Just Turkey

In ancient times, Laranda was located in a stategic place controling one of the acces roads to the Anatolian Plateau. Once the property of the Danışmendids and later of the Seljuk Turks, the city was named after the Karamanoğlu , of Turcoman origins, who had conquered the city ruled during a short period by the Latins and the Armenians.
The seljuks rewarded the Karamanoğlu with a dominion and a city which became the capital of the Karamanid Emirate in 1256.
Thanks to Mehmet Bey in 1277 it became the first Turkish state to use the Turkish language "Türkçe" instead of Persian which had been the official language of the Seljuk sovereigns. Fittingly, Yunus Emre, the first great poet to write in Turkish, lived and died there (1238-1320) : his poetry, language and philosophy shaped Turkish culture and still do so..
The emirate was united to the Ottoman Empire by Mehmet II in 1466. The citadel date from Seljuk times, although the town's most significant buildings, the Yunus Emre Mosque and Tomb, the Araboglu and Aktekke Mosques and the Hatuniye Medrese (which has been transformed into a restaurant serving Turkish traditional cuisine), were all built during the Karamanid period.