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00:00I'm on a journey around Turkey, a land of beauty and extremes.
00:14This is terrifying and awesome all at the same time.
00:19Look at the size of that.
00:24A nation torn by conflict and division.
00:28It goes on and on. Look at this over here.
00:31The war is not something distant at this point.
00:36With an increasingly authoritarian regime.
00:39So just to my left there's a protest developing.
00:43Crushing opposition at home and abroad.
00:46Unbelievable. BBC, English terror agency.
00:51Turkey. It's at the very heart of global events.
00:56On this first leg of my journey, I'll be visiting Istanbul.
01:12Before heading to the turquoise coast of the Aegean Sea.
01:17And on to the border with Syria.
01:22I meet the billionaire cashing in on Turkey's economic transformation.
01:30Syrian families struggling to carve out a new life.
01:37And the country now staking a claim to be a beacon for the entire Islamic world.
02:06I'm on a very windy ferry approaching what's often called the European side of Turkey.
02:13In that direction is Greece and the European Union.
02:16In that direction is the Middle East.
02:19It's the boundary between Europe and Asia.
02:23I landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, on the European side of Turkey.
02:29And then it begins.
02:39Look at this, vineyards.
02:44Wine production isn't something I'd expect to find in an overwhelmingly Muslim country.
02:50Most Muslims believe Islam forbids alcohol.
02:55Many experts think Turkey is the birthplace of winemaking.
02:59Certainly it's been produced here in the region for thousands of years.
03:03But recently, if you can forgive the pun, there's been a bit of a hiccup.
03:10Selim? Marhaba.
03:13How are you? I'm very well. Thank you very much indeed for having us.
03:16It's beautiful. Thank you.
03:18They look good. Look at these.
03:20A few years ago, Selim Eli Alta gave up a successful career in IT
03:24to follow his dream and own a vineyard.
03:27He now employs more than 250 growers, pressers, packers and pickers.
03:32Marhaba.
03:34The weapon of choice.
03:40I will try very hard. I can't even see them. Where are they?
03:44Do I just cut them there?
03:47Happy with that?
03:49It's a little bunch of grapes, but every bit helps.
03:52What's your favourite part, Selim, of the process?
03:55The most joyful part is drinking.
03:58At the end of the day.
04:01We don't have an interest in wine, but we've never tasted it before.
04:06We do our job, but we've never tasted wine before.
04:11We can't eat it, so we throw it in our mouth.
04:31Modern Turkey was founded as a relatively liberal, secular state
04:35where religion was kept in check.
04:37For decades, religious Turks were kept out of many positions of authority,
04:41but now they're in power.
04:43In a strange way, these grapes have come to symbolise
04:48the tensions that exist here in Turkey.
04:51Turkey is home to both people who are pious and conservative
04:56and people who are secular as well, people who look to Europe for their identity.
05:00And in recent decades, Turkey and the Turks have really struggled
05:04about which way this country moves, the direction of the nation.
05:08Does it look to the west for inspiration or to the east?
05:12And that's never really been resolved,
05:15and now alcohol and wine has become the battleground.
05:20It's the start of harvest, so it's time to celebrate.
05:40These are fresh, easy-going, fruity, aromatic wines.
05:47That's really delicious.
05:52Behind the celebrations, these are worrying times for Selim and his wife, Pinar.
05:57Just when Turkish wines were being recognised internationally,
06:00the conservative government started actively discouraging people from drinking.
06:04Tastings, promotions and advertising of alcohol have been banned.
06:09CHEERING
06:14It is a difficult year for the industry, for sure.
06:17It was not a very nice, polite period for me,
06:22and most of the wineries, wine brands are diminishing.
06:28The marketing side, presumably, has become more difficult.
06:31Yes, exactly. You need to be more creative.
06:35We have a small group of bloggers who came from Istanbul to see our festival.
06:40A small group of bloggers. I love it.
06:43This country is so rich and varied, isn't it?
06:46Of course, you have ladies wearing headscarves doing the picking,
06:49and you have bloggers from Istanbul.
06:52It's a very colourful country.
06:54We have different types of people, different lives, different beliefs,
07:01and we have to learn to live all together in respect.
07:07If we can achieve this as a country,
07:10we are for sure will be capable of making much better wines.
07:15Much better business.
07:18It's all about the business.
07:20Classes are over.
07:32It feels like different aspects of Turkey co-exist quite happily here at this party.
