Portal:Turkey

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

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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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A collection of photographs from the campaign. From top and left to right: Ottoman commanders including Mustafa Kemal (fourth from left); Entente warships; V Beach from the deck of SS River Clyde; Ottoman soldiers in a trench; and Entente positions

The Gallipoli campaign, the Dardanelles campaign, the Defence of Gallipoli or the Battle of Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu Muharebesi, Çanakkale Muharebeleri or Çanakkale Savaşı) was a military campaign in the First World War on the Gallipoli peninsula (now Gelibolu) from 19 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and the Russian Empire, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Ottoman straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Entente battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With the Ottoman Empire defeated, the Suez Canal would be safe and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits would be open to Entente supplies to the Black Sea and warm-water ports in Russia.

In February 1915 the Entente fleet failed when it tried to force a passage through the Dardanelles. The naval action was followed by an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. In January 1916, after eight months' fighting, with approximately 250,000 casualties on each side, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn. It was a costly campaign for the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire as well as for the sponsors of the expedition, especially the First Lord of the Admiralty (1911–1915), Winston Churchill. The campaign was considered a great Ottoman victory. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the history of the state, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire retreated. The struggle formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey eight years later, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli, as founder and president. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

Did you know - show different entries

... that Fatma Aliye Topuz (1862-1936), whose portrait illustrates the reverse of the current 50 Turkish lira banknote, is credited as the first female Turkish and Muslim writer? (May 5, 2009) Wikipedia:Recent additions 244
... 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 the construction of the Çanakkale Martyrs' Memorial (pictured), commemorating over 250,000 Turkish soldiers fallen during the Battle of Gallipoli in WWI, was completed with nationwide financial contributions? (January 11, 2008) Wikipedia:Recent additions 199
... that the remains of the Bogdan Saray in Istanbul lie inside a tire shop? (April 13, 2012)
... that the Cossack Hetman and the later Muscovite voyevoda Petro Doroshenko signed a treaty with Sultan Mehmed IV recognizing the Cossack Hetmanate as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire? (March 8, 2006) Wikipedia:Recent additions 56
... that Mehmet Gürs, a Turkish chef of Scandinavian descent, called his Istanbul restaurant Mikla, which is derived from Miklagard, the Viking name of the city in the 10th century? (November 15, 2012)
... that Artin Penik, a Turkish-Armenian, set himself on fire in protest of the terrorist attacks against Turks by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)? (February 25, 2007) Wikipedia:Recent additions 121

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Selected picture

Image 1Ölüdeniz
Image 2Iznik, 16th-century vase
Image 3An airplane with a nazar boncuğu symbol that is said to offer protection from the "evil eye".
Image 4Aydilge Sarp; Turkish singer, songwriter and novelist
Image 5A Kocek
Image 6the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
Image 7The Temple of Athena at Priene, an ancient site near Turunçlar in Aydın province.
Image 8Cappadocia
Image 9The tughra of Mahmud II. "Mahmud Han bin Abdulhamid muzaffer daima" ("Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious").
Image 10Rize
Image 11Mount Nemrut
Image 12The sun setting over the Golden Horn in the city of Istanbul.
Image 13The ancient Lake Abant Nature Park in Bolu
Image 14Atatürk praying
Image 15Tünel, Istanbul
Image 16the Bosphorus Bridge
Image 17Tarkan with Hungarian fans
Image 1818th-century Ottoman barber's apron
Image 19Lahmacun
Image 201. picture on portal: The prominent towers of Dayro d-Mor Gabriel; 15th December 2005
Image 21A faculty of Sakarya University
Image 22Lake Akdoğan in Muş
Image 23Flag of Turkey, from flowers
Image 24A tram in Istanbul
Image 25Safranbolu
Image 26Antalya
Image 27Kemer

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Sezer in 2004

Ahmet Necdet Sezer (Turkish pronunciation: [ah'med nedʒ'det se'zæɾ]; born 13 September 1942) is a Turkish statesman and judge who served as the tenth president of Turkey from 2000 to 2007. Previously, he was president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey from January 1998 to May 2000. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey elected Sezer as president in 2000 after Süleyman Demirel's seven-year term expired. He was succeeded by Abdullah Gül in 2007.

Following his legal career, Sezer became a candidate for the presidency with the joint support of many political parties in Parliament. Following the 2000 presidential election, he took an ardent secularist approach on issues such as the headscarf, holding the view that secularism in Turkey was under threat. A quarrel between Sezer and Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit in 2001 led to a financial meltdown, attributed to the weakness of the coalition government as well as to the large debt owed to the International Monetary Fund. (Full article...)

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Burak Yılmaz Piri Reis Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 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 Tarkan (singer) Junayd of Aydın Daron Acemoglu

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Paragliding in Ölüdeniz area, Muğla

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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