Portal:Turkey

Merhaba! Türkiye portalına hoş geldiniz. Hi! Welcome to the Turkey portal.

Flag of Turkey

Shortcut

P:TR

Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small 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. 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 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 16th-largest by nominal and 12th-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 force. 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; 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 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Historical peninsula, including the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over 15 million, it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in the world by population. It is a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in Europe and the rest in Asia. Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its area of 5,461 square kilometers (2,109 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province. Istanbul's climate is Mediterranean.

The city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. Byzantium was founded on the Sarayburnu promontory by Greek colonists, potentially in the seventh century BC. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires: the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold and the seat of the last caliphate. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital in Ankara, palaces and imperial mosques still line Istanbul's hills as visible reminders of the city's previous central role. The historic centre of Istanbul is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that the Turkish military coup of 1971 is known as a coup by memorandum? (August 10, 2004) Wikipedia:Recent additions 13
... that the prices of goods in the Phrygian city of Aizanoi were controlled by an edict of Roman emperor Diocletian? (May 18, 2012)
... that the Milion
(pictured) of Constantinople was the origin of all the roads into the European cities of the Byzantine Empire? (February 27, 2008)
... that ten days before the ratification of the Peace of Szeged, Vladislaus, King of Hungary, swore an oath which invalidated it and all future treaties with the Ottoman Empire? (May 25, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 143
... that the Cossack Hetman and the later Muscovite voyevoda Petro Doroshenko signed a treaty with Sultan Mehmed IV recognizing the Cossack Hetmanate as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire? (March 8, 2006) Wikipedia:Recent additions 56
... that modern nursing was founded by Florence Nightingale at the Selimiye Barracks in Istanbul, Turkey during the Crimean War (1854-1856)? (May 22, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 142
... that the Vefa Kilise Mosque
(pictured) in Istanbul is one of the first examples of byzantine churches of Constantinople which were converted into mosques by the Ottomans? (July 13, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 154

More did you know

edit

Selected picture

Image 1Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 2A Kocek
Image 3Mount Nemrut
Image 4Ölüdeniz
Image 5Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 6Cappadocia
Image 7the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 8Lahmacun
Image 9The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 10The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 11Safranbolu
Image 12Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 13Tünel, Istanbul
Image 14An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 15Antalya
Image 16Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 17A tram in Istanbul
Image 18Kemer
Image 19The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 20A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 21Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 22the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 23The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 24Atatürk praying
Image 2518th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 261. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 27Rize

Selected biography - show another

Sıla in 2011

Sıla Gençoğlu (born 17 June 1980) is a Turkish singer-songwriter. She was born in Acıpayam, Denizli, and later moved to İzmir and then to Istanbul to finish her studies. She started to learn performing arts at high school. After studying jazz at Istanbul Bilgi University, she became a backing vocalist for Kenan Doğulu.

Sıla released her self-titled debut album in 2007. The song "...Dan Sonra" became a number-one hit on Türkçe Top 20, and after critical and commercial success she released the albums İmza (2009), Konuşmadığımız Şeyler Var (2010), Vaveyla (2012), Yeni Ay (2014) and Mürekkep (2016) all of which were praised by fans and critics alike. A number of songs in these albums, including "Sevişmeden Uyumayalım", "Acısa da Öldürmez", "Kafa", "Boş Yere", "Vaziyetler", "Yabancı" and "Hediye", became number-one hits in Turkey. The songs "Yoruldum", "İmkânsız" and "Zor Sevdiğimden" ranked among the top five on Turkey's music charts. (Full article...)

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

edit

Selected video - show another

Paragliding in Ölüdeniz area, Muğla

More selected videos
Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

edit

Selected quote - show another

“

Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women.

”

~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

More selected quotes
Turkish proverbs in Wikiquote

edit

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