Portal:Turkey

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Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small 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. Istanbul is its largest city and economic center. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa, and Antalya.

First inhabited by modern humans during the Late Paleolithic, present-day Turkey was home to various ancient peoples. The Hattians were assimilated by the Hittites and other Anatolian peoples. Classical Anatolia transitioned into cultural Hellenization after Alexander the Great's conquests, and later Romanization 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 Constantinople (modern-day 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 major changes, reforms, centralization, and rising nationalism 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. Turkey emerged as a more homogenous nation state. 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 16th-largest by nominal and 12th-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP. As the 15th-largest electricity producer in the world, Turkey aims to become a hub for regional energy transportation. 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 NATO member and has its second-largest military force. It may be recognized as an emerging, a middle, and a regional power. As an EU candidate, Turkey is part of the EU Customs Union.

Turkey has coastal plains, a high central plateau, and various mountain ranges with rising elevation eastwards. Turkey's climate is diverse, ranging from Mediterranean and other temperate climates to semi-arid and continental types. 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 numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites and intangible cultural heritage inscriptions, and a rich and diverse cuisine, Turkey is the fourth most visited country in the world. (Full article...)

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The mass media in Turkey includes a wide variety of domestic and foreign periodicals. 90% of the media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few pro-government media groups. Inevitably censorship in Turkey is an issue, and in the 21st century many journalists have been arrested and writers prosecuted. On Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index it has fallen from being ranked around 100 in 2005 to around 159 in 2025.

In reaction to the failed coup d'état on 15 July 2016, over 150 media organisations, including newspapers, television and radio channels, news agencies, magazines and publishing houses, have been closed by the government of Turkey, and 160 journalists have been jailed. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 634 on 8 January 2003 was the worst crash involving a BAe 146? (January 4, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 238
... that the broken top of the Aviation Martyrs' Monument in Istanbul is to symbolize the incomplete status of the flight missions? (September 21, 2010)
... that according to US and Turkish officials, the MV Kısmetim-1 was deliberately sunk in December 1992 by its crew in order to prevent the capture of the illicit drug load? (February 1, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 239
... that Mevlüde Genç, a Turk living in Germany who had lost five of her family members to Neo-Nazi violence in the Solingen arson attack of 1993, went on to advocate tolerance between Turks and Germans? (June 1, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 219
... that the Church of St. George of Samatya in Istanbul may have been given to the Armenian community because of the intercession of a favorite of Sultan Ibrahim? (October 22, 2011)
... that Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes survived the 1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash almost uninjured, but was executed by hanging a year and a half later? (January 5, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 198
... that the Mosque of the Rose in Istanbul is so named because on the day of the Fall of Constantinople the building was adorned with garlands of roses? (November 27, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 190

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Image 1Tünel, Istanbul
Image 2Antalya
Image 3the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 4Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 5Mount Nemrut
Image 618th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 7The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 81. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 9Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 10The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 11A tram in Istanbul
Image 12The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 13Atatürk praying
Image 14The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 15Lahmacun
Image 16Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 17Kemer
Image 18Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 19Cappadocia
Image 20Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 21A Kocek
Image 22Ölüdeniz
Image 23An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 24Rize
Image 25A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 26the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 27Safranbolu

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Juneyd or Junayd Bey (Turkish: İzmiroğlu Cüneyd Bey; fl. 1402 – 1425) was the last ruler (bey) of the Aydınid principality in what is now central western Turkey. His exact relationship with the Aydınid dynasty is unclear. His father was a long-time and popular governor of Smyrna under the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I. This allowed Junayd to consistently rely on the loyalty of the area's populace.

Bayezid was defeated by Timur at the Battle of Ankara, beginning a civil war for succession between his sons – a period known as the "Ottoman Interregnum". Taking advantage of the situation, Junayd attacked the Aydınid brothers, Isa and Umur II, who had been restored by Timur. By early 1406, Isa and Umur were dead and Junayd was the undisputed ruler of the former Aydınid domains. Like all the rulers of the region, Muslim and Christian alike, Junayd was also an active participant in the civil war between Bayezid's sons İsa, Süleyman, Musa and Mehmed, in which he changed his allegiance several times. He supported İsa against Mehmed, and became a vassal of Süleyman. His persistent attempts to exploit the conflict to broaden his power and independence forced Süleyman to send him as provincial governor of Ohrid in Rumeli in 1410. After Süleyman's overthrow and death in 1411 at the hands of his brother Musa, Junayd returned to Anatolia and seized Smyrna, but had to recognize the suzerainty of Mehmed. During Mehmed's absence in Rumeli to campaign against Musa, Junayd reclaimed his independence and attacked his neighbouring rulers. As a result, in 1414 Mehmed led a regional coalition against Junayd. Junayd's mother was able to save his life, but once again Junayd was dispossessed and sent to Rumeli as governor of Nicopolis. From there, he joined the unsuccessful rebellion of Mustafa Çelebi, until the Byzantines agreed to intern him and Mustafa in 1416. (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) Orhan Pamuk Erol Gelenbe Kemal Derviş Hande Yener Sertab Erener Said Altınordu Tarkan (singer) Daron Acemoglu

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Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey

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“

Today the Soviet Union is a friend and an ally. We need this friendship. However, no one can know what will happen tomorrow. Just like the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires it may tear itself apart or shrink in size. The people that it holds so tightly in its grip may one day slip away. The world may see a new balance of power. It is then that Turkey must know what to do. Ally Soviets have under their control our brothers with whom we share language, beliefs and roots. We must be prepared to embrace them. Being ready does not mean that we will sit quietly and wait. We must get ready. How does a people get prepared for such an endeavour? By strengthening the natural bridges that exist between us. Language is a bridge... Religion is a bridge... History is a bridge... We must delve into our roots and reconstruct what history has divided. We can't wait for them to approach us. We must reach out to them.

”

29 October 1933 ~ 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