07:39I wonder if this level of harmony is something I'll see on the rest of my journey.
07:50I went east, around the Sea of Marmara,
07:55to a city I love, Istanbul.
07:59We're still a hell of a distance from the centre of the city, but we're in it.
08:04It is huge.
08:06Istanbul is now a proper megacity.
08:10Stretching over more than 2,000 square miles,
08:13Greater Istanbul is now six times the size of New York.
08:19With traffic to match.
08:24The city is home to 16 million Turks.
08:29It's been the scene of extraordinary recent events.
08:32Terrorist attacks, political crisis,
08:35and, of course, a failed attempt to overthrow the nation's hugely controversial leader.
08:40Come and have a look at this.
08:44So that's the president of Turkey, President Erdogan.
08:47He's a hugely significant figure in recent Turkish history,
08:51probably the most significant figure in recent Turkish history.
08:55You see his poster up all around Istanbul.
08:58It's actually something that's pretty rare in a serious democracy.
09:04Opponents often portray the president as a would-be dictator.
09:07He portrays himself as a devout Muslim from a humble background,
09:11on a mission to make Turkey great.
09:13Under his rule, the country's experienced dramatic change.
09:17Millions of people from the poorer east of Turkey
09:21have migrated here to Istanbul, and they've transformed it.
09:25The new arrivals are mostly conservative religious families.
09:29Many settled in what were originally shanty districts within the city.
09:33I think we're here.
09:38This is a part of Istanbul that's away from the tourist trail,
09:42an area of often illegally built blocks known as geci kondos,
09:46houses that landed in the night.
09:49I went to meet a family who call it home.
09:52Merhaba. Merhaba. Merhaba. Merhaba.
09:56Many outsiders still call this a shanty town,
09:59but domestic life for the Zomer family looks surprisingly comfortable.
10:03Oh, look. Look at this.
10:06Slippers for visitors.
10:08Oh, they're very nice. Thank you very much.
10:19It's the new bride that does all the work.
10:24I have been in a lot of shanty areas in a lot of countries on the planet
10:28and, honestly, this is unlike any I have seen before.
10:32President Erdogan's success has been built on improving the lives
10:36of millions of families like this.
10:38He's become a hero to the pious and the poor,
10:41providing housing, jobs and growing the economy.
11:02After winning multiple elections,
11:05Erdogan's now arguably the most successful democratic politician in the world.
11:10And during the recent failed coup,
11:12when a faction of the Turkish military blocked bridges and streets with tanks,
11:16his millions of supporters remained loyal.
11:36HE SPEAKS TURKISH
11:48The people who live here have not been forgotten.
11:51They are being looked after, if you like.
11:54They're being provided with the essential services of a state.
11:58Zurich, for goodness' sake!
12:00If you are the politician who makes this happen, you're guaranteed votes.
12:08The religious majority here used to be often oppressed and silent.
12:12Now they run the government.
12:14Secular Turks worry that religion will soon rule every aspect of daily life,
12:18as it does in much of the Middle East.
12:20Wow!
12:22President Erdogan isn't exactly reassuring them.
12:25Rising over Istanbul for all to see is his signature project,
12:29the giant Çamlıca Mosque.
12:31Look at the scale of it!
12:33This is one of the largest mosques in the world.
12:37HE SPEAKS TURKISH
12:39HE SPEAKS TURKISH
13:03I met up with the man in charge of the build, Ergin Kolunk.
13:10This is not just a mosque.
13:12It's a complex of a mosque, a museum, an art gallery,
13:17a library and art galleries.
13:20I've been friends with the president for 45 years.
13:24He told me I was at the heart of this project.
13:28The president personally asked you to be involved in the project?
13:32No pressure, then?
13:34The president calls at two o'clock at night.
13:38Here you are, Mr President.
13:40How is it going?
13:42Very well.
13:44Thank you. Thank you.
13:48The Ottoman sultans were the last to build huge mosques in Turkey.
13:52Their Islamic empire stretched from the Middle East to Spain.
13:58Right.
14:08Modern Turkey emerged from the ashes of the vast Ottoman Empire
14:13and the president makes no secret of his respect for the Ottoman sultans.
14:37HE SPEAKS TURKISH
14:53I'd arrived during a landmark in the build,
14:56the completion of the mosque's central dome.
14:59HE SPEAKS TURKISH
15:07The Ottoman flag goes atop Grand Mosque.
15:13It's quite a moment.
