The name Turkey appeared in Western sources after the Crusades.[35] In the 14th-century Arabic sources, Turkiyya is usually contrasted with Turkmaniyya (Turkomania), probably to be understood as Oghuz in a broad sense.[36] In the 1330s, Ibn Battuta defined the region as Barr al-Turkiyya al-ma'ruf bi-bilad al-Rûmcode: ara promoted to code: ar ("the Turkish land known as the lands of Rûm").[37] The disintegration of the country after World War I revived Turkish nationalism, and the Türkler için Türkiyecode: tur promoted to code: tr ("Turkey for the Turks") sentiment rose up. With the Treaty of Alexandropol signed by the Government of the Grand National Assembly with Armenia, the name Türkiye entered international documents for the first time. In the treaty signed with Afghanistan, the expression Devlet-i Âliyye-i Türkiyye ("Sublime Turkish State") was used, likened to the Ottoman Empire's name.[35]
Official name change
In December 2021, the country issued a circular, calling for exports to be labeled "Made in Türkiye". The circular also stated that in relation to other governmental communications, the "necessary sensitivity will be shown on the use of the phrase 'Türkiye' instead of phrases such as 'Turkey', 'Türkei', 'Turquie', etc."[38][39] The reason given in the circular for preferring Türkiye was that it "represents and expresses the culture, civilization, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way". According to Turkish state broadcaster TRT World, it was also to avoid pejorative associations with the birds.[40] The government notified the United Nations and other international organizations on 31 May 2022, requesting that they use Türkiye, which the UN immediately agreed to do.[41][42][43] The United States Department of State officially began using Türkiye in January 2023.[44]
Göbekli Tepe is the site of the oldest known man-made structure in the world, a temple dating to circa 9600 BC,[45] while Çatalhöyük is a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date.[50]Nevalı Çori was an early Neolithic settlement on the middle Euphrates, in Şanlıurfa. The Urfa Man statue is dated c. 9000 BC, to the period of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, and is defined as "the oldest known naturalistic life-sized sculpture of a human".[51] It is considered to be contemporaneous with Göbekli Tepe. Troy was first settled in the Neolithic Age, with inhabitation continuing into the Byzantine period. Troy's Late Bronze Age layers are considered potential historical settings for the later legends of the Trojan War.[52][53][54]
The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians, non-Indo-European peoples who lived in Anatolia, respectively, as early as c. 2300 BC. Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and Hurrians c. 2000–1700 BC. The first empire in the area was founded by the Hittites, from the 18th through the 13th centuries BC. The Assyrians conquered and settled parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC[55] although they have remained a minority in the region.[56]
Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the Phrygians, an Indo-European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed by the Cimmerians in c. 695 BC.[57] The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states were Lydia, Caria and Lycia.
Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (1263–1234 BC) recorded a campaign in which he subdued the entire territory of "Uruatri".[58][59]Urartu re-emerged in Assyrian inscriptions in the 9th century BC.[60] Starting from 714 BC, the Urartu state began to decline, and finally dissolved in 590 BC, when it was conquered by the Medes.[61]
The first state that was called Armenia by the neighboring peoples was the state of the ArmenianOrontid dynasty, which included parts of what is now eastern Turkey, beginning in the 6th century BC. In northwestern Turkey, the most significant tribal group in ancient Thrace was the Odyrisians, founded by Teres I.[76]
Anatolia fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC,[80] which led to increasing cultural homogeneity and Hellenization in the area.[12] Following Alexander's death in 323 BC, Anatolia was subsequently divided into a number of small Hellenistic kingdoms, all of which became part of the Roman Republic by the mid-1st century BC.[81] The process of Hellenization that began with Alexander's conquest accelerated under Roman rule, and by the early centuries of the Christian Era, the local Anatolian languages and cultures had become extinct, being largely replaced by ancient Greek language and culture.[15][82]
From the 1st century BC up to the 3rd century AD, large parts of modern-day Turkey were contested between the Romans and neighboring Parthians through the Roman-Parthian Wars.
Galatia was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia inhabited by the Celts. The term "Galatians" came to be used by the Greeks for the three Celtic peoples of Anatolia: the Tectosages, the Trocmii, and the Tolistobogii.[83][84] By the 1st century BC the Celts had become so Hellenized that some Greek writers called them Hellenogalatai.[85] Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became a transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the supposed Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC.
The Kingdom of Pontus was a Hellenistic kingdom, centered in the historical region of Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin,[86][87][88][89] which may have been directly related to Darius the Great.[90][89] The kingdom was proclaimed by Mithridates I in 281 BC and lasted until its conquest by the Romans in 63 BC. The Kingdom of Pontus reached its largest extent under Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, and the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, Pontus was defeated.
Following the death of Theodosius the Great in 395 and the permanent division of the Roman Empire between his two sons, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. This empire, which would later be branded by historians as the Byzantine Empire, ruled most of the territory of present-day Turkey until the Late Middle Ages;[100] although the eastern regions remained firmly in Sasanian hands until the 7th century. The frequent Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, a continuation of the centuries-long Roman-Persian Wars, took place between the 4th and 7th centuries.
The House of Seljuk originated from the Kınık branch of the Oghuz Turks who resided in the Yabgu Khaganate, on the periphery of the Muslim world, in the 9th century.[105] In the 10th century, the Seljuks started migrating from their ancestral homeland into Persia, which became the administrative core of the Great Seljuk Empire, after its foundation by Tughril.[106]
In the latter half of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began penetrating into medieval Armenia and Anatolia. In 1071, the Seljuks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, starting the Turkification process in the area; the Turkish language and Islam were introduced to Anatolia. The slow transition from a predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking Anatolia to a predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking one was underway.
In 1514, Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) successfully expanded the empire's borders by defeating Shah Ismail I of the Safavid dynasty in the Battle of Chaldiran. In 1517, Selim I expanded Ottoman rule into Algeria and Egypt, and created a naval presence in the Red Sea. Subsequently, a contest started between the Ottoman and Portuguese empires to become the dominant sea power in the Indian Ocean, with a number of naval battles in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean was perceived as a threat to the Ottoman monopoly over the ancient trade routes between East Asia and Western Europe. Despite the increasingly prominent European presence, the Ottoman Empire's trade with the east continued to flourish until the second half of the 18th century.[116]
The Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, who personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation and criminal law.
