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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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The Harpy Tomb is a marble chamber from a pillar tomb that stands in the abandoned city of Xanthos, capital of ancient Lycia, a region of southwestern Anatolia in what is now Turkey. Built in the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and dating to approximately 480–470 BC, the chamber topped a tall pillar and was decorated with marble panels carved in bas-relief. The tomb was built for an Iranian prince or governor of Xanthus, perhaps Kybernis.

The marble chamber is carved in the Greek Archaic style. Along with much other material in Xanthos it is heavily influenced by Greek art, but there are also indications of non-Greek influence in the carvings. The reliefs are reminiscent of reliefs at Persepolis. The monument takes its name from the four carved female winged figures, resembling Harpies. The identities of the carved figures and the meaning of the scenes depicted are uncertain, but it is generally now agreed that the winged creatures are not Harpies. The Lycians absorbed much of Greek mythology into their own culture and the scenes may represent Greek deities, but it is also possible they are unknown Lycian deities. An alternative interpretation is that they represent scenes of judgement in the afterlife and scenes of supplication to Lycian rulers. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(pictured), founder of the Republic of Turkey, established the first commercial Turkish winery in 1925? (December 20, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 193
... that Pakistan's ties with Turkey have been influenced by president Pervez Musharraf's admiration for Turkey's model of modernism and secularism? (June 9, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 219
... that the Senyavin Islands of Micronesia were named after Dmitry Senyavin, who destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos in 1807? (April 22, 2006) Wikipedia:Recent additions 63
... that Turkish female aviator Nezihe Viranyalı was educated in civil aviation at the University of Tennessee following an invitation by the renowned American pilot Jacqueline Cochran? (January 2, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 238
... that Hüseyin Özer went from living on the streets of Ankara to owning a British restaurant chain and teaching at Middlesex University? (May 24, 2012)
... that the 1976 crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 452, resulting in the death of 154 people, is the all-time worst aviation accident in Turkey? (October 8, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 249
... that the Akhurian River is said to have turned completely red because of a major battle nearby? (January 28, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 118

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Image 1The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 2Tünel, Istanbul
Image 3The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 4Antalya
Image 5Ölüdeniz
Image 6Safranbolu
Image 7Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 8the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 9An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 10Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 11Rize
Image 12Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 13Mount Nemrut
Image 14The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 1518th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 16Cappadocia
Image 17A Kocek
Image 18Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 191. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 20Atatürk praying
Image 21A tram in Istanbul
Image 22Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 23The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 24the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 25Kemer
Image 26Lahmacun
Image 27A faculty of Sakarya University

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Tuncay in 2016

Tuncay Volkan Şanlı (Turkish pronunciation: [tunˈdʒaj ˈʃanɫɯ]; born 16 January 1982), often known mononymously as Tuncay, is a Turkish former footballer and the current manager of Turkish club Sakaryaspor.

He naturally played as a striker, but was also positioned as an attacking midfielder and on either wing. He was in the Turkey team that finished in third place in both the 2003 Confederations Cup and the 2008 European Championships. With 22 international goals in 80 caps, he is Turkey's third-highest scorer of all time, and tenth-most capped player. (Full article...)

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Burak Yılmaz Piri Reis Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Ahmet Necdet Sezer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Alp Arslan Nureddin Pasha 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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Lake Bafa Nature Park, 2015

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Videos from Turkey on Wikimedia Commons

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“

Heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

”

1934 ~ 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