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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 Anatolian peoples. 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. 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. 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 world's 18th-largest by nominal and 11th-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 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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Landscape of a section of the Great Zab in Erbil, Northern Iraq (Kurdistan region).

The Great Zab or Upper Zab (Arabic: الزَّاب الْكَبِيْر, romanized: ez-Zâb el-Kebîr; Kurdish: Zêy Badînan or Zêyê Mezin; Turkish: Zap; Syriac: ܙܒܐ ܥܠܝܐ, romanized: zāba ʻalya) is an approximately 400-kilometre (250 mi) long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. During its course, the river collects water from many tributaries and the drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately 40,300 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). The river and its tributaries are primarily fed by rainfall and snowmelt – as a result of which discharge fluctuates highly throughout the year. At least six dams have been planned on the Great Zab and its tributaries, but construction of only one, the Bekhme Dam, has commenced but was halted after the Gulf War.

The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic, and Neanderthal occupation of the Great Zab basin has been testified at the archaeological site of Shanidar Cave. Historical records for the region are available from the end of the third millennium BCE onward. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the Great Zab provided water for irrigation for the lands around the capital city of Nimrud. The Battle of the Zab – which ended the Umayyad Caliphate – took place near a tributary of the Great Zab, and the valleys of the river provided shelter for refugees from the Mongol conquest of Iraq. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Great Zab basin saw frequent uprisings of local Kurdish tribes striving for autonomy. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... 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, with its total installed capacity of 95 MW, the Kızıldere Geothermal Power Plant is the biggest of its kind in Turkey? (January 13, 2014)
... that the military prowess of the Tulunid dynasty of Arab Egypt was due to its multi-ethnic army composed of Turkish, Sudanese, and Greek soldiers? (May 10, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 219
... that the mosque of Kalenderhane
(pictured) in Istanbul contained the most ancient cycle of frescoes portraying Saint Francis of Assisi still extant? (May 27, 2007)
... 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 Turkish-Romani musician Selim Sesler was called "the Coltrane of the clarinet"? (May 16, 2014)
... that Baghdad Street in Istanbul was named by Murad IV to commemorate his conquest of Mesopotamia? (January 12, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 116

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Image 1Kemer
Image 2An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 3Antalya
Image 418th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 5A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 6A Kocek
Image 7Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 8Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 9Lahmacun
Image 10Cappadocia
Image 11Tünel, Istanbul
Image 12Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 13the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 14The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 15Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 16The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 17the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 181. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 19Mount Nemrut
Image 20Safranbolu
Image 21Ölüdeniz
Image 22Rize
Image 23Atatürk praying
Image 24The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 25Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 26The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 27A tram in Istanbul

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Erdoğan in 2022

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey. He previously served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he co-founded in 2001. He also served as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

Erdoğan was born in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, and studied at the Aksaray Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences, before working as a consultant and senior manager in the private sector. Becoming active in local politics, he was elected Welfare Party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984 and Istanbul chair in 1985. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul. In 1998 he was convicted for inciting religious hatred and banned from politics after reciting a poem by Ziya Gökalp that compared mosques to barracks and the faithful to an army. Erdoğan was released from prison in 1999 and formed the AKP, abandoning openly Islamist policies. (Full article...)

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Burak Yılmaz Piri Reis Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Ahmet Necdet Sezer 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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A traditional Turkish dance competition in Goreme, Turkey, 2012

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Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

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“

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

”

Turkish proverb

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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