Portal:Turkey

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Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea, Greece, and Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic Turks, while ethnic Kurds are the largest ethnic minority. Officially a secular state, Turkey has a Muslim-majority population. Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city, while Istanbul is its largest city and economic and financial center. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa, and Antalya.

Turkey was first inhabited by modern humans during the Late Paleolithic. Home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe and some of the earliest farming areas, present-day Turkey was inhabited by various ancient peoples. The Hattians were assimilated by the Anatolian peoples, such as the Hittites. Classical Anatolia transitioned into cultural Hellenization following the conquests of Alexander the Great; Hellenization continued during the Roman and Byzantine eras. The Seljuk Turks began migrating into Anatolia in the 11th century, starting the Turkification process. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into Turkish principalities. Beginning in 1299, the Ottomans united the principalities and expanded; Mehmed II conquered Istanbul in 1453. During the reigns of Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From 1789 onwards, the empire saw a major transformation, reforms, and centralization while its territory declined.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in large-scale loss of life and mass migration into modern-day Turkey from the Balkans, Caucasus, and Crimea. Under the control of the Three Pashas, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in 1914, during which the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian subjects. Following Ottoman defeat, the Turkish War of Independence resulted in the abolition of the sultanate and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne. The Republic was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, modelled on the reforms initiated by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II, but was involved in the Korean War. Several military interventions interfered with the transition to a multi-party system.

Turkey is an upper-middle-income and emerging country; its economy is the world's 17th-largest by nominal and 12th-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP. It is a unitary presidential republic. Turkey is a founding member of the OECD, G20, and Organization of Turkic States. With a geopolitically significant location, Turkey is a regional power and an early member of NATO. An EU candidate, Turkey is part of the EU Customs Union, CoE, OIC, and TURKSOY.

Turkey has coastal plains, a high central plateau, and various mountain ranges; its climate is temperate with harsher conditions in the interior. Home to three biodiversity hotspots, Turkey is prone to frequent earthquakes and is highly vulnerable to climate change. Turkey has a universal healthcare system, growing access to education, and increasing levels of innovativeness. It is a leading TV content exporter. With 21 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 30 UNESCO intangible cultural heritage inscriptions, and a rich and diverse cuisine, Turkey is the fifth most visited country in the world. (Full article...)

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Human rights in Turkey are protected by a variety of international law treaties, which take precedence over domestic legislation, according to Article 90 of the 1982 Constitution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was not signed by Turkey until 2000. As of today, however, Turkey is party to 16 out of 18 international human rights treaties of the United Nations. The issue of human rights is of high importance for the negotiations with the European Union (EU).

In 2022, Freedom House rated Turkey's human rights at 32 out of 100 (not free). (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Turkey-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Ankara (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 2Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 3Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of the traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 4Entrance portal of the Karatay Madrasa in Konya (c. 1251) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 5View of Beydağları Coastal National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 6Designed by Şekip Akalın, Ankara Central Station (1937) is a notable art deco design of its era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 7First Ziraat Bank Headquarters (1925–29) in Ankara designed by Giulio Mongeri is an important symbol of the First National Architectural Movement. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 8View of Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 9Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (from History of Turkey)
Image 10The empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (its vassals in pink) (from History of Turkey)
Image 11Istanbul Sapphire (2006–11) is the tallest building in Turkey and 4th in Europe. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 12Kaçkar Mountains (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 13Mount Ararat (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 14Istanbul (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 15Orhan Veli Kanık was the founder of the Garip Movement in Turkish poetry. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 16Istanbul University Faculty of Science and Faculty of Literature Buildings (1944–52) designed by Sedad Hakkı Eldem and Emin Onat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 17Butterfly Valley on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 18The Nation's Library of the Presidency, Ankara (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 19Köppen climate types of Turkey (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 20Turkish delight (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 21Originally a church, later a mosque, and now a Grand mosque, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built by the Byzantines in the 6th century. (from History of Turkey)
Image 22Map of earthquakes in Turkey 1900–2023 (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 23Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847–1914) was another prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 24The Bath-Gymnasium complex at Sardis in Turkey. (from History of Turkey)
Image 25Night view of the Taksim Mosque (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 26Map showing the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault in Turkey. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 27Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca was one of the most prolific Turkish poets of the Turkish Republic with more than 60 collections of his poems published, laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 28Map of Istanbul by the miniature artist Matrakçı Nasuh (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 29Turkish national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 30Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro (from History of Turkey)
Image 31Ankara Opera House, designed by Şevki Balmumcu (1933–34) and renovation by Paul Bonatz (1946–47). (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 32An Oil wrestling tournament in Istanbul. This has been the national sport of Turkey since Ottoman times. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 33Map of the Hittite Empire at its greatest extent, with Hittite rule c. 1350–1300 BC represented by the green line (from History of Turkey)
Image 34The sultan of the golden age, Suleiman the Magnificent. (from History of Turkey)
Image 35Mount Erciyes near Kayseri (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 36Turkish coffee (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 37Namık Kemal was a prominent Turkish poet, novelist, playwright and journalist of the late-19th-century Ottoman Empire. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 38View from Levent district in Istanbul. Istanbul's skyline has changed especially since the early 2000s. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 39Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943. (from History of Turkey)
Image 40Atatürk on the cover of the Time magazine, Vol. I No. 4, March 24, 1923. Title: "Mustapha Kemal Pasha" (from History of Turkey)
Image 41Beaches and marina of Kemer near Antalya on the Turkish Riviera (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 42Thrace and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in its maximum extent under Sitalces (431-424 BC) (from History of Turkey)
Image 43Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 44Tevfik Fikret (1867–1915) was a prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 45Lake Van (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 46The Ottoman Empire in 1683, at the start of the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) (from History of Turkey)
Image 47Sami Frashëri (1850–1904) and his wife Emine, May 1884. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 48Antalya (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 49Anıtkabir designed by Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda (1944–53) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 50Yalikavak Palmarina in Bodrum (2014) designed by Emre Arolat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 51Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC. (from History of Turkey)
Image 52A view of Levent from Kanlıca across the Bosporus (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 53Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1568–1574) (from Culture of Turkey)

