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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Turkey sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, held between 7–16 March 2014. This marked the nation's first participation in the Winter Paralympic Games. Turkey sent two athletes; Mehmet Çekiç and Hilmi Esat Bayindirli; both were competitors in alpine skiing. The nation's best finish in any event was 18th, by Bayindirli in the men's sitting giant slalom. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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... that Denis Legerský was allowed to play for the Turkish national ice hockey team in a friendly match in 2014, even though he is a Slovak citizen? (April 11, 2014)
... 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 women's football forward Seyhan Gündüz was capped 32 times internationally, scoring 12 goals, a rate of 0.375 a match? (January 28, 2014)
... that the relics housed within the chapel near the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Istanbul were credited by the Byzantines for victories against the Avars, Arabs, and Rus? (July 15, 2008)
... that Istanbul University Professor Semavi Eyice is regarded as the pioneer of Byzantine studies in Turkey? (April 27, 2012)
... that female karateka Yıldız Aras holds more World, European, and Mediterranean Games champion titles than any other Turkish sportsperson? (November 8, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 250
... that although banned in 1943, the Baklahorani carnival, in Istanbul, revived after nearly 70 years? (January 19, 2012)

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Image 1Cappadocia
Image 2A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 3A tram in Istanbul
Image 4The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 51. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 6Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 7Tünel, Istanbul
Image 8Rize
Image 9The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 10Lahmacun
Image 11Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 12Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 13Antalya
Image 14the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 15Mount Nemrut
Image 16Ölüdeniz
Image 17The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 18Kemer
Image 19An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 20The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 21Atatürk praying
Image 22Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 23A Kocek
Image 24the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 25Safranbolu
Image 26Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 2718th-century Ottoman barber's apron

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Statue of Piri Reis

Ahmed Muhiddin Piri (c. 1465 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis (Turkish: Pîrî Reis or Hacı Ahmet Muhittin Pîrî Bey), was an Ottoman navigator, geographer and cartographer. He is primarily known today for his maps and charts collected in his Kitab-ı Bahriye [tr] (Book of Navigation), a book that contains detailed information on early navigational techniques as well as relatively accurate charts for their time, describing the important ports and cities of the Mediterranean Sea.

He gained fame as a cartographer when a small part of his first world map, prepared in 1513, was discovered in 1929 at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. His world map is the oldest known Turkish atlas showing the New World, and one of the oldest maps of America still existing anywhere (the oldest known surviving map of America is the map drawn by Juan de la Cosa in 1500). Piri Reis's map is centered on the Sahara at the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer. (Full article...)

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Burak Yılmaz 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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Boats in Istanbul

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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