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Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a 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, 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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The Ottoman Empire (/ˈɒtəmən/ ^ⓘ), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe, between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.

The empire emerged from a beylik, or principality, founded in northwestern Anatolia in c. 1299 by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. His successors conquered much of Anatolia and expanded into the Balkans by the mid-14th century, transforming their petty kingdom into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II, which marked the Ottomans' emergence as a major regional power. Under Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566), the empire reached the zenith of its power, prosperity, and political development expanding its influence further into Middle East and Central Europe. With its capital at Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and control over a significant portion of the Mediterranean Basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Middle East and Europe for six centuries. Ruling over so many peoples, the empire granted varying levels of autonomy to its many confessional communities, or millets, to manage their own affairs per Islamic law. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Mehmed II enters Constantinople by Fausto Zonaro (from History of Turkey)
Image 2Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (1568–1574) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 3Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 4The Nation's Library of the Presidency, Ankara (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 5Ankara Opera House, designed by Şevki Balmumcu (1933–34) and renovation by Paul Bonatz (1946–47). (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 6The sultan of the golden age, Suleiman the Magnificent. (from History of Turkey)
Image 7Tevfik Fikret (1867–1915) was a prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 8Map showing the Anatolian Plate, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault in Turkey. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 9Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 10Istanbul Sapphire (2006–11) is the tallest building in Turkey and 4th in Europe. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 11Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (from History of Turkey)
Image 12Antalya (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 13Kaçkar Mountains (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 14Mount Ararat (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 15Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847–1914) was another prominent Turkish poet of the late Ottoman era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 16Map of Istanbul by the miniature artist Matrakçı Nasuh (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 17Night view of the Taksim Mosque (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 18Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference which was held between 4–6 December 1943. (from History of Turkey)
Image 19Sami Frashëri (1850–1904) and his wife Emine, May 1884. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 20Butterfly Valley on the Turkish Riviera. (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 21View from Levent district in Istanbul. Istanbul's skyline has changed especially since the early 2000s. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 22Köppen climate types of Turkey (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 23View of Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 24Lake Van (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 25Turkish national basketball team won the silver medal in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 26Mount Erciyes near Kayseri (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 27Beaches and marina of Kemer near Antalya on the Turkish Riviera (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 28Namık Kemal was a prominent Turkish poet, novelist, playwright and journalist of the late-19th-century Ottoman Empire. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 29Ankara (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 30Istanbul (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 31Thrace and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in its maximum extent under Sitalces (431-424 BC) (from History of Turkey)
Image 32A view of Levent from Kanlıca across the Bosporus (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 33Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of the traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period. (from Culture 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 35Yalikavak Palmarina in Bodrum (2014) designed by Emre Arolat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 36Turkish delight (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 37The 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 38Designed by Şekip Akalın, Ankara Central Station (1937) is a notable art deco design of its era. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 39The Ottoman Empire in 1683, at the start of the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) (from History of Turkey)
Image 40Istanbul University Faculty of Science and Faculty of Literature Buildings (1944–52) designed by Sedad Hakkı Eldem and Emin Onat (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 41Turkish coffee (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 42Orhan Veli Kanık was the founder of the Garip Movement in Turkish poetry. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 43Anıtkabir designed by Emin Halid Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda (1944–53) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 44Entrance portal of the Karatay Madrasa in Konya (c. 1251) (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 45The Bath-Gymnasium complex at Sardis in Turkey. (from History of Turkey)
Image 46Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC. (from History of Turkey)
Image 47An Oil wrestling tournament in Istanbul. This has been the national sport of Turkey since Ottoman times. (from Culture of Turkey)
Image 48First 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 49Originally 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 50Fazıl 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 51Map of earthquakes in Turkey 1900–2023 (from Geography of Turkey)
Image 52View of Beydağları Coastal National Park (from Geography of Turkey)

Did you know - show different entries

... that the house in Tekirdağ, Turkey, where Hungarian national hero Francis II Rákóczi spent his last years, is a museum now and is regarded as a cultural bridge between the two countries? (January 16, 2011)
... that although the Nuri Demirağ Nu D.38 transport aircraft was completed in 1941, it was not flown until 1944? (January 24, 2011)
... that unlike other cemeteries in Turkey that accommodate one religion only, Mersin Interfaith Cemetery includes graves of Muslims, Christians and Jews? (January 15, 2014)
... that Mevlüde Genç, a Turk living in Germany who had lost five of her family members to Neo-Nazi violence in the Solingen arson attack of 1993, went on to advocate tolerance between Turks and Germans? (June 1, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 219
... that the Akhurian River is said to have turned completely red because of a major battle nearby? (January 28, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 118
... that Kazakhstan and Turkey have sought to promote closer bilateral relations and foster close ties between Turkic nations of Central Asia? (October 16, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 232
... that in 2007 Özlem Cekic
(pictured) became the first woman of Muslim immigrant background in the Danish Parliament? (September 27, 2012)

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Image 1Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 2Ölüdeniz
Image 3Antalya
Image 4An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 5the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 6Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 7Tünel, Istanbul
Image 8A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 9Atatürk praying
Image 10The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 1118th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 12Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 13The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 14Safranbolu
Image 15The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 16A Kocek
Image 17Kemer
Image 18Lahmacun
Image 19Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 20the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 21A tram in Istanbul
Image 22The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 23Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 24Rize
Image 25Mount Nemrut
Image 26Cappadocia
Image 271. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005

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Said Altınordu (born Said Bey, 24 July 1912 – 17 November 1978), alternatively spelled Sait Altınordu, was a Turkish international footballer. Being a notable one-club man, Altınordu remains one of the most symbolic footballers of the Turkish city of İzmir, along with Vahap Özaltay of Altay S.K. and Fuat Göztepe of Göztepe S.K. His identification with Altınordu S.K. led him to choose the official name of the club as his surname, following the Surname Law of Turkey enacted in 1934.

Altınordu served Altınordu S.K. his entire career, earned 4 caps for Turkey national football team between 1932 and 1937. Winning 6 İzmir Football League titles at Altınordu S.K., he is widely accepted by Altınordu S.K. as the legendary player of the club. He was also part of Turkey's squad at the 1936 Summer Olympics. (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 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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“

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