15:38What does that moment mean to you?
15:52It really is going to dominate the skyline of Istanbul
15:56for centuries to come.
15:58It's extraordinary.
16:00Supporters of it would doubtless say
16:03that it's sort of helping to rebalance the country,
16:06moving cultural power, religious power as well,
16:10away from the secular elite and towards the religious majority.
16:15Critics, of which there are many,
16:18have been a little bit ruder about it and quite cheeky.
16:21Some of them have said that it's a vanity project for the president
16:24and have labelled it the Mosque of Erdogan the Magnificent.
16:29A more charitable view might be that Ottoman history
16:32and Turkey's Islamic faith are being used by the president
16:35to unify the country and make Turks proud.
16:38Many love his grand projects and big vision for Turkey.
16:42It's not just mosques he's building.
16:45Turkey's had a property boom that has made some here very rich.
16:49Istanbul is now one of the major bases around the world for billionaires.
16:54And we're off to meet one.
16:56It might seem like a contradiction,
16:58but while the nation's leaders stress modesty and piety,
17:01the flash and the super-rich can thrive here.
17:04We're here.
17:06People like the shy and retiring so-called king of real estate,
17:10Ali Aylulu.
17:12Knock, knock.
17:14Marhaba. Mr Ali.
17:17Marhaba. HoÅŸ geldin.
17:19Marhaba.
17:21Is this your home?
17:24Is this your home?
17:26It feels like we're being invited into a very personal space here.
17:37It's an incredible view, an astonishing location.
17:53There are tenants here.
17:55They'll give you $3,000 and I'll be happy.
18:00Connected at the highest levels,
18:03Ali is rarely out of the national newspapers
18:06for his colourful and extravagant lifestyle.
18:10I invited Kuvet Gölcesi here.
18:12He was the candidate.
18:14I told him to go to hell.
18:16He should go.
18:18He can live on the edge of that shitty Times Square.
18:23Ali's appeared almost from nowhere
18:25and now owns a 50-acre estate
18:27in one of the swankiest areas of Istanbul.
18:31It's a billionaire's home. Look at this.
18:35The mind just boggles. Come on.
18:46These aren't your shoes or your handbags, are they?
18:57Next, it was his cars. Oh, my goodness.
19:04If I'm not mistaken, it's the British economy.
19:07They have the most Rolls-Royces in the world.
19:10If I'm not mistaken, there are 12 Rolls-Royces
19:13and 10 or so Bentleys.
19:17Ali took me to his home,
19:19where he has been living with his family
19:22for the last 15 years.
19:24It's a very positive place.
19:26It's very different.
19:28It's very developed.
19:30Istanbul is now renewing itself.
19:35Ali took me to his home,
19:37where he has been living with his family
19:40for the last 15 years.
19:42It's a very positive place.
19:45Ali took me to see his latest and largest development so far.
20:09Whatever you think of him, Mr Ali's a powerful man.
20:12Look at this view. It is astonishing.
20:17I wondered what he made of the changes affecting Turkey.
20:42Turkey is developing rapidly.
20:45Turkey is developing rapidly,
20:48especially in the recent years,
20:51despite the political situation.
20:54Turkey has a productive economy.
20:57I think Turkey will be a shining star for Europe in the future.
21:07It was time for me to leave Istanbul.
21:11I crossed the Bosphorus from Europe
21:14and began travelling around the Asian side of Turkey.
21:20So this is the Osman Gazi Bridge.
21:22It's named after the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
21:26This bridge is part of a number of projects around the country
21:29that's designed to connect up Turkey,
21:33connect up the transport infrastructure, if you like.
21:36Look at this. Nothing on the road.
21:39These mega developments have cost billions
21:42and been made possible by enormous borrowing.
21:48Maybe that's why the bridge was so empty.
21:51It cost us more than 20 quid to cross it.
21:54President Erdogan wants Turkey to be one of the world's top ten economies
21:58by the middle of the next decade.
22:00It's a tall order.
22:02Like the empty bridge,
22:04some of his mega developments seem to be white elephants,
22:07but in the last few years, the economy has stumbled.
22:13My route around Turkey was taking me towards the beaches
22:16and crystal-clear waters of the Aegean Sea.
22:29It looks amazing.
22:32We're just approaching the Turkish Riviera,
22:35which is the heart of the Turkish tourism industry.
22:53This is such a classic example of how the world has changed,
22:57how Turkey has changed in the last few decades.
