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 86 million people; most are ethnic Turks, while 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 its founder and 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 11th-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 personnel. 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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Plumes of smoke rising from Smyrna on 14 September 1922

The burning of Smyrna (Greek: Καταστροφή της Σμύρνης, romanized: Katastrofí tis Smírnis, "Smyrna catastrophe"; Turkish: 1922 İzmir Yangını, "1922 İzmir Fire"; Armenian: Զմիւռնիոյ Մեծ Հրդեհ, Zmyuṙnio Mets Hrdeh) destroyed much of the port city of Smyrna (modern İzmir, Turkey) in September 1922. Eyewitness reports state that the fire started on 13 September 1922 and was largely extinguished on 22 September. It began four days after the Turkish military captured the city on 9 September, effectively ending the Greco-Turkish War, more than three years after the Greek landing of troops at Smyrna. Greek and Armenian deaths resulting from the fire and the ensuing massacres were in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

The fire completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city; the Muslim and Jewish quarters escaped damage. The Western European quarter, home to Italian, French, British, and American residents, was also destroyed; its inhabitants were forced to flee as well. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Selection of Turkish food (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 2Lake Van (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 3Aziz Sancar was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (from Culture 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 5Halide Edip Adıvar was a novelist, teacher, and a nationalist and feminist intellectual. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 6Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 7Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1568–1574) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 8Elif Şafak, a prominent writer and LGBT activist. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 9Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (from History of Turkey)
Image 10Topkapı Palace in Seraglio Point (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 11Thrace and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in its maximum extent under Sitalces (431-424 BC) (from History of Turkey)
Image 12Istanbul (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 13Visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to Turkey in October 1917. Together with the Mehmed V and Enver Pasha (from History of Turkey)
Image 14Turkey women's national volleyball team won 22 consecutive matches in 2023. In that period, they completed the Nations League, European Championship and Olympic Qualification Round / FIVB World Cup matches undefeated. Being the first team to do so in history. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 15Istanbul LGBT Pride 2013 at Taksim Square during Gezi Park protests (from History of Turkey)
Image 16Originally 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 17Entrance portal of the Karatay Madrasa in Konya (c. 1251) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 18Kitesurfers in Akyaka, Muğla (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 19Kaçkar Mountains. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 20Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, built by the Balyan family (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 21View of Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 22The sultan of the golden age, Suleiman the Magnificent. (from History of Turkey)
Image 23Map showing the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault in Turkey. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 24A view of Levent from Kanlıca across the Bosporus. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 25An oil wrestling tournament (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 26Köppen climate types of Turkey (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 27100th year anniversary in Republic Day (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 28Antalya (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 29Nuri Bilge Ceylan (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 30A woman in traditional clothing (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 31Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 32Sami Frashëri (1850–1904) and his wife Emine, May 1884. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 33Hıdırellez celebrations (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 34Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847–1914) was another prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 35Map of earthquakes in Turkey 1900–2023 (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 36Namık Kemal was a prominent Turkish poet, novelist, playwright and journalist of the late-19th-century Ottoman Empire. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 37A Turkish belly dancer (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 38Butterfly Valley on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 39Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 40The 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 41Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943. (from History of Turkey)
Image 42Tevfik Fikret (1867–1915) was a prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 43Yalıs along Sarıyer (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 44'Two Musician Girls' of Osman Hamdi Bey. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 45Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro (from History of Turkey)
Image 46Mount Ararat (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 47Mount Erciyes near Kayseri (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 48Turkish national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 49Beaches and marina of Kemer near Antalya on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 50A lady handweaves a carpet in Cappadocia (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 as many as 150 people a year attempt to commit suicide by jumping from either the Bosporus Bridge or Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Turkey? (September 6, 2004) Wikipedia:Recent additions 14
... that the Montreux Convention of 1936 is an international treaty regulating the Dardanelles and Bosporus Straits? (July 8, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 221
... that the church of Hagia Thekla in Constantinople, now a mosque, was rebuilt by Emperor Isaac I Komnenos as thanks for surviving a hunting accident? (January 15, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 200
... that the 1621 Battle of Khotyn resulted directly in the death of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth leader, hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, and indirectly in the death of the Ottoman Empire commander, sultan Osman II? (July 20, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 155
... that the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary Draperis in Istanbul has been leveled by earthquake, forcibly demolished by the Ottoman Government, and destroyed three times by fire? (March 24, 2012)
... that the Mecelle, the Ottoman civil code of 1877, was the first attempt to codify part of the laws of an Islamic state? (January 7, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 115

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Image 1Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 2A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 3Mount Nemrut
Image 4the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 5Tünel, Istanbul
Image 6Antalya
Image 7Cappadocia
Image 8A Kocek
Image 9Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 10Kemer
Image 11Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 12Safranbolu
Image 13The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 14A tram in Istanbul
Image 15Lahmacun
Image 16Atatürk praying
Image 17The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 18the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 1918th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 20An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 21The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 221. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 23Ölüdeniz
Image 24Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 25The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 26Rize
Image 27Tarkan with Hungarian fans

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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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Paragliding in Ölüdeniz area, Muğla

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Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

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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