Portal:Turkey

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Merhaba! Türkiye portalına hoşgeldiniz. Hi! Welcome to the Turkey portal.

Flag of Turkey

Shortcut

P:TR

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Map of Antioch in Roman and early Byzantine times

Antioch on the Orontes (/ˈænti.ɒk/; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, romanized: Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou, pronounced [anti.ó.kʰeː.a]) was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. It was one of the greatest and most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period. The city served as the capital of the Greek Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades, Antioch served as the capital of the Principality of Antioch, one of four Crusader states that were founded in the Levant. The modern city of Antakya, in Hatay Province of Turkey, was named after the ancient city, which lies in ruins on the Orontes River and did not overlap in habitation with the modern city.

Antioch was founded near the end of the fourth century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, as one of the tetrapoleis of Seleucis of Syria. Seleucus encouraged Greeks from all over the Mediterranean to settle in the city. The city's location offered geographical, military, and economic benefits to its occupants; Antioch was heavily involved in the spice trade and lay within close reach of the Silk Road and the Royal Road. The city was the capital of the Seleucid Empire from 240 BC until 63 BC, when the Romans took control, making it the capital of the province of Syria and later of Coele Syria. During the late Hellenistic and Roman Principate periods, Antioch's population may have reached a peak of over 500,000 inhabitants (most generally estimate between 200,000 and 250,000), making the city the third largest in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria and one of the most important cities in the eastern Mediterranean. From the early fourth century, Antioch was the seat of the Count of the Orient, head of the Diocese of the East. The Romans provided the city with walls that encompassed almost 450 hectares (1,100 acres), of which one quarter was mountainous, leaving 300 ha (750 acres) – about one-fifth the area of Rome within the Aurelian Walls. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

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

Image 1Ankara (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 2Mount Erciyes near Kayseri (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 3View from Levent district in Istanbul. Istanbul's skyline has changed especially since the early 2000s. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 4One of the main entrance gates of the Dolmabahçe Palace. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 5Köppen climate types of Turkey (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 6The 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 7Turkish delight (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 8Adnan Menderes, İsmet İnönü, and the other members of the Parliament wearing a white tie and top hat. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 9An Oil wrestling tournament in Istanbul. This has been the national sport of Turkey since Ottoman times. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 10Turkish national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 11A view of Levent from Kanlıca across the Bosporus (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 12Lake Van (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 13Orhan Veli Kanık was the founder of the Garip Movement in Turkish poetry. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 14Fazıl 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 15Istanbul Sapphire (2006–11) is the tallest building in Turkey and 4th in Europe. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 16Istanbul University Faculty of Science and Faculty of Literature Buildings (1944–52) designed by Sedad Hakkı Eldem and Emin Onat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 17The Ottoman Empire in 1683, at the start of the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) (from History of Turkey)
Image 18Beaches and marina of Kemer near Antalya on the Turkish Riviera (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 19Sami Frashëri (1850–1904) and his wife Emine, May 1884. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 20Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (from History of Turkey)
Image 21Namık Kemal was a prominent Turkish poet, novelist, playwright and journalist of the late-19th-century Ottoman Empire. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 22Map showing the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault in Turkey. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 23View of Beydağları Coastal National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 24Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of the traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 25Originally 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 26Topkapı Palace, Istanbul. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 27Night view of the Taksim Mosque (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 28Anıtkabir designed by Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda (1944–53) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 29Butterfly Valley on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 30Interior of the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 31Ankara Opera House, designed by Şevki Balmumcu (1933–34) and renovation by Paul Bonatz (1946–47). (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 32Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943. (from History of Turkey)
Image 33Thrace and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in its maximum extent under Sitalces (431-424 BC) (from History of Turkey)
Image 34Atatürk on the cover of the Time magazine, Vol. I No. 4, March 24, 1923. Title: "Mustapha Kemal Pasha" (from History of Turkey)
Image 35Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro (from History of Turkey)
Image 36The Nation's Library of the Presidency, Ankara (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 37Kaçkar Mountains (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 38Antalya (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 39View of Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 40Mount Ararat (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 41The sultan of the golden age, Suleiman the Magnificent. (from History of Turkey)
Image 42Yalikavak Palmarina in Bodrum (2014) designed by Emre Arolat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 43Ortaköy Mosque in the first quarter of the 20th century (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 44Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847–1914) was another prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 45A view from the interior of a traditional Turkish house, by John Frederick Lewis (1805–1875) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 46The Bath-Gymnasium complex at Sardis in Turkey. (from History of Turkey)
Image 47Tevfik Fikret (1867–1915) was a prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 48The Ishak Pasha Palace, Eastern Turkey. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 49Designed by Şekip Akalın, Ankara Central Station (1937) is a notable art deco design of its era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 50Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 51The Fountain of Ahmed III is an iconic example of Tulip period architecture (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 52Map of earthquakes in Turkey 1900–2023 (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 53Istanbul (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 54First 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 55Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC. (from History of Turkey)
Image 56Turkish coffee (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 57Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 58Map of the Hittite Empire at its greatest extent, with Hittite rule c. 1350–1300 BC represented by the green line (from History of Turkey)

Did you know - show different entries

... that the Şeyh Süleyman Mosque in Istanbul was almost certainly an annex of Constantinople's Monastery of Pantokrator in the Byzantine Age? (December 8, 2010)
... that Muhtar Kent, named to assume the post of CEO of the Coca-Cola Company on July 1, 2008, is the son of a Turkish diplomat, who risked his life to save Jews in France during the Holocaust? (December 15, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 191
... that the Hood Event was an incident following the US invasion of Iraq where a group of Turkish special forces operating in northern Iraq was captured and interrogated by the US military, later becoming the basis for the 2006 film Valley of the Wolves Iraq? (February 24, 2006) Wikipedia:Recent additions 55
... that, when completed, the Deriner Dam will be the tallest in Turkey? (September 7, 2010)
... that Turkish political parties cancelled their rallies ahead of the local elections in respect of the death of Yazıcıoğlu, leader of the Great Union Party, in the 2009 Medair TC-HEK helicopter crash? (April 17, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 243
... 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 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

More did you know

edit

Selected picture

Image 118th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 2Atatürk praying
Image 3Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 4Ölüdeniz
Image 5Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 6Antalya
Image 7Tünel, Istanbul
Image 8Cappadocia
Image 9A Kocek
Image 10A tram in Istanbul
Image 11The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 12A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 13the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 141. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 15Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 16The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 17Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 18Safranbolu
Image 19The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 20Kemer
Image 21An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 22Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 23Rize
Image 24the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 25Lahmacun
Image 26Mount Nemrut
Image 27The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.

Selected biography - show another

Tarkan in concert, 2011

Tarkan Tevetoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [taɾˈkan teveˈtoːɫu]; born 17 October 1972) is a Turkish singer-songwriter. Since the early 1990s, with the successful sales of his albums, he has been a prominent figure of pop music, recognized in Turkey and worldwide.

Tarkan was born and raised in Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate. In 1986, he moved to Turkey together with his family. Tarkan, who had been interested in music since his childhood, went to high school at Karamürsel and took music lessons. In the following years, he met the owner of İstanbul Plak, Mehmet Söğütoğlu, and signed a contract to release his own album. (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 Sıla (singer) Orhan Pamuk Erol Gelenbe Kemal Derviş Hande Yener Sertab Erener Said Altınordu Junayd of Aydın Daron Acemoglu

edit

Selected video - show another

Boats in Istanbul

More selected videos
Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

edit

Selected quote - show another

“

A satiated man doesn't know what's hunger, a healthy man doesn't know what's disease.

”

Turkish proverb

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