23:00You see, driving down into the town,
23:03you arrive into this extraordinary bay.
23:06The hills around, covered in trees, absolutely stunning.
23:10You come round here and then you see what the result of that is.
23:14People want to come and have a holiday here.
23:17So look at all the hotels along the front.
23:20This is just a small bit of Turkey's enormous tourism industry.
23:25It is not just a small part of the economy.
23:30It is a massive employer and revenue provider for the entire country.
23:35This is the Turquoise Coast.
23:4740 million tourists come to Turkey every year.
23:51At one point, it was the sixth biggest tourist destination in the world.
23:56Legend has it that Mark Antony gave this stretch of coastline
24:00to Cleopatra as his main wedding gift.
24:03Wow.
24:04You can see why.
24:06It's really stunning.
24:10The country completely depends on tourism.
24:14But for hotel and boat owners like our skipper, Etam Yigit,
24:19times are hard.
24:21Etam, it's beautiful here.
24:25Really gorgeous.
24:26How is business at the moment?
24:55How bad is it getting? Are you having sleepless nights?
25:18Turkey's position between Europe and the Middle East
25:21makes it strategically vital,
25:23but also incredibly vulnerable to the catastrophes
25:26that have afflicted the region.
25:28War in neighbouring Syria has been a hammer blow
25:31to millions in the tourism industry here.
25:43It is weird to be here.
25:45I'm looking out onto Greece over here.
25:48This is the island of Lesvos.
25:51A year ago, I was on Lesvos
25:54watching as hundreds and hundreds of migrants and refugees landed there.
26:02It was a complicated and upsetting situation then.
26:06It remains a complicated and upsetting situation today.
26:10There is still no solution to it.
26:12There is still war in Syria.
26:14There are still hundreds of thousands of people who are refugees.
26:17And, of course, there are plenty of other migrants on the move around the world
26:21in this time of unprecedented migration and crisis.
26:27At the height of the crisis,
26:29thousands of migrants and refugees were leaving Turkey for Europe every day.
26:34The credibility of the entire European Union was threatened.
26:38The EU says it stopped the influx by striking a deal with Turkey
26:42to keep migrants and refugees in the country,
26:45and it's giving Turkey billions of euros in aid.
26:52I met up with a people smuggler.
26:54He insisted his identity must be concealed.
26:59At the moment, the flow of refugees and migrants across the water to Greece
27:04seems to have almost stopped.
27:06Why?
27:08So it's not the Turkish government that has switched off the tap.
27:12It's the Macedonian government closing the border that has really made the difference.
27:27With European borders finally closed,
27:30many Syrians believe their best options are back in the Middle East.
27:34It's not the wealthiest Islamic states they turn to, like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.
27:38Many Syrians see their future here in Turkey.
28:05Good Lord.
28:06People are paying to be smuggled back out of Europe into Turkey.
28:11That's astonishing.
28:35There are now more than 65 million people around the world displaced by conflict,
28:41the largest number since the Second World War.
28:44Almost 3 million Syrian refugees are living in Turkey.
28:48Many have found work in the country's black economy.
28:51They're hard to track down.
28:53Living on the margins of society,
28:55many of them have been forced to leave their homes.
28:58They've been forced to leave their homes,
29:01They're hard to track down.
29:03Living on the margins of society.
29:07So I met up with Musab Yousef,
29:10a photographer who has been documenting the refugee crisis.
29:16He's heard about a group of Syrians working at a stone-cutting factory inland.
29:30He's heard about a group of Syrians working at a stone-cutting factory inland.
29:52Syrians are rarely paid as much as Turkish workers,
29:56leading to claims businesses are exploiting a cheap new labour force.
30:27Employers here have said they're training and often housing Syrians,
30:31which is why they're paid less.
30:33It's very hard to make a judgement on the morality of this situation
30:38because this is not...
30:40This is not a normal situation.
30:43This is a time of chaos in this region.
30:46The West and the Middle East are not providing enough support
30:50so people are going to have to look after themselves
30:53and they're going to need to earn some money for their families.
30:57Jasim Mohamed taught electrical engineering at a technical college in Syria
31:02before he was forced to flee across the border with his young family.
31:08I'm sorry to ask, but why did you leave Syria?
31:24Is this where you're living now?
31:27Salam alaikum.
31:29You're living in here?
31:31Is it OK to come in?
31:33Salam alaikum.
31:36Family, family, family.
