Portal:Turkey
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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 fifth most visited country in the world. (Full article...)
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Pınargözü Cave (Turkish: Pınargözü Mağarası, literally "eye of the water"), is a cave 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of the town of Yenişarbademli in Isparta Province, Turkey. It is considered the longest cave in Turkey, although it has not yet been fully explored, and the precise extent to which it has been explored is in dispute.
The entrance is on the slopes of Mount Dedegöl at an elevation of 1,550 metres (5,090 ft), in a forested area of the Kızıldağ National Park. It is easily recognized by the stream of water that pours continuously from its mouth, called the Devre Su. A constant wind of up to 166 km/h (103 mph) blows through the cave's narrow opening due to the chimney effect. (Full article...)General images
Did you know -
- ... that Matild Manukyan, a wealthy Turkish businesswoman of Armenian origin, made her fortune as a brothel owner? (March 14, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 127
- ... that in 1983, Yıldırım Aktuna, a neuropsychiatrist and later a politician, founded Turkey’s first alcohol and drug rehabilitation center at the country's largest psychiatric hospital in Istanbul? (December 31, 2009)
- ... that Iznik-tiled lunette panels believed to have been removed from Istanbul's Piyale Pasha Mosque in the 19th century are currently on display in various museums such as the Louvre and the V&A? (February 21, 2012)
- ... that the Ottoman Bank, established as a private bank in 1856, became a central bank in 1863 and issued banknotes in the Ottoman Empire and then Turkey until 1931? (March 8, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 125
- ... that an Egyptian army of 1,500 was defeated by 300 women and old men of Diro during the Egyptian Invasion of Mani in 1826? (January 22, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 117
- ... that Khotyn Fortress
(pictured), site of the Battle of Khotyn between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire in 1621, is one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine? (February 12, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 205 - ... that the Khedive Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, once a mansion for Ottoman governors, now serves as an upscale restaurant? (December 15, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 236
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Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; Turkish pronunciation: [feˈɾit oɾˈhan paˈmuk]) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer.
Pamuk's novels include Silent House, The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red and Snow. He is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches writing and comparative literature. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018. (Full article...)Selected video -
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“ | A satiated man doesn't know what's hunger, a healthy man doesn't know what's disease. | ” |
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