From the 16th to the 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire also fought twelve wars with the Russian Tsardom and Empire. These were initially about Ottoman territorial expansion and consolidation in southeastern and eastern Europe; but starting from the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), they became more about the survival of the Ottoman Empire, which had begun to lose its strategic territories on the northern Black Sea coast to the advancing Russians.
In 1922, the Greek, Armenian and French armies had been expelled,[139] and the Turkish Provisional Government in Ankara, which had declared itself the legitimate government of the country on 23 April 1920, started to formalize the legal transition from the old Ottoman into the new Republican political system. On 1 November 1922, the Turkish Parliament in Ankara formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of monarchical Ottoman rule.
The Treaty of Lausanne of 24 July 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sèvres,[137][138] led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on 29 October 1923 in Ankara, the country's new capital.[140] The Lausanne Convention stipulated a population exchange between Greece and Turkey.[141]
The Democrat Party won the 1950, 1954 and 1957 general elections and remained in power for a decade, with Adnan Menderes as the prime minister and Celâl Bayar as the president. After fighting as part of the UN forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined NATO in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Turkey subsequently became a founding member of the OECD in 1961, and an associate member of the EEC in 1963.[148]
The country's transition to multi-party democracy was interrupted by military coups in 1960 and 1980, as well as by military memorandums in 1971 and 1997.[149][150] Between 1960 and the end of the 20th century, the prominent leaders in Turkish politics who achieved multiple election victories were Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit and Turgut Özal. Tansu Çiller became the first female prime minister of Turkey in 1993.
Following the liberalization of the economy in the 1980s, Turkey experienced stronger GDP growth and greater political stability in the last two decades of the 20th century; but inflation remained high throughout this period, and the GDP growth was interrupted by three economic crises in 1990, 1994 and 2000–2001.[151]
Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, joined the European Union Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005.[152][153] In a non-binding vote on 13 March 2019, the European Parliament called on the EU governments to suspend EU accession talks with Turkey, citing violations of human rights and the rule of law; but the negotiations, effectively on hold since 2018, remain active as of 2023.[154]
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city.
Turkey has a unitary structure in terms of administration and this aspect is one of the most important factors shaping the Turkish public administration. Turkey does not have a federal system, and the provinces are subordinate to the central government in Ankara.
When three powers (executive, legislative and judiciary) are taken into account as the main functions of the state, local administrations have little power. Local administrations were established to provide services in place and the government is represented by the province governors (vali) and town governors (kaymakam).
Other senior public officials are also appointed by the central government, except for the mayors (belediye başkanı) who are elected by the constituents.[161] Turkish municipalities have local legislative bodies (belediye meclisi) for decision-making on municipal issues.
Within this unitary framework, Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces (il or vilayet) for administrative purposes. Each province is divided into districts (ilçe), for a total of 973 districts.[162] Turkey is also subdivided into 7 regions (bölge) and 21 subregions for geographic, demographic and economic purposes; this does not refer to an administrative division.
Turkey is a presidentialrepublic within a multi-party system.[163] The current constitution was approved by referendum in 1982, which determines the government's structure, lays forth the ideals and standards of the state's conduct, and sets out the state's responsibility to its citizens. Furthermore, the constitution specifies the people's rights and obligations, as well as principles for the delegation and exercise of sovereignty that belongs to the people of Turkey.[164] Turkish politics have become increasingly associated with democratic backsliding, being described as a competitive authoritarian system.[165][166]
Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law (subject to parliamentary override), can issue presidential decrees on matters regarding executive power with the exception of fundamental rights, individual rights and certain political rights (parliamentary laws prevail presidential decrees), and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce national laws and policies.[168]
Judicial: The Constitutional Court (for constitutional adjudication and review of individual applications concerning human rights), the Court of Cassation (final decision maker in ordinary judiciary), the Council of State (final decision maker in administrative judiciary) and the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes (for resolving the disputes between courts for constitutional jurisdiction) are the four organizations that are described by the Constitution as supreme courts. The judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the president and the parliament.[5]
The Parliament has 600 voting members, each representing a constituency for a five-year term. Parliamentary seats are distributed among the provinces by population, conforming with the census apportionment. The president is elected by direct vote and serves a five-year term. The president can't run for re-elections after two terms of five-years, unless the parliament prematurely renews the presidential elections during the second term of the President. Elections for the Parliament and presidential elections are held on the same day. The Constitutional Court is composed of fifteen members. A member is elected for a term of twelve years and can't be re-elected. The members of the Constitutional Court are obliged to retire when they are over the age of sixty-five.[169]
Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has the right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections. Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934 and before most countries. In Turkey, turnout rates of both local and general elections are high compared to many other countries, which usually stands higher than 80 percent.[170] There are 600 members of parliament who are elected for a five-year term by a party-list proportional representation system from 88 electoral districts.
The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or having ties to terrorism, or ban their existence altogether.[171][172] The Interior Ministry can block new parties from elections even if a court rules in favour of the party.[173] The electoral threshold for political parties at national level is seven percent of the votes.[174] Smaller parties can avoid the electoral threshold by forming an alliance with other parties, in which it is sufficient that the total votes of the alliance passes 7%. Independent candidates are not subject to an electoral threshold.