31:39Wow.
31:42In a building not much bigger than a garage,
31:45there were dozens of people living together.
31:48In a building not much bigger than a garage,
31:51there were dozens of people living together.
32:14We're near the Turkish coast here.
32:16We're near a coastline from which tens of thousands of Syrians left
32:20to try and find their way to Europe.
32:22Were any of you planning to go to Europe?
32:47Turks and Syrians share a faith,
32:50but their culture and their language are profoundly different.
32:53Yet Turkey is doing more than any other country to host refugees like these.
33:01I wondered what Jasim thought the future holds for his two boys.
33:17Do you think you'll ever be able to take them home?
33:20The war across Turkey's southern border in Syria continues with devastating effects.
33:46The war across Turkey's southern border in Syria continues with devastating effects.
33:49The refugee crisis isn't the only consequence for Turkey.
33:53The country has been the victim of brutal terror attacks
33:56by so-called Islamic State,
33:58targeting cities, the main national airport and holidaymakers.
34:08I headed back towards Turkey's glorious Aegean coast,
34:12to Antalya, past huge themed hotels
34:16that look like palaces, castles and wedding cakes.
34:19There's even one modelled on the Kremlin.
34:22Well, this really is the resorty bit of the coastline.
34:26This has the feel, to me, of Dubai.
34:31The perfect storm of crises that have hit Turkey
34:34have come after many resorts here had invested heavily
34:37to appeal to wealthier Western and Russian guests.
34:40Wow.
34:42That's a statement, all right.
34:44Let's get our bags.
34:46I had come to the most expensive hotel ever built in Turkey.
34:50Hello. Hi. Welcome to Mardan Palace.
34:53Thank you very much indeed.
34:55Cetin Peleven has been general manager of the Mardan Palace
34:58since it opened eight years ago,
35:00costing an eye-watering £1 billion.
35:03The hotel has more than 500 rooms.
35:06Wow, look at the size of the chandeliers.
35:08I was going to say singular, but plural.
35:10We have five chandeliers.
35:12And Mardan Palace also is shining with the chandeliers.
35:20I look at it and I worry about the cleaning.
35:23We have a special theme. I'm sure you do.
35:25I'm sure you do.
35:29With 10,000 square metres of gold leaf...
35:34..and three football pitches of Italian marble,
35:38Mardan Palace appeals perfectly to guests who like luxury
35:42and a tonne of bling.
35:47You've got a gondola here. Of course.
35:49And we're going to go on our gondola?
35:51Yeah. Of course, of course. What could be more normal?
35:54Marhaba.
35:56Right now, when you go to Istanbul, you can see the same.
35:59Yeah. Prosperous.
36:01But we're in a gondola inside your hotel.
36:07Actually, we have not only one gondola, we have two gondolas.
36:10Every night.
36:12Why have one gondola when you could have two?
36:16The Mardan Palace employs 1,500 staff.
36:21It has a monthly electricity bill of a quarter of a million pounds.
36:26With overheads like that, it needs to fill every room,
36:30especially its most expensive.
36:32So where is it?
36:34Oh, wow. How much does it cost to stay here?
36:37Would you like to learn? Yes, please.
36:3915,000 euros per day.
36:4215,000 euros per day.
36:46Who is this gentleman who's walking around?
36:48Your butler.
36:50What do you mean, my butler?
36:52He will assist you during your stay.
36:54Our guest. Are you suggesting I am staying here?
36:58I'm staying here? Yeah.
37:01Hello, by the way. Hello.
37:03Nice to see you again.
37:05I didn't realise you were going to be accompanying us into the room.
37:09It's very nice to see you.
37:16Look at this.
37:20This is the most how-the-other-half-live place I think I've ever been to.
37:26Just to be absolutely clear,
37:29we are not paying thousands of pounds for me to stay in this hotel room.
37:34No letters to points of view, all right?
37:37Or the Daily Mail.
37:56A simple breakfast.
38:00Like most tourist businesses here,
38:02the Marden Palace is feeling the effects of the drop in holidaymakers.
38:07It's quite sad to see. It's really empty out there.
38:12I mean, maybe a dozen of the sunbeds are occupied.
38:17They're going to have to find new customers.
38:19And some hotels around here think they've got the answer.
38:26The solution could be a new tourism market
38:29that seems to fit very neatly
38:31into President Erdogan's new, more religious Turkey.
