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 incoming Anatolian peoples. Increasing diversity during 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. After its defeat, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned. The Turkish War of Independence resulted in the abolition of the sultanate in 1922 and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. 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 18th- or 11th-largest in the world. 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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Turkish art (Turkish: Türk sanatı) refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical area of what is present day Turkey since the arrival of the Turks in the Middle Ages. Turkey also was the home of much significant art produced by earlier cultures, including the Hittites, Ancient Greeks, and Byzantines. Ottoman art is therefore the dominant element of Turkish art before the 20th century, although the Seljuks and other earlier Turks also contributed. The 16th and 17th centuries are generally recognized as the finest period for art in the Ottoman Empire, much of it associated with the huge Imperial court. In particular the long reign of Suleiman the Magnificent from 1520 to 1566 brought a combination, rare in any ruling dynasty, of political and military success with strong encouragement of the arts.

The nakkashane, as the palace workshops are now generally known, were evidently very important and productive, but though there is a fair amount of surviving documentation, much remains unclear about how they operated. They operated over many different media, but apparently not including pottery or textiles, with the craftsmen or artists apparently a mixture of slaves, especially Persians, captured in war (at least in the early periods), trained Turks, and foreign specialists. They were not necessarily physically located in the palace, and may have been able to undertake work for other clients as well as the sultan. Many specialities were passed from father to son. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that the Esma Sultana Mansion
(pictured) , a multipurpose event venue in Istanbul, Turkey, looks ruined because only its interior was reconstructed after a 1975 fire? (December 1, 2008)
... that the Montreux Convention of 1936 is an international treaty regulating the Dardanelles and Bosporus Straits? (July 8, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 221
... that although banned in 1943, the Baklahorani carnival, in Istanbul, revived after nearly 70 years? (January 19, 2012)
... that the site of Endymion's cave, where Selene's beloved sleeps forever, a sanctuary on the slopes of Latmus, still exists in Aydin Province, southwestern Turkey? (January 11, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 199
... that as requested in his will, the grave of Turkish folk singer Neşet Ertaş was placed at the foot of his father's? (November 14, 2012)
... that former Turkish Minister of Customs and Monopolies, Tuncay Mataracı, was sentenced in 1982 to a 36-year term of imprisonment for bribery and abuse of power? (February 24, 2014)
... that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(pictured), founder of the Republic of Turkey, established the first commercial Turkish winery in 1925? (December 20, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 193

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Image 1Atatürk praying
Image 2Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 3Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 4Tünel, Istanbul
Image 5Kemer
Image 6Ölüdeniz
Image 718th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 8Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 9The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 10Mount Nemrut
Image 11Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 12Lahmacun
Image 13Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 14A Kocek
Image 15A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 16The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 17Cappadocia
Image 18A tram in Istanbul
Image 19The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 20Rize
Image 21Antalya
Image 22Safranbolu
Image 23An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 241. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 25The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 26the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 27the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne

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Sami Erol Gelenbe (born 22 August 1945, Istanbul), a Turkish and French computer scientist, electronic engineer and applied mathematician, pioneered the field of Computer System and Network Performance. Currently Professor in the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2017- ), he is also an Associate Researcher in the I3S Laboratory (CNRS, University of Côte d'Azur, Nice) and Abraham de Moivre Laboratory (CNRS, Imperial College). Fellow of several National Academies, he Chairs the Informatics Section of Academia Europaea since 2023. His previous Professorial Chairs include the University of Liège (1974-1979), University Paris-Saclay (1979-1986), University Paris Descartes (1986-2005), NJIT (1991–93), ECE Chair at Duke University (1993-1998), University Chair Professor and Director of EECS, University of Central Florida (1998-2003), and Dennis Gabor Professor and Head of Intelligent Systems and Networks, Imperial College (2003-2019). (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 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