Istanbul Justice Palace in the Şişli district on the European side
Istanbul Anadolu Justice Palace in the Kartal district on the Asian side
With the founding of the Republic, Turkey adopted a civil law legal system, replacing Sharia-derived Ottoman law. The Civil Code, adopted in 1926, was based on the Swiss Civil Code of 1907 and the Swiss Code of Obligations of 1911. Although it underwent a number of changes in 2002, it retains much of the basis of the original Code. The Criminal Code, originally based on the Italian Criminal Code, was replaced in 2005 by a Code with principles similar to the German Penal Code and German law generally. Administrative law is based on the French equivalent and procedural law generally shows the influence of the Swiss, German and French legal systems.[178] Islamic principles do not play a part in the legal system.[179]
Turkey has adopted the principle of the separation of powers. In line with this principle, judicial power is exercised by independent courts on behalf of the Turkish nation. The independence and organization of the courts, the security of the tenure of judges and public prosecutors, the profession of judges and prosecutors, the supervision of judges and public prosecutors, the military courts and their organization, and the powers and duties of the high courts are regulated by the Turkish Constitution.[180]
According to Article 142 of the Turkish Constitution, the organization, duties and jurisdiction of the courts, their functions and the trial procedures are regulated by law. In line with the aforementioned article of the Turkish Constitution and related laws, the court system in Turkey can be classified under three main categories; which are the Judicial Courts, Administrative Courts, and Military Courts. Each category includes first instance courts and high courts. In addition, the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes rules on cases that cannot be classified readily as falling within the purview of one court system.[180]
In the years of government by the AKP and Erdoğan, particularly since 2013, the independence and integrity of the Turkish judiciary has increasingly been said to be in doubt by institutions, parliamentarians and journalists both within and outside of Turkey; due to political interference in the promotion of judges and prosecutors, and in their pursuit of public duty.[181][182][183][184] The Turkey 2015 report of the European Commission stated that "the independence of the judiciary and respect of the principle of separation of powers have been undermined and judges and prosecutors have been under strong political pressure."[181]
In line with its traditional Western orientation, relations with Europe have always been a central part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey became one of the early members of the Council of Europe in 1950, applied for associate membership of the EEC (predecessor of the European Union) in 1959 and became an associate member in 1963. After decades of political negotiations, Turkey applied for full membership of the EEC in 1987, became an associate member of the Western European Union in 1992, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and has been in formal accession negotiations with the European Union since 2005.[152][153]
Turkey's support for Northern Cyprus in the Cyprus dispute and refusal to include the Republic of Cyprus to the EU-Turkey Customs Union agreement complicates its relations with the European Union and remains a major stumbling block to the country's EU accession bid.[196] The Annan Plan for the island's reunification was approved by the majority of Turkish Cypriots, but rejected by the majority of Greek Cypriots, in separate referendums on April 24, 2004. The Republic of Cyprus was admitted to the EU a week later, on May 1, 2004. According to the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey are the three guarantor states on the island.[197]
The other defining aspect of Turkey's foreign policy has been the country's long-standing strategic alliance with the United States.[198][199] The Truman Doctrine in 1947 enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece during the Cold War, and resulted in large-scale U.S. military and economic support. In 1948 both countries were included in the Marshall Plan and the OEEC for rebuilding European economies.[200]
The common threat posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War led to Turkey's membership of NATO in 1952, ensuring close bilateral relations with the US. Subsequently, Turkey benefited from the United States' political, economic and diplomatic support, including in key issues such as the country's bid to join the European Union.[201] In the post–Cold War environment, Turkey's geostrategic importance shifted towards its proximity to the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans.[202]
The independence of the Turkic states of the Soviet Union in 1991, with which Turkey shares a common cultural, historic and linguistic heritage, allowed Turkey to extend its economic and political relations deep into Central Asia.[204] The International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) was established in 1993, and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was established in 2009. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, a multi-billion-dollar oil and natural gas pipeline that extends from Baku in Azerbaijan to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, forms part of Turkey's foreign policy strategy to become an energy conduit from the Caspian Sea basin to Europe. Turkey sealed its land border with Armenia in a gesture of support to Azerbaijan (a Turkic state in the Caucasus region) during the First (1993) and Second (2020) Nagorno-Karabakh Wars, and it remains closed.[205] Armenia and Turkey started diplomatic talks in order to normalize the relationship between the two countries. The discussions include opening the closed borders and starting trade. Turkey and Armenia have also restarted commercial flights between the two countries.[206]
Following the Arab Spring in December 2010, the choices made by the AKP government for supporting certain political opposition groups in the affected countries have led to tensions with some Arab states, such as Turkey's neighbor Syria since the start of the Syrian civil war, and Egypt after the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.[207][208] As of 2022[update], Turkey does not have an ambassador in either Syria or Egypt,[209] but relations with both countries have started to improve.[210][211][212][213][214] Diplomatic relations with Israel were also severed after the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010, but were normalized following a deal in June 2016.[215] These political rifts have left Turkey with few allies in the East Mediterranean, where large natural gas fields have recently been discovered.[216][217] There is a dispute over Turkey's maritime boundaries with Greece and Cyprus and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean.[218][219]
The Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Force. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President. The President is responsible to the Parliament for matters of national security and the adequate preparation of the armed forces to defend the country. However, the authority to declare war and to deploy the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries or to allow foreign armed forces to be stationed in Turkey rests solely with the Parliament.[235]
The Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command are law enforcement agencies with military organization (ranks, structure, etc.) and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. In wartime, the president can order certain units of the Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command to operate under the Land Forces Command and Naval Forces Commands respectively. The remaining parts of the Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard continue to carry out their law enforcement missions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
Every fit male Turkish citizen otherwise not barred is required to serve in the military for a period ranging from three weeks to a year, dependent on education and job location.[236] Turkey does not recognize conscientious objection and does not offer a civilian alternative to military service.[237]
Turkey is one of five NATO member states which are part of the nuclear sharing policy of the alliance, together with Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.[245] A total of 90 B61 nuclear bombs are hosted at the Incirlik Air Base, 40 of which are allocated for use by the Turkish Air Force in case of a nuclear conflict, but their use requires the approval of NATO.[246]
In 2013, widespread protests erupted, sparked by a plan to demolish Gezi Park but soon growing into general anti-government dissent.[271]
On 20 May 2016, the Turkish parliament stripped almost a quarter of its members of immunity from prosecution, including 101 deputies from the pro-Kurdish HDP and the main opposition CHP party.[272][273] By 2020, under the pretext of responding to a failed coup attempt in 2016,[274][275] authorities had arrested or imprisoned more than 90,000 Turkish citizens.[276] According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the AKP government has waged crackdowns on media freedom.[277][278] Many journalists have been arrested using charges of "terrorism" and "anti-state activities".[279][280] In 2020, the CPJ identified 18 jailed journalists in Turkey (including the editorial staff of Cumhuriyet, Turkey's oldest newspaper still in circulation).[281]
Istanbul Pride was organized in 2003 for the first time. Since 2015, parades in Istanbul have been denied permission by the government.[282]
Homosexual activity has been legal in Turkey since 1858.[283]LGBT people have had the right to seek asylum in Turkey under the Geneva Convention since 1951.[284] However, LGBT people in Turkey face discrimination, harassment and even violence from their relatives, neighbors, etc.[285] The Turkish authorities have carried out many discriminatory practices.[286][287][288] Despite these, LGBT acceptance in Turkey is growing. In a survey conducted by Kadir Has University in Istanbul in 2016, 33% of respondents said that LGBT people should have equal rights, which increased to 45% in 2020. Another survey by Kadir Has University in 2018 found that the proportion of people who would not want a homosexual neighbor decreased from 55% in 2018 to 47% in 2019.[289][290] A poll by Ipsos in 2015 found that 27% of the Turkish public was in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and 19% supported civil unions instead.[291]
When the annual Istanbul Pride was inaugurated in 2003, Turkey became the first Muslim-majority country to hold a gay pride march.[292] Since 2015, all types of parades at Taksim Square and İstiklal Avenue (where, in 2013, the Gezi Park protests took place) have been denied permission by the AKP government, citing security concerns, but hundreds of people have defied the ban each year.[282] Critics have claimed that the bans were in fact ideological.[282]
Turkey is divided into seven geographical regions: Marmara, Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Mediterranean. The uneven north Anatolian terrain running along the Black Sea resembles a long, narrow belt. This region comprises approximately one-sixth of Turkey's total land area. As a general trend, the inland Anatolian plateau becomes increasingly rugged as it progresses eastward.[296]Pamukkale terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by mineral water from the hot springs. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water.[298][299] It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes (Meander) valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 with Hierapolis.