38:35While the rest of the tourism industry in Turkey sees a slump,
38:39Ufa is still a place of hope.
38:43While the rest of the tourism industry in Turkey sees a slump,
38:47Ufuk Seskin is an entrepreneur who sees opportunity.
38:51How is business for you in Turkey at the moment?
38:54It's booming.
38:55Year on year, compared to last year, we doubled our sales.
38:59Doubled? Doubled, yes.
39:01So, Ufuk, is this one of yours?
39:04This is one of our top-selling resorts, yeah.
39:07It's called Halal Friendly Tourism.
39:09Halal Friendly Tourism, yeah.
39:12Ufuk runs a booming firm offering tailor-made holidays
39:15specifically for Muslims.
39:17What did you have to do?
39:19You had to convert it into a Halal Friendly Hotel?
39:23No pork, no alcohol, presumably?
39:26Absolutely, no alcohol.
39:28Those are really the basic requirements.
39:31What we then focus on more is the facilities.
39:33Swimming pool?
39:35There's a complete separate swimming pool for women,
39:38and one for men,
39:40and there's also a mixed zone as well for families.
39:43So, three swimming pools there? Yes.
39:46And what's this here?
39:49So, this is basically, behind the walls,
39:51that's the area for the ladies.
39:54So, that's the outdoor pool area.
39:56That's the ladies' swimming pool area? Absolutely.
40:01To cater for Muslims,
40:03Halal has built a 50-foot barrier through its existing pool.
40:07It's a high wall here to stop people seeing in
40:11from the rooms over there, is it?
40:13Yeah. I would say that's the most important thing,
40:16to have the outdoor pool area 100% private.
40:19So, what is this area here now?
40:21So, this is the mixed pool.
40:23There's a rule in terms of the swimming dress,
40:26so ladies are wearing a burkini.
40:29The mixed pool for families, ladies can go there generally,
40:32but they would wear a burkini? Burkini, yes.
40:35So, inside... They can wear a bikini.
40:37..behind the wall there.
40:39Bikinis in there, burkinis out there.
40:41Burkinis, yeah. All right.
40:43So, usually, people, it's a common understanding.
40:46People who choose this type of hotel, they understand.
40:49And that's actually why they're coming here,
40:51because they know people are observing the rules.
40:54This hotel used to host lobster-coloured Germans and Brits.
40:58The wall down the middle of the swimming pool
41:01is a bit of a shock to me.
41:05I struggle with that.
41:07Demand for halal-friendly holidays here is rising.
41:11Within the next few years,
41:13the global industry is expected to be worth almost £200 billion.
41:18The point is that this industry,
41:21this sector of the industry, is booming.
41:24This, clearly, is the future.
41:32MUSIC PLAYS
41:40For many here, segregated swimming pools
41:42are part of a larger battle over women's rights.
41:45Many women, especially in rural areas,
41:48have struggled to achieve equal rights in Turkey.
41:51The country ranks low on global studies of gender equality.
41:55Only half of all girls between 15 and 19 are in any kind of education.
42:00Some suggest the increasing dominance of traditional Islamic values
42:04won't help matters.
42:09Shall we just stop on the right here?
42:11Brilliant.
42:13This is a large mosque that's being built over here.
42:18It's part of a huge programme of mosque-building
42:22across the entire country.
42:25Supporters, I think, would say that it's a recognition
42:28that the faith of the majority of Turks are actually really rather religious.
42:32Critics would say Turkey could do with a few more hospitals
42:36rather than yet more places of worship.
42:39More interesting for me, actually, the workmen have just told us
42:43this is a religious education centre that's being built.
42:47And religious education here is hugely controversial.
42:51I'm off to the town of Konya now,
42:53to a religious school that's agreed to let me visit.
42:59I was heading into the rural heartlands of Turkey,
43:04to the country's most religious and conservative city, Konya.
43:14President Erdogan has said he wants to raise a pious generation,
43:18and religious schools have proliferated in Turkey in recent years,
43:22with the number of students rising from tens of thousands
43:25to more than 1.5 million.
43:27An important issue.
43:29The government's proud of the schools.
43:31Or so I thought.
43:33So, I've arrived in Konya,
43:35expecting I'll be visiting a state religious school this morning.
43:39But at the last moment, the government has pulled the plug and said no.
43:43Teşekkür.
43:48I was hoping that it would be a chance to learn more
43:52about the growth of religious schools in Turkey,
43:55which is happening at quite a pace at the moment.
