Turkey with Simon Reeve

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,