East Thrace, the European portion of Turkey, is located at the easternmost edge the Balkans. It forms the border between Turkey and its neighbors Greece and Bulgaria. The Asian part of the country mostly consists of the peninsula of Anatolia, which consists of a high central plateau with narrow coastal plains, between the Köroğlu and Pontic mountain ranges to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south.
Turkey's extraordinary ecosystem and habitat diversity has produced considerable species diversity.[307] Anatolia is the homeland of many plants that have been cultivated for food since the advent of agriculture, and the wild ancestors of many plants that now provide staples for humankind still grow in Turkey. The diversity of Turkey's fauna is even greater than that of its flora. The number of animal species in the whole of Europe is around 60,000, while in Turkey there are over 80,000 (over 100,000 counting the subspecies).[308]
The Anatolian leopard is still found in very small numbers in the northeastern and southeastern regions of Turkey.[315][316] The Eurasian lynx, the European wildcat and the Caracal are other felid species which are currently found in the forests of Turkey. The Caspian tiger, now extinct, lived in the easternmost regions of Turkey until the latter half of the 20th century.[315][317]
The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas have a temperateMediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters.[319] The coastal areas bordering the Black Sea have a temperate oceanic climate with warm, wet summers and cool to cold, wet winters.[319] The Turkish Black Sea coast receives the most precipitation and is the only region of Turkey that receives high precipitation throughout the year.[319] The eastern part of the Black Sea coast averages 2,200 millimetres (87 in) annually which is the highest precipitation in the country.[319] The coastal areas bordering the Sea of Marmara, which connects the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, have a transitional climate between a temperate Mediterranean climate and a temperate oceanic climate with warm to hot, moderately dry summers and cool to cold, wet winters.[319] Snow falls on the coastal areas of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea almost every winter, but usually melts in no more than a few days.[319] However, snow is rare in the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea and very rare in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea.[319] Winters on the Anatolian plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of −30 to −40 °C (−22 to −40 °F) do occur in northeastern Anatolia, and snow may lie on the ground for at least 120 days of the year, and during the entire year on the summits of the highest mountains. In central Anatolia the temperatures can drop below −20 °C (−4 °F) with the mountains being even colder.
Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the central Anatolian plateau of the interior of Turkey a continental climate with sharply contrasting seasons.[319]
Turkey is a newly industrialized country, with an upper-middle income economy, which is the twentieth-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and the eleventh-largest by PPP. Turkey is one of the Emerging 7 countries. According to IMF estimates, Turkey's GDP per capita by PPP is $40,883 in 2023[8] and approximately 11.7% of Turks are at risk of poverty or social exclusion as of 2019.[320] Unemployment in Turkey was 13.6% in 2019,[321] and the middle class population in Turkey rose from 18% to 41% of the population between 1993 and 2010 according to the World Bank.[322]
As of September 2021[update], the foreign currency reserves of the Turkish Central Bank were $74.9 billion (an 8.1% increase compared to the previous month), its gold reserves were $38.5 billion (a 5.1% decrease compared to the previous month), while its official reserve assets stood at $121.3 billion.[323] As of October 2021[update], the foreign currency deposits of the citizens and residents in Turkish banks stood at $234 billion, equivalent to around half of all deposits.[324][325]
The EU–Turkey Customs Union in 1995 led to an extensive liberalization of tariff rates, and forms one of the most important pillars of Turkey's foreign trade policy.[326]Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey reached 22.05 billion USD in 2007 and 19.26 billion USD in 2015, but has declined in recent years.[327]
The automotive industry in Turkey is sizeable, and produced 1,276,140 motor vehicles in 2021, ranking as the 13th largest producer in the world (production peaked at 1,695,731 motor vehicles in 2017, when Turkey also ranked 13th).[332] Turkish automotive companies like TEMSA, Otokar and BMC are among the world's largest van, bus and truck manufacturers. Togg, or Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc., is the first all-electric vehicle company of Turkey. Turkish shipyards are highly regarded both for the production of chemical and oil tankers up to 10,000 dwt and also for their mega yachts.[333] Turkish brands like Beko and Vestel are among the largest producers of consumer electronics and home appliances in Europe, and invest a substantial amount of funds for research and development in new technologies related to these fields.[334][335][336]
Other key sectors of the Turkish economy are banking, construction, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel, and machine industry. According to a Turkish Statistical Institute survey in 2021, which used the available data for 2020, it was estimated that 46.7 percent of total disposable income was received by the top 20 percent of income earners, while the lowest 20 percent received only 6.1 percent.[337]
As of 2023, two Turkish tech startups, Getir and Trendyol, have market valuations above $10 billion.[345][346] Turkey has seen a growth in the video gaming industry in recent years. Numerous game developing companies have been established and gained investment from venture capitalists.[347]TaleWorlds Entertainment, Peak Games, Bigger Games and Dream Games are the current leaders in this sector.[348][349]
