At the moment, essentially all the golf in Turkey is in the Belek area, near the city of Antalya (there is one course in Istanbul and at least two in construction in the resort area of Bodrum). The courses are mostly of a high-ish standard, though there is nothing truly world class there. The whole of the Belek area is sandy pine forest, and was zoned for golf development about fifteen years ago. Bill is right, there are interesting archaeological sites wherever you go in Turkey. Antalya city is fascinating, and the nearby theatre at Aspendos amazing. We made a thousand kilometre road trip across Turkey a few years ago, starting in Izmir and going via Pergamon, Ephesus, Pamukkale and Aphrodisias. The last is the most isolated, but also the most amazing - walking into the stadium, which seated 25,000 people and is almost perfectly preserved, was truly astounding. But you can fly from Istanbul to Antalya easily too.
GCAer Ben Lovett is superintendent at the Montgomerie Maxx resort, where the recent Race to Dubai European Tour event was held. It's a very nice facility - EGD architect Gary Johnson did an excellent job. Tim Lobb and Philip Spogard's Carya course is good too, as is the Faldo project, Cornelia. Perry Dye's Lykia Links is the one course that stands out from the rest, because of the property - it's a perfect piece of natural duneland alongside the sea. I wish he had been a little lighter of touch though - a site of that quality did not need a large lake built between the ninth and eighteenth holes.
Istanbul is one of the world's greatest cities, I love it wholeheartedly. I can hugely recommend the Sirkeci Mansion hotel, which is only a very short walk away from the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia etc - one of the best run small hotels I have stayed in. But the Four Seasons, which is located in the former prison that featured in Midnight Express, is pretty cool too.