43:58I think the fact that we've got here and then we're told
44:01we can't go to the school might make a suspicious person
44:05think that the government has got something to hide.
44:08Certainly, one thing we were told is that people were worried
44:12that if we saw rows of young schoolgirls wearing headscarves,
44:16wearing hijabs and studying the Quran,
44:18it might make viewers think that they were looking at a classroom in Iran.
44:25Many Turks feel the curriculum in the religious schools is far too narrow.
44:30The government here hasn't responded well to their criticism,
44:33or to anybody else's.
44:35In fact, freedom of speech is taking a battering here.
44:40In the wake of the failed coup, newspapers have been shut down,
44:43and Turkey now jails more journalists than China and Iran combined.
44:48The remaining pro-government papers have become a mouthpiece for the regime.
44:52Foreign media organisations are also under suspicion.
44:56Unbelievable.
44:58This is the front page main article on one of the big Turkish newspapers,
45:03and the main headline, the banner headline,
45:06is BBC, English terror agency.
45:09Apparently, the BBC has been supporting or supportive of the organisation
45:16which is suspected of having organised the coup.
45:20They're basically saying the BBC has been involved
45:23in plotting against the Turkish government.
45:26It's completely unbelievable.
45:29The BBC can't even...
45:31Well, it struggles to get Top Gear right,
45:33let alone organise a bloody coup in another country.
45:37Look at what the increasingly authoritarian Islamic government here
45:41says about faith, women, democracy, human rights,
45:44and it can seem the country is lurching in a direction
45:47many in the West find alarming.
45:49But traditionally, this country has been a moderate force in the Islamic world.
45:55Turkey is a centre for a mystical strand of Islam known as Sufism.
46:00Every year, millions come to Konya to pay their respects
46:03at the tomb of a great Sufi poet and scholar called Mevlana,
46:07who preached tolerance, love and respect.
46:10It's one of Turkey's holiest sites.
46:12Even the president regularly visits.
46:18Is this, as much as anywhere, the soul of Turkish Islam?
46:42HE SPEAKS TURKISH
46:58Esin Celebi is a descendant of Mevlana and a deeply respected figure.
47:07In fact, she's something of a celebrity.
47:12Why did you want to get your photo taken with her?
47:32I am astonished to see all these police officers.
47:37They've got their feet covered and they've still got their sidearms.
47:42It's amazing.
47:48Sufis believe in a loving God, not a vengeful one.
47:52One of this nation's most famous symbols is a dance Mevlana inspired.
47:58But, um, it's so much more fundamental than that.
48:04These are the whirling dervishes of Konya.
48:07In this spin, they try to connect their souls to the Almighty.
48:12Their deeply spiritual dance is part of a Sufi tradition
48:16that has helped to shape the traditionally tolerant nature of Islam in Turkey.
48:25And I think what I take away from this is fundamentally Turkish Islam,
48:30it is different to how Islam is thought of
48:35and practiced to a certain degree in other parts of the world.
48:39For example, Saudi Islam, Wahhabism,
48:42which is such a dominant, powerful force in Islam around the world.
48:49Rather than fearing the rise of religion in Turkey,
48:53some leaders here say the world should welcome it as a healthy balance
48:57to rich, ultra-conservative Islamic nations.
49:01President Erdogan has said a powerful, pious but moderate Turkey,
49:05certainly when compared to other countries in the Middle East,
49:08is nothing less than the hope of the entire Islamic world.
49:22I was coming to the end of the first part of my journey around Turkey
49:26as I headed to its volatile and dangerous southern border with Syria.
49:43Another refugee camp.
49:45And another one on the left-hand side as well.
49:48They're scattered throughout this region,
49:51housing tens of thousands of men, women and children.
49:57The Turkish government has built more than 20 huge camps,
50:01hosting around a quarter of a million Syrians.
50:04It's an extraordinary act of generosity and friendship.
50:08Turkey's done more than any other country to give shelter
50:11to the millions of people fleeing the unfolding tragedy in Syria.
50:15And we are now arriving into one of the main refugee camps in this area.
50:26Government official Orhan Kabuz was keen to show me the facilities.
50:45So it's a fully functioning small town?
50:48Effectively. Exactly.
50:50Does... Does the camera...
50:54What was that noise?
50:58That was artillery?
51:08The hairs on my arms are going up at that sound because that is the wall.
51:14And that is just beyond this wall right here.