Tourism in Turkey has increased almost every year in the 21st century,[350] and is an important part of the economy. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism currently promotes Turkish tourism under the project Turkey Home. Turkey is one of the world's top ten destination countries, with the highest percentage of foreign visitors arriving from Europe; specially Germany and Russia in recent years.[350] In 2019, Turkey ranked sixth in the world in terms of the number of international tourist arrivals behind Italy, with 51.2 million foreign tourists visiting the country.[351] Turkey has 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and 84 World Heritage Sites in tentative list. Turkey is home to 519 Blue Flag beaches, which makes it in the third place in the world.[352]Istanbul is the tenth most visited city in the world with 13,433,000 annual visitors as of 2018.[353]Antalya is the second most visited city in Turkey, with over 9 million tourists in 2021.[354]
The motorway network spans 3,523 kilometres (2,189 miles) as of 2020. The network is expected to expand to 4,773 kilometres (2,966 miles) by 2023 and to 9,312 kilometres (5,786 miles) by 2035.[365]
Opened in 2013, the Marmaray tunnel under the Bosphorus connects the railway and metro lines of Istanbul's European and Asian sides; while the nearby Eurasia Tunnel (2016) provides an undersea road connection for motor vehicles.[366]
Istanbul Metro is the largest metro network in the country with 495 million annual ridership.[367] There are 9 metro lines under service and 6 more under construction.[368]
Turkish State Railways operates both conventional and high speed trains on 12,532 kilometres rail length. The government-owned national railway company started building high-speed rail lines in 2003. The Ankara-Konya line became operational in 2011, while the Ankara-Istanbul line entered service in 2014.[371] Konya-Karaman line started its operations in 2022 and 406 km (252 mi) long Ankara-Sivas line is to open in 2022.
As of 2022, almost all gas consumed in Turkey is imported, but production from the Sakarya Gas Field, a sweet gas field in the Black Sea discovered by TPAO in 2020,[379] is due to start in 2023.[380] A pipeline will connect the gas field to the Filyos Natural-gas Processing Plant,[381] and TPAO plans to begin production in 2023,[382] with an estimated peak production of 40 bcm in 2026.[383] By the end of December 2022, the total volume of natural gas Turkey has discovered in the Black Sea amounted to 710 billion cubic metres (bcm) after a new field was located and a previous find was revised higher.[384]
The Presidential Library in Ankara is the largest library in Turkey, with a collection of over 4 million printed books[385] and over 120 million electronic editions[385] published in 134 languages.[385]
TÜBİTAK is the leading agency for developing science, technology and innovation policies in Turkey.[386]TÜBA is an autonomous scholarly society acting to promote scientific activities in Turkey.[387]TAEK is the country's official nuclear energy institution, focused on academic research and the development and implementation of peaceful nuclear technology.[388] It is supervising the construction of Turkey's first nuclear facility, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin, at the cost of $20 billion; the plant is expected to be operational in May 2023,[389] and is projected to meet around 10% of the country's electricity demand.
Turkey is among the top fifty most innovative countries in the world, ranking 41st in the Global Innovation Index in 2021; this represents a considerable increase since 2011, where it was ranked 65th.[399]
Istanbul is the most populous city in Turkey and the country's largest economic and financial centre.[400]
According to the Address-Based Population Recording System of Turkey, the country's population was 84,680,273 in 2021,[400] 93.2% of whom lived in province and district centers,[400] while only 6.8% lived in towns and villages.[400] According to the 2021 estimate, the population increased by 1.27 percent compared to the previous year.[400] In 2021, Turkey had an average population density of 110 people per km2.[400] People within the 15–64 age group constituted 67.9 percent of the total population; the 0–14 age group corresponded to 22.4 percent; while senior citizens aged 65 years or older made up 9.7 percent.[400]
Article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as "anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship"; therefore, the legal use of the term "Turkish" as a citizen of Turkey is different from the ethnic definition.[401] However approximately 70 to 80 percent of the country's citizens are ethnic Turks.[402][4] It is estimated that there are at least 47 ethnic groups represented in Turkey.[403] Reliable data on the ethnic mix of the population is not available, because Turkish census figures do not include statistics on ethnicity.[404]
Kurds are the largest non-Turkish ethnicity at anywhere from 12–25 per cent of the population.[406][407] The exact figure remains a subject of dispute; according to Servet Mutlu, "more often than not, these estimates reflect pro-Kurdish or pro-Turkish sympathies and attitudes rather than scientific facts or erudition".[403] Mutlu's 1990 study estimated Kurds made up around 12 per cent of the population.[408] The Kurds make up a majority in the provinces of Ağrı, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Iğdır, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şırnak, Tunceli and Van; a near majority in Şanlıurfa Province (47%); and a large minority in Kars Province (20%).[409] In addition, due to internal migration, Kurdish diaspora communities exist in all of the major cities in central and western Turkey. In Istanbul, there are an estimated three million Kurds, making it the city with the largest Kurdish population in the world.[410] Non-Kurdish minorities are believed to make up an estimated 7–12 percent of the population.[4]
Millions of Kurds fled across the mountains to Turkey and the Kurdish areas of Iran during the Gulf War in 1991. Immigration to Turkey is the process by which people migrate to Turkey to reside in the country. Turkey's migrant crisis in the 2010s and early 2020s resulted in the influx of millions of refugees and immigrants; by 2014, international migrants comprised 2.5% of the country's population.[420] According to the UNHCR, in 2018 Turkey hosted 3,564,919 registered refugees from Africa and the Middle East in total, which corresponded to 63.4% of all refugees in the world.[421] Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, including 3.6 million Syrian refugees, as of April 2020.[417] The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency manages the refugee crisis in Turkey.
