How can you sum up such a rich and fascinating country? Can just 21 photographs encapsulate hundreds of years of history, a near cultist devotion to their modern founder, a burgeoning wine industry, a secular yet Islamist society, and a country containing hugely friendly and welcoming people, a country I spent just a few days in for a wine conference?

A country where the Euro is almost as readily accepted as the local Lira, where ‘Genuine Fake Watches’ are hawked to cruise ship-disgorged tourists and where the famed splendours of Haghia Sophia and Ephesus really do match the hype. And where the main cities (Istanbul and Izmir) feel very European but where the interior is anything but.

Here are my twenty photographs that try to encapsulate the ‘third strand’ of a successful European Wine Bloggers Conference (the other two being the wine and food of Turkey and the hundreds of people who attended the EWBC or welcomed us to their restaurants, wineries or hotels).

From the conference venue, to the wild country of Cappadocia; street food and Ataturk devotion; World Heritage protected frescos and cats. Let’s not forget the cats.

The EWBC 2012 – Turkey (European Wine Bloggers Conference) was held in Izmir, Turkey. Many attendees explored Istanbul and enjoyed trips out to the wine growing regions. For many the highlight of these trips, at least those who went to Cappadocia, was the dawn balloon ride…