Did you know - show different entries

... that Istanbul University Professor Semavi Eyice is regarded as the pioneer of Byzantine studies in Turkey? (April 27, 2012)
... that the ticket lottery site for the December 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert featuring Led Zeppelin, crashed due to over a billion page views of fans seeking to purchase the 20,000 tickets on sale? (January 8, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 198
... that the military prowess of the Tulunid dynasty of Arab Egypt was due to its multi-ethnic army composed of Turkish, Sudanese, and Greek soldiers? (May 10, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 219
... that Hasan Saltık, called "The Anthropologist of Folk Music" by Time magazine, was saved from a three-year jail term because the prosecutor was a fan? (August 31, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 166
... that the 1903 Turkey earthquake killed 3,500 humans and 20,000 animals and registered a magnitude of 7.0? (May 9, 2010)
... that the first uterus transplantation in the world with an organ taken from a cadaver was performed by Dr. Ömer Özkan and his team at the Akdeniz University? (February 8, 2012)
... that local boyars protested against the Russian annexation of Bessarabia after the Russo-Turkish War in 1812, arguing that the Ottoman Empire had no right to cede a Moldavian territory that was not theirs in the first place? (February 3, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 203

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Image 1Rize
Image 2Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 3A tram in Istanbul
Image 4An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 5The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 6A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 7Lahmacun
Image 8Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 9Atatürk praying
Image 10A Kocek
Image 11Safranbolu
Image 121. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 13Ölüdeniz
Image 14the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 15Mount Nemrut
Image 16the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 17Antalya
Image 18Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 19Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 20Tünel, Istanbul
Image 21The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 22The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 23The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 24Cappadocia
Image 2518th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 26Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 27Kemer

Selected biography - show another

Pamuk in 2009

Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; Turkish pronunciation: [feˈɾit oɾˈhan paˈmuk]) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer.

Pamuk's novels include Silent House, The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red and Snow. He is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches writing and comparative literature. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018. (Full article...)

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Burak Yılmaz Piri Reis Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Ahmet Necdet Sezer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Alp Arslan Nureddin Pasha Tuncay Şanlı İsmet İnönü Sıla (singer) Erol Gelenbe Kemal Derviş Hande Yener Sertab Erener Said Altınordu Tarkan (singer) Junayd of Aydın Daron Acemoglu

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A traditional Turkish dance competition in Goreme, Turkey, 2012

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Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

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“

Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women.

”

~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

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Turkish proverbs in Wikiquote

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Recognized content

	Alanya, Byzantine Empire, SMS Goeben, The Turk, List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, Italian War of 1521–1526, Italian War of 1542–1546, List of battleships of the Ottoman Empire, Rhodes blood libel
	2004 Istanbul summit, 2008 Turkish Grand Prix, Battle of Manzikert, Battle of Marash, Battle of Vaslui, Church of St. Polyeuctus, First Crusade, Great Zab, Hood event, Limyra Bridge, Siege of Szigetvár, Night Attack at Târgoviște, Third Perso-Turkic War, Walls of Constantinople, Gallipoli Campaign, Battle of Lone Pine