The official language is Turkish, which is the most widely spoken Turkic language in the world.[422][423] It is spoken by 85.54 percent of the population as a first language.[424] 11.97 percent of the population speaks the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish as their mother tongue.[424]Arabic and Zaza are the mother tongues of 2.39 percent of the population, and several other languages are the mother tongues of smaller parts of the population.[424]
Turkey is a secular state with no official state religion; the Turkish Constitution provides for freedom of religion and conscience.[428][429] A 2016 survey by Ipsos, interviewing 17,180 adults across 22 countries, found that Islam was the dominant religion in Turkey, adhered to by 82% of the total population; religiously unaffiliated people comprised 13% of the population, while 2% were Christians.[430] The level of religiosity study by Konda found that 9.7% of the population who are 'fully devoted', 52% who 'strives to fulfill religious obligations', 34.3% who 'does not fulfill religious obligations' and 3.2% 'Nonbeliever/Irreligious'.[431][432] Another poll conducted by Gezici Araştırma in 2020 interviewed 1,062 people in 12 provinces and found that 28.5% of the Generation Z in Turkey identify as irreligious.[433][434]
According to a survey by World Values Survey In 2017 98.0% Identified as Muslims, while 1.2% Identified with no Religion and 0.8 as other.[435]
According to a survey by the pollster KONDA, the percentage of atheists in Turkey has tripled in 10 years and rose from 1% in 2008 to 3% in 2018, the percentage of non-believers or agnostics rose from 1% to 2%, and that 90% of irreligious Turks were under 35 years old. The survey was conducted in Turkey through face-to-face interviews with 5,793 people in their households, in April, 2018 while in 2008 6,482 people were interviewed in face-to-face in Turkey.[436][437][438]
The CIA World Factbook reports that Islam is the religion of 99.8% of the population, with Sunni Muslims as the largest sect, while 0.2% are Christians and Jews.[439] However, there are no official governmental statistics specifying the religious beliefs of the Turkish people, nor is religious data recorded in the country's census.[440] Academics suggest the Alevi population may be from 15 to 20 million, while the Alevi-Bektaşi Federation states that there are around 25 million.[441][442] According to Aksiyon magazine, the number of TwelverShias (excluding Alevis) is three million (4.2%).[443]
In a mid-2010s poll, 2.9% of Turkish respondents identified as atheists.[461] The Association of Atheism, the first official atheist organization in the Balkans and the Middle East, was founded in 2014.[462][463] Some religious and secular officials have claimed that atheism and deism are growing among Turkish people.[464][465][466][467]
The Ministry of National Education is responsible for pre-tertiary education.[469] This is compulsory and lasts twelve years: four years each of primary school, middle school and high school.[470] All 12 years compulsory education is free of charge in public schools.[471]
Basic education in Turkey is said to lag behind other OECD countries, with significant differences between high and low performers.[472] Access to high-quality school heavily depends on the performance in the secondary school entrance exams, to the point that some students begin taking private tutoring classes when they are ten years old.[472]
Turkey has become a hub for foreign students in recent years. The number of foreign students in Turkey was 795.962 in 2016.[480] The government has announced a vision to draw around 500,000 foreign students at its universities by offering attractive scholarships.[481]Türkiye Scholarships is international scholarship programme funded by Government of Turkey. In 2021, in response to Türkiye Scholarships, that was advertised in January 2021, Turkish Government received 165,000 applications from 178 countries of the World.[482][483][484]
Acıbadem Hospital in the Altunizade neighborhood of Üsküdar, Istanbul
The Ministry of Health has run a universal public healthcare system since 2003.[485] Known as Universal Health Insurance (Genel Sağlık Sigortası), it is funded by a tax surcharge on employers, currently at 5%.[485] Public-sector funding covers approximately 75.2% of health expenditures.[485] Despite the universal health care, total expenditure on health as a share of GDP in 2018 was the lowest among OECD countries at 6.3% of GDP, compared to the OECD average of 9.3%.[485] The lower health care expenditure is due to lower median age in Turkey which is 32.4, compared to Italy which is 47.3.[486] Aging population is the prime reason for higher healthcare expenditure in the developed world.[487]
Average life expectancy in Turkey is 78.6 years (75.9 for males and 81.3 for females), compared with the EU average of 81 years.[485] Turkey has high rates of obesity, with 29.5% of its adult population having a body mass index (BMI) value that is 30 or above.[488]Air pollution in Turkey is a major cause of early death.[489]
There are many private hospitals in the country. In recent years, Turkey has benefited from medical tourism, which has generated revenues of more than $1 billion in 2019.[490] Around 60% of the income has been obtained from plastic surgery and a total of 662,087 patients have received service in the country within the scope of health tourism in 2019.[490]
Turkey has a very diverse culture that is a blend of various elements of the Turkic, Anatolian, Byzantine and Ottoman cultures (the latter was in many aspects a continuation of both the Greco-Roman and Islamic cultures) with Western culture and traditions, a process that started with the Westernization of the Ottoman Empire and still continues today.[491][492] This mix originally began as a result of the encounter of the Turks and their culture with those of the peoples they came across during their migration from Central Asia to the West.[491][493] Contemporary Turkish culture during the republican period is a product of efforts to create a "modern" Western society, while maintaining traditional, religious and historical values.[491]
Turkish culture has also influenced European art and fashion, particularly between the 16th and 18th centuries, during the peak of Ottoman power — a phenomenon that was called Turquerie.
Ottoman miniature is linked to the Persian miniature tradition and is likewise influenced by Chinese painting styles and techniques. The words tasvir or nakış were used to define the art of miniature painting in Ottoman Turkish. The studios the artists worked in were called nakkaşhane.[494] The miniatures were usually not signed, perhaps because of the rejection of individualism, but also because the works were not created entirely by one person; the head painter designed the composition of the scene, and his apprentices drew the contours (which were called tahrir) with black or coloured ink and then painted the miniature without creating an illusion of depth. The head painter, and much more often the scribe of the text, were indeed named and depicted in some of the manuscripts. The understanding of perspective was different from that of the nearby European Renaissance painting tradition, and the scene depicted often included different time periods and spaces in one picture. They followed closely the context of the book they were included in, more illustrations than standalone works of art.[495]Nakkaş Osman and Matrakçı Nasuh (1480–1564) are among the most prominent artists of this era.
