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 Constantinople (now known as 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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Landscape of a section of the Great Zab in Erbil, Northern Iraq (Kurdistan region).

The Great Zab or Upper Zab (Arabic: الزَّاب الْكَبِيْر, romanized: ez-Zâb el-Kebîr; Kurdish: Zêy Badînan or Zêyê Mezin; Turkish: Zap; Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܥܠܝܐ, romanized: zāba ʻalya) is an approximately 400-kilometre (250 mi) long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. During its course, the river collects water from many tributaries and the drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately 40,300 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). The river and its tributaries are primarily fed by rainfall and snowmelt – as a result of which discharge fluctuates highly throughout the year. At least six dams have been planned on the Great Zab and its tributaries, but construction of only one, the Bekhme Dam, has commenced but was halted after the Gulf War.

The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic, and Neanderthal occupation of the Great Zab basin has been testified at the archaeological site of Shanidar Cave. Historical records for the region are available from the end of the third millennium BCE onward. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the Great Zab provided water for irrigation for the lands around the capital city of Nimrud. The Battle of the Zab – which ended the Umayyad Caliphate – took place near a tributary of the Great Zab, and the valleys of the river provided shelter for refugees from the Mongol conquest of Iraq. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Great Zab basin saw frequent uprisings of local Kurdish tribes striving for autonomy. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that Yalçın Granit became the first Turkish basketballer to play in a European team when he went to France for his doctoral studies? (May 8, 2014)
... that it was discovered that about 10,000 Muslim graves in Cebeci Asri Cemetery, Ankara, Turkey were not oriented in the direction required by Islam? (March 29, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 130
... that 29 inmates escaped from Metris Prison in Istanbul through a self-built tunnel while the prison was still under military administration? (March 20, 2014)
... that the Florya Atatürk Marine Mansion
(pictured), built in 1935 as a summer residence for Turkish president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is on the sea about 70 m (230 ft) offshore? (November 14, 2011)
... that the Tigris River's tributary, the Botan in southeastern Turkey, looks during times of peak discharge much bigger than the Tigris? (December 26, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 237
... that the Mosque of Kefeli in Istanbul was used jointly as a church by Roman Catholic and Armenian believers before becoming a mosque? (July 20, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 155
... that Israel expressed objections to the newly launched Turkish reconnaissance satellite Göktürk-2, fearing that high resolution imagery of Israel would eventually fall into the wrong hands? (January 15, 2013)

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Image 11. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 2Mount Nemrut
Image 3An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 4A tram in Istanbul
Image 5Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 6Atatürk praying
Image 7Lahmacun
Image 818th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 9Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 10Rize
Image 11Ölüdeniz
Image 12A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 13Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 14Tünel, Istanbul
Image 15The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 16The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 17Safranbolu
Image 18Kemer
Image 19the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 20Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 21The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 22the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 23Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 24A Kocek
Image 25The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 26Cappadocia
Image 27Antalya

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Yılmaz in 2023

Burak Yılmaz (born 15 July 1985) is a Turkish professional football coach and former player who played as a forward. He most recently coached Süper Lig club Kayserispor.

Yılmaz is one of nine players to play for each of the Big Three clubs of Istanbul, and one of only two players who have played for these three clubs as well as Trabzonspor along with Sergen Yalçın. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
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) Junayd of Aydın Daron Acemoglu

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Lake Bafa Nature Park, 2015

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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