Portal:Turkey

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Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly 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 (and Cyprus) 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 its economic and financial center, as well as the largest city in Europe. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa and Antalya.

Human habitation began in 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. Hattians were assimilated by the Anatolian peoples. 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 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. Coups in 1960 and 1980 interrupted the transition to a multi-party system.

Turkey is an upper-middle-income and emerging country; its economy is the world's 18th-largest by nominal and 11th-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 universal healthcare, growing access to education, and increasing 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 fourth 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 1Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC. (from History of Turkey)
Image 2Istanbul Sapphire (2006–11) is the tallest building in Turkey and 4th in Europe. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 3Night view of the Taksim Mosque (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 4Map showing the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault in Turkey. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 5Anıtkabir designed by Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda (1944–53) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 6Map of earthquakes in Turkey 1900–2023 (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 7Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 8Turkish coffee (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 9Yalikavak Palmarina in Bodrum (2014) designed by Emre Arolat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 10An Oil wrestling tournament in Istanbul. This has been the national sport of Turkey since Ottoman times. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 11Lake Van (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 12Ortaköy Mosque in the first quarter of the 20th century (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 13Namık Kemal was a prominent Turkish poet, novelist, playwright and journalist of the late-19th-century Ottoman Empire. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 14One of the main entrance gates of the Dolmabahçe Palace. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 15The 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 16View from Levent district in Istanbul. Istanbul's skyline has changed especially since the early 2000s. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 17Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 18First 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 19Butterfly Valley on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 20The Ishak Pasha Palace, Eastern Turkey. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 21Atatürk on the cover of the Time magazine, Vol. I No. 4, March 24, 1923. Title: "Mustapha Kemal Pasha" (from History of Turkey)
Image 22Mount Erciyes near Kayseri (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 23The Bath-Gymnasium complex at Sardis in Turkey. (from History of Turkey)
Image 24Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro (from History of Turkey)
Image 25Antalya (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 26Mount Ararat (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 27Istanbul (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 28Tevfik Fikret (1867–1915) was a prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 29Interior of the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 30View of Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 31Ankara (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 32Ankara Opera House, designed by Şevki Balmumcu (1933–34) and renovation by Paul Bonatz (1946–47). (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 33The Ottoman Empire in 1683, at the start of the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) (from History of Turkey)
Image 34View of Beydağları Coastal National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 35Originally 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 36Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (from History of Turkey)
Image 37Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847–1914) was another prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 38Turkish delight (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 39Turkish national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 40Adnan Menderes, İsmet İnönü, and the other members of the Parliament wearing a white tie and top hat. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 41Designed by Şekip Akalın, Ankara Central Station (1937) is a notable art deco design of its era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 42Beaches and marina of Kemer near Antalya on the Turkish Riviera (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 43A view from the interior of a traditional Turkish house, by John Frederick Lewis (1805–1875) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 44Map 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 45Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943. (from History of Turkey)
Image 46The Fountain of Ahmed III is an iconic example of Tulip period architecture (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 47Istanbul University Faculty of Science and Faculty of Literature Buildings (1944–52) designed by Sedad Hakkı Eldem and Emin Onat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 48Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of the traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 49Kaçkar Mountains (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 50Thrace and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in its maximum extent under Sitalces (431-424 BC) (from History of Turkey)
Image 51The sultan of the golden age, Suleiman the Magnificent. (from History of Turkey)
Image 52Sami Frashëri (1850–1904) and his wife Emine, May 1884. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 53Topkapı Palace, Istanbul. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 54A view of Levent from Kanlıca across the Bosporus (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 55Köppen climate types of Turkey (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 56Fazıl 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 57The Nation's Library of the Presidency, Ankara (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 58Orhan Veli Kanık was the founder of the Garip Movement in Turkish poetry. (from Culture of Turkey)

Did you know - show different entries

... that the land of Haydarpaşa Cemetery, a burial ground in Istanbul, Turkey for British Commonwealth soldiers from three wars, belonged to Suleiman the Magnificent? (May 16, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 141
... that the British Levant Company avoided a fatal mistake of other chartered companies by paying their consuls and ambassadors a pension, so that they would not impose taxes on merchants for personal gain? (June 18, 2006) Wikipedia:Recent additions 72
... that Trdat the Architect reconstructed the dome of the Hagia Sophia in 989 and built the Cathedral of Ani? (January 6, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 115
... that Mehmet Gürs, a Turkish chef of Scandinavian descent, called his Istanbul restaurant Mikla, which is derived from Miklagard, the Viking name of the city in the 10th century? (November 15, 2012)
... that footballer Hasan Ahmet Sari left Istanbul with his family after living through the 1999 İzmit earthquake? (August 18, 2011)
... that following the assassination of Diyarbakır police chief Gaffar Okkan in 2001, more than a hundred babies were named after him? (February 7, 2014)
... that the Xhosa Wars veteran Stephen Bartlett Lakeman
(pictured) became an Ottoman pasha and, late in his life, helped create the Romanian National Liberal Party? (June 5, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 145

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Image 1A Kocek
Image 2Cappadocia
Image 3Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 4The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 5The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 6The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 7Tünel, Istanbul
Image 8Atatürk praying
Image 9the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 10Mount Nemrut
Image 11A tram in Istanbul
Image 12Lahmacun
Image 13Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 14A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 15Antalya
Image 16the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 17Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 1818th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 191. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 20Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 21Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 22Rize
Image 23Kemer
Image 24An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 25The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 26Safranbolu
Image 27Ölüdeniz

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Tuncay in 2016

Tuncay Volkan Şanlı (Turkish pronunciation: [tunˈdʒaj ˈʃanɫɯ]; born 16 January 1982), often known mononymously as Tuncay, is a Turkish former footballer and the current manager of Turkish club Sakaryaspor.

He naturally played as a striker, but was also positioned as an attacking midfielder and on either wing. He was in the Turkey team that finished in third place in both the 2003 Confederations Cup and the 2008 European Championships. With 22 international goals in 80 caps, he is Turkey's third-highest scorer of all time, and tenth-most capped player. (Full article...)

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

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Boats in Istanbul

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Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

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“

A satiated man doesn't know what's hunger, a healthy man doesn't know what's disease.

”

Turkish proverb

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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