Turkish painting, in the Western sense, developed actively starting from the mid 19th century. The first painting lessons were scheduled at what is now the Istanbul Technical University (then the Imperial Military Engineering School) in 1793, mostly for technical purposes.[496] In the late 19th century, human figure in the Western sense was being established in Turkish painting, especially with Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910). Impressionism, among the contemporary trends, appeared later on with Halil Pasha (c.1857–1939). Other important Turkish painters in the 19th century were Ferik İbrahim Paşa (1815–1891), Osman Nuri Paşa (c.1839–1906), Şeker Ahmet Paşa (1841–1907), and Hoca Ali Riza (1864–1939).[497]
Carpet (halı) and tapestry (kilim)weaving is a traditional Turkish art form with roots in pre-Islamic times. During its long history, the art and craft of weaving carpets and tapestries in Turkey has integrated numerous cultural traditions. Apart from the Turkic design patterns that are prevalent, traces of Persian and Byzantine patterns can also be detected. There are also similarities with the patterns used in Armenian, Caucasian and Kurdish carpet designs. The arrival of Islam in Central Asia and the development of Islamic art also influenced Turkic patterns in the medieval period. The history of the designs, motifs and ornaments used in Turkish carpets and tapestries thus reflects the political and ethnic history of the Turks and the cultural diversity of Anatolia. However, scientific attempts were unsuccessful, as yet, to attribute a particular design to a specific ethnic, regional, or even nomadic versus village tradition.[501]
The earliest examples of Turkish paper marbling, called ebru in Turkish, are said to be a copy of the Hâlnâme by the poet Arifî. The text of this manuscript was rendered in a delicate cut paper découpage calligraphy by Mehmed bin Gazanfer and completed in 1540, and features many marbled and decorative paper borders. One early master by the pseudonym of Şebek is mentioned posthumously in the earliest Ottoman text on the art known as the Tertib-i Risâle-i Ebrî, which is dated based on internal evidence to after 1615. The instructions for several ebru techniques in the text are accredited to this master. Another famous 18th-century master by the name of Hatip Mehmed Efendi (died 1773) is accredited with developing motifs and perhaps early floral designs, although evidence from India appears to contradict some of these reports. Despite this, marbled motifs are commonly referred to as hatip designs in Turkey today.[502]
Namık Kemal's works had a profound influence on Atatürk and other Turkish statesmen who established the Turkish Republic.[503][504]
Turkish literature is a mix of cultural influences. Interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world along with Europe contributed to a blend of Turkic, Islamic and European traditions in modern-day Turkish music and literary arts.[505]Turkish literature was heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic literature during most of the Ottoman era.[citation needed]
The Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century introduced previously unknown Western genres, primarily the novel and the short story. Many of the writers in the Tanzimat period wrote in several genres simultaneously: for instance, the poet Namık Kemal also wrote the important 1876 novel İntibâh (Awakening), while the journalist Şinasi has written, in 1860, the first modern Turkish play, the one-act comedy "Şair Evlenmesi" (The Poet's Marriage). Most of the roots of modern Turkish literature were formed between the years 1896 and 1923. Broadly, there were three primary literary movements during this period: the Edebiyat-ı Cedîde (New Literature) movement; the Fecr-i Âtî (Dawn of the Future) movement; and the Millî Edebiyat (National Literature) movement.[citation needed]
The first radical step of innovation in 20th century Turkish poetry was taken by Nâzım Hikmet, who introduced the free verse style. Another revolution in Turkish poetry came about in 1941 with the Garip movement led by Orhan Veli, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet.
The mix of cultural influences in Turkey is dramatized, for example, in the form of the "new symbols of the clash and interlacing of cultures" enacted in the novels of Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.[506]
The origin of Turkish theater dates back to ancient pagan rituals and oral legends.[507] The dances, music and songs performed during the rituals of the inhabitants of Anatolia millennia ago are the elements from which the first shows originated. In time, the ancient rituals, myths, legends and stories evolved into theatrical shows. Starting from the 11th-century, the traditions of the Seljuk Turks blended with those of the indigenous peoples of Anatolia and the interaction between diverse cultures paved the way for new plays.[507][508]Meddah were storytellers who performed in front of audiences during the Ottoman period.[507]Karagöz and Hacivat are the lead characters of the traditional Turkish shadow play, popularized during the Ottoman period and then spread to most ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire.
After the Tanzimat (Reformation) period in the 19th century, characters in Turkish theatre were modernized and plays were performed on European-style stages, with actors wearing European costumes. Following the restoration of constitutional monarchy with the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, theatrical activities increased and social problems began to be reflected at the theatre as well as in historical plays. A theatrical conservatoire, Darülbedayi-i Osmani (which became the nucleus of the Istanbul City Theatres) was established in 1914. During the years of chaos and war, the Darülbedayi-i Osmani continued its activities and attracted the younger generation. Numerous Turkish playwrights emerged in this era; some of them wrote on romantic subjects, while others were interested in social problems, and still others dealt with nationalistic themes. The first Turkish musicals were also written in this period. In time, Turkish women began to appear on stage, which was an important development in the late Ottoman society. Until then, female roles had only been played by actresses who were members of Turkey's ethnic minorities. Today there are numerous private theatres in the country, together with those which are subsidized by the government, such as the Turkish State Theatres.[509]
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.[510]
With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres and musical instrumentation also expanded. Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Polish and Jewish communities, among others.[512]
Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Despite this however, western music styles like pop music and kanto lost popularity to arabesque in the late 1970s and 1980s. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy and society. The resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Ajda Pekkan, Sezen Aksu, Erol Evgin, MFÖ, Tarkan, Sertab Erener, Teoman, Kenan Doğulu, Levent Yüksel and Hande Yener. Internationally acclaimed Turkish jazz and blues musicians and composers include Ahmet Ertegun (founder and president of Atlantic Records), Nükhet Ruacan and Kerem Görsev.
