing anti-aircraft fire
or rockets,

I'm not sure,
just coming from there.

There's a farmer down there,

look, just wandering
across his field.

There's another tractor just there.

It's extraordinary
how quickly people who live here

become accustomed to it -

how the abnormal becomes the normal.

What happens in Turkey affects
the Middle East, Europe,

the great religions and us all.

And this is where the first leg
of my journey around Turkey ends.

'Next time...'

This is terrifying and awesome
all at the same time.

'..I'll discover some of Turkey's
extraordinary wildlife...'

Oh, my God.

'..I'll see the internal conflict
tearing this country apart...'

It goes on and on,
look at this over here.

'..and I get a speaking role in one
of Turkey's biggest successes.'

What do you think?