51:19And this, in fact, is basically the Turkish border with Syria.
51:27Just a few miles in that direction was a so-called ISIS stronghold.
51:32The Syrian city of Aleppo is a short distance that way.
51:36War is raging there right now.
51:40And we're here inside a refugee camp
51:43with children around playing on their bicycles.
51:46People going about their business.
51:53It's like a porthole view into another world.
52:02After four long years of war...
52:05CHILDREN SHOUT
52:07..for many Syrians, this is the closest they'll get to some kind of normality.
52:12Look at this.
52:14There's a kiddie play area here.
52:16This is really, really unusual.
52:19And there's so many other things about this camp that really mark it out.
52:23Satellite dishes and loads of the homes.
52:26There is street lighting, there are fire hydrants,
52:29there is a sewage system, there's electricity for people.
52:32Shops, schools.
52:34They've done something fundamentally different here
52:37and I do think Turkey should be congratulated for it.
52:41Some say these are the best refugee camps ever built.
52:44Turkey spent more than £8 billion on the refugees.
52:48With help from abroad, they even hand out cash cards topped up with credit
52:52so people can buy what they need in shops.
52:54It's the supermarket.
53:12THEY SPEAK ARABIC
53:24The cost of all this has hit Turkey hard,
53:27but there could be a solid political reason
53:29behind the government's policy here.
53:32President Erdogan has talked about the possibility
53:36of giving citizenship to refugees in this country.
53:40If he was to grant them citizenship,
53:43it's quite likely they would feel rather grateful to him
53:46and would want to vote for President Erdogan and his political party.
53:51As predominantly conservative Muslims,
53:54Syrians might be natural Erdogan supporters.
53:58There we go. Turkish language school.
54:01There are signs here that many Syrians think they won't leave.
54:05Thousands have already taken advantage of state-sponsored Turkish lessons.
54:09THEY SPEAK TURKISH
54:19Sir, is it possible to interrupt for just a couple of minutes?
54:22Is that all right?
54:27Why do you think you'll need to learn Turkish?
54:31THEY SPEAK TURKISH
54:38Who wants to be a doctor?
54:41One, two doctors, three doctors, four?
54:44Maybe four doctors? Five doctors?
54:48Who wants to be an engineer? Any engineers?
54:52Yes.
54:54Is the fact that you are learning Turkish
54:57something that you don't think you will necessarily be able to go home?
55:22We were standing out on the main street, I suppose, in the camp,
55:26and I was really shocked to hear the thud, thud of artillery fire.
55:34THEY SPEAK TURKISH
55:56THEY SPEAK TURKISH
56:19Turkey is now playing a key role in negotiations aimed at ending the war.
56:24Millions of Syrians have come to see Turkey as their ally
56:27and possible saviour.
56:29It's all part of the country's increasing global reach.
56:32I have personally been in a number of struggling and stricken countries
56:37where the Turks are delivering aid,
56:40where they're opening and running hospitals,
56:43and I think that's all part of the rise of Turkey,
56:47of Turkey becoming a wealthy and powerful and influential country.
56:54Turkey is one of the most important countries on the planet,
56:57a place where East and West meet and sometimes collide.
57:01And with conflict raging in the Middle East,
57:04Turkey, more than ever, finds itself at the centre of world events.
57:13My God.
57:17We've just come up a hill. The camp is here.
57:21And rockets, there's outgoing anti-aircraft fire or rockets,
57:26I'm not sure, just coming from there.
57:31There's a farmer down there, look, just wandering across his field.
57:36There's another tractor just there.
57:38It's extraordinary how quickly people who live here become accustomed to it,
57:44how the abnormal becomes the normal.
57:52What happens in Turkey affects the Middle East, Europe,
57:55the great religions and us all.
57:58And this is where the first leg of my journey around Turkey ends.
58:06Next time...
58:08This is terrifying and awesome all at the same time!
58:13..I'll discover some of Turkey's extraordinary wildlife.
58:18Oh, my God.
58:20I see the internal conflict tearing this country apart.
58:23Look, and it goes on and on. Look at this over here.
58:26And I get a speaking role in one of Turkey's biggest successes.
58:29What do you think?
58:33Scratched beneath the surface of some of the world's amazing hotels,
58:36some of them nine, Giles Corrin and Monica Violetti
58:39reveal life beyond the lobby in a new series.
58:42Michael C Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson
58:45are the leading men of menace in a revenge tale.
58:48More than July is next.