Şakirin Mosque (2009), the first mosque designed by a woman
The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Its architecture dramatically influenced the later medieval architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and became the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoman architectural traditions that followed its collapse.[515] When the Roman Empire went Christian (as well as eastwards) with Constantinople as its new capital, its architecture became more sensuous and more ambitious. This new style, which would come to be known as Byzantine architecture, with increasingly exotic domes and ever-richer mosaics, spread west to Ravenna and Venice in Italy, and as far north as Moscow in Russia.[516] This influence can be seen particularly in the Venetian Gothic architecture.
Since the 18th century, Turkish architecture has been increasingly influenced by European styles, and this can be particularly seen in the Tanzimat era buildings of Istanbul like the Dolmabahçe, Çırağan, Taksim Military Barracks (demolished), Feriye, Beylerbeyi, Küçüksu, Ihlamur and Yıldızpalaces, which were all designed by members of the Balyan family of Ottoman Armenian court architects.[519] The Ottoman era waterfront houses (yalı) on the Bosphorus also reflect the fusion between classical Ottoman and European architectural styles during the aforementioned period. Italian architect, Raimondo D'Aronco served as the chief palace architect to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II in Istanbul for 16 years. D'Aronco designed and built a large number of buildings of various types in Istanbul. The stylistic features of his works can be classified in three groups: Revivalism, reinterpretation of the Ottoman forms, Art Nouveau and Vienna Secession. Art Nouveau was first introduced to Istanbul by D'Aronco, and his designs reveal that he drew freely on Byzantine and Ottoman decorations. He also mixed Western and Oriental styles in his work.
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine.[530][531] In the early years of the Republic, a few studies were published about regional Anatolian dishes but cuisine did not feature heavily in Turkish folkloric studies until the 1980s, when the fledgling tourism industry encouraged the Turkish state to sponsor two food symposia. The papers submitted at the symposia presented the history of Turkish cuisine on a "historical continuum" that dated back to Turkic origins in Central Asia and continued through the Seljuk and Ottoman periods.[532]
Many of the papers presented at these first two symposia were unreferenced. Prior to the symposia, the study of Turkish culinary culture was first popularized by the publication of Süheyl Ünver's Fifty Dishes in Turkish History in 1948. This book was based on recipes found in an 18th century Ottoman manuscript. His second book was about the 15th century palace cuisine during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. Following the publication of Ünver's book, subsequent studies were published, including a 1978 study by a historian named Bahaettin Ögel about the Central Asian origins of Turkish cuisine.[532]
Ottoman cuisine contains elements of Turkish, Byzantine, Balkan, Armenian, Georgian, Kurdish, Arab and Persian cuisines.[530][531][533] It can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Balkan and Eastern European cuisines.[530][531] The country's position between Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean Sea helped the Turks in gaining complete control of the major trade routes, and an ideal landscape and climate allowed plants and animals to flourish. Turkish cuisine was well established by the mid-1400s, which marked the beginning of the classical age during the Ottoman Empire's 623-year history. Yogurt salads; mezes; fish and seafood; grilled, sauteed or steamed meat varieties; vegetables or stuffed and wrapped vegetables cooked with olive oil; and drinks like sherbet, ayran and rakı became Turkish staples. The empire, eventually spanning from Austria and Ukraine in the north to Yemen and Sudan in the south, Algeria and the Maghreb in the west to the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf in the east, used its land and water routes to import exotic ingredients from all over the world. By the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman court housed over 1,400 live-in cooks and passed laws regulating the freshness of food. Since the fall of the empire in World War I (1914–1918) and the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, foreign food such as French hollandaise sauce and Western fast food have made their way into the modern Turkish diet.[534]
The traditional national sport of Turkey has been yağlı güreş (oilwrestling) since Ottoman times.[548]Edirne Province has hosted the annual Kırkpınar oil wrestling tournament since 1361, making it the oldest continuously held sporting competition in the world.[549][550] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ottoman Turkish oil wrestling champions such as Koca Yusuf, Nurullah Hasan and Kızılcıklı Mahmut acquired international fame in Europe and North America by winning world heavyweight wrestling championship titles. International wrestling styles governed by FILA such as freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling are also popular, with many European, World and Olympic championship titles won by Turkish wrestlers both individually and as a national team.[551]
TRT 2 is the public service channel dedicated to culture and art, and TRT Belgesel is dedicated to documentaries. In the 21st century some reforms have taken place to improve the cultural rights of ethnic minorities in Turkey, such as the establishment of TRT Kurdî, TRT Arabi and TRT Avaz by the TRT.
Turkish television dramas are increasingly becoming popular beyond Turkey's borders and are among the country's most vital exports, both in terms of profit and public relations.[558] After sweeping the Middle East's television market over the past decade, Turkish shows have aired in more than a dozen South and Central American countries in 2016.[559] Turkey is today the world's second largest exporter of television series.[560][561][unreliable source?]
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^"Retrofitting and Reconstruction Works"(PDF). Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project. p. 10. Taking a retrospective look at the earthquake records, it is observed that a major part of Turkey's territory with high earthquake activity. Therefore, medium (and above) scale earthquakes frequently occur around the country.
^"Statistics". milliparklar.gov.tr. Ministry of Forest and Water – General Directorare of Nature Conservation and National Parks. Archived from the original on 17 December 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
^Kazancı, Nizamettin; Kuzucuoğlu, Catherine (2019), Kuzucuoğlu, Catherine; Çiner, Attila; Kazancı, Nizamettin (eds.), "Threats and Conservation of Landscapes in Turkey", Landscapes and Landforms of Turkey, World Geomorphological Landscapes, Springer International Publishing, pp. 603–632, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03515-0_36, ISBN978-3-030-03515-0, S2CID134498356
^Acar, Sevil; Challe, Sarah; Christopoulos, Stamatios; Christo, Giovanna (2018). "Fossil fuel subsidies as a lose-lose: Fiscal and environmental burdens in Turkey". New Perspectives on Turkey. 58: 93–124. doi:10.1017/npt.2018.7. S2CID149594404.
^ abCebeci, Uğur (21 August 2019). "Yeni uçuşlar yakında". www.hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
^ abMutlu, Servet (1996). "Ethnic Kurds in Turkey: