The history of Turkey encompasses the history of the region now known as Turkey (derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia; including the areas known as Anatolia and Eastern Thrace), from the time of prehistory, through the Ottoman Empire, up to the modern day Republic of Turkey.For times predating the Ottoman period, a distinction must be made between the history of the Turkic peoples, and the history of the territories now forming the Republic of Turkey, essentially the histories of ancient Anatolia and Thrace.