Turkey


Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye [ˈtyɾcije]), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti [ˈtyɾcije dʒumˈhuːɾijeti] (listen)audio speaker icon), is a country located mainly on Anatolia in Western Asia, with a portion on the Balkans in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea to the west. Cyprus is located off the south coast. Turks form the vast majority of the nation's population and Kurds are the largest minority.[4] Ankara is Turkey's capital, while Istanbul is its largest city and financial centre.

One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, and others.[11][12][13][14] Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era.[12][15] The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities.[16] Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power.[11][17][18] From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories.[19] Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century.[20] The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period.[21][22] The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian subjects.[a][25] After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.[26]

The Turkish War of Independence against the occupying Allied Powers resulted in the abolition of the Sultanate on 1 November 1922, the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne (which superseded the Treaty of Sèvres) on 24 July 1923 and the proclamation of the Republic on 29 October 1923. With the reforms initiated by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey became a secular, unitary and parliamentary republic. Turkey played a prominent role in the Korean War and joined NATO in 1952. The country endured several military coups in the latter half of the 20th century. The economy was liberalised in the 1980s, leading to stronger economic growth and political stability. The parliamentary republic was replaced with a presidential system by referendum in 2017. Since then, the new Turkish governmental system under president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his party, the AKP, has often been described as Islamist and authoritarian.[27][28] The latter's rule over the country has also led to numerous currency crises,[29] increasing inflation and economic decline,[30] as well as a rise in poverty.[31]


Some henges at Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, England, by over seven millennia.[41]
The Sphinx Gate of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites
The Theatre at Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) was built in the 4th century BC by Mausolus, the Persian satrap (governor) of Caria. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.[51][52]
The Byzantine Empire in 555 under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent since the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Originally a church, then a mosque, later a museum, and now a mosque again, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in 532–537 AD.[62]
The Great Seljuk Empire in 1092, upon the death of Malik Shah I[72]
Topkapı and Dolmabahçe palaces were the primary residences of the Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul between 1465 to 1856[78] and 1856 to 1922,[79] respectively.
The Second Ottoman Siege of Vienna in 1683 (the First Siege was in 1529) initiated the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) between the Ottomans and a Holy League of European states.
  • Leaders of the Central Powers (left to right):
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany;
  • Kaiser and King Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary;
  • Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire;
  • Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
  • The caption reads:"United Powers Lead to the Goal"
Armenian civilians being deported during the Armenian genocide
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, with the Liberal Republican Party leader Fethi Okyar (right) and Okyar's daughter in Yalova, 13 August 1930.
Eighteen female deputies joined the Turkish Parliament with the 1935 general elections. Turkish women gained the right to vote and to hold elected office as a mark of the far-reaching social changes initiated by Atatürk.[105]
Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference, 1943.
Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, is visited by large crowds every year during national holidays, such as Republic Day on 29 October.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
President
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey debate chamber in Ankara
Istanbul Çağlayan Justice Palace is a courthouse in the Şişli district of Istanbul.
After becoming one of the early members of the Council of Europe in 1950, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005.[125][126]
The Turkish Armed Forces collectively rank as the second-largest standing military force in NATO, after the US Armed Forces. Turkey joined the alliance in 1952.[169]
The 2015 G20 Summit held in Antalya, Turkey, a founding member of the OECD (1961) and G20 (1999).
TAI Anka is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries.
TCG Anadolu (L-400) amphibious assault ship (LHD and V/STOL aircraft carrier) at Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul. The construction of a sister ship, to be named TCG Trakya, is currently being planned by the Turkish Navy.[195][196]
Women in Turkey protesting for their rights. On 20 March 2021, with a presidential decree, Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which was ratified by the Turkish parliament in 2011.[211]
Opposition politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdağ were arrested on terrorism charges in 2016.
Turkish journalists protesting the imprisonment of their colleagues on Human Rights Day in 2016.
Topographic map of Turkey
Pamukkale is a is a natural site in southwestern Turkey. The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built on top of the travertine formation. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.[260][261]
Sumela Monastery in the Pontic Mountains, which form an ecoregion with diverse temperate rainforest types, flora and fauna in northern Anatolia.
A white Turkish Angora cat with odd eyes (heterochromia), which is common among the Angoras.
Köppen climate classification of Turkey
Skyscrapers in the Levent quarter of the Beşiktaş district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city and financial centre in Turkey.
A proportional representation of Turkey's exports, 2019
Marmaris in the Turkish Riviera
Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey, is the largest carrier in the world by number of countries served as of 2019.[307][308]
A TCDD HT80000 high-speed train of the Turkish State Railways[316]
Göktürk-1, Göktürk-2 and Göktürk-3 are the Earth observation satellites of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense, while state-owned Türksat operates the Türksat series of communications satellites.
CIA map of areas with a Kurdish majority[332]
Total fertility rate in Turkey by province (2020)[339]
  3-4
  2-3
  1.5-2
  1-1.5
Sancaklar Mosque is a contemporary mosque in Istanbul
The Church of St. Anthony of Padua on İstiklal Avenue, in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. There are 234 active churches in the city.[372]
Istanbul University was founded in 1453 as a Darülfünûn. On 1 August 1933 it was reorganised and became the Republic's first university.[394]
Acıbadem Hospital in Altunizade neighborhood of Üsküdar, İstanbul
Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi Mevlevi Order, founded by the followers of the 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi in Konya, during a Sema. The ceremony is one of the 11 elements of Turkey on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.[413]
Two Musician Girls (left) and The Tortoise Trainer (right) by Osman Hamdi Bey, at the Pera Museum.
Ottoman miniature which can be linked to the Persian miniature tradition,[420] as well as strong Chinese artistic influences.
Namık Kemal's works had a profound influence on Atatürk and other Turkish statesmen who established the Turkish Republic.[424][425]
Nobel-laureate Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk and his Turkish Angora cat at his personal writing space
Süreyya Opera House in Istanbul
Referred to as Süperstar by the Turkish media, Ajda Pekkan is a prominent figure of Turkish pop music, with a career spanning decades and a repertoire of diverse musical styles.[429]
Barış Manço was a Turkish rock musician and one of the founders of the Anatolian rock genre.
The Grand Post Office (1905–1909) in Istanbul and the first Ziraat Bank headquarters (1925–1929) in Ankara are among the examples of Turkish Neoclassical architecture in the early 20th century.
Turkish coffee with Turkish delight. Turkish coffee is a UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritage of Turks.[448][449]
Turkey won the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
VakıfBank S.K. has won the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in 2017 and 2018,[460][461][462] and the 2017–18 CEV Women's Champions League for the fourth time in their history.[463]
TRT World is the international news platform of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.[469]
The closing ceremony of the annual International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival takes place at the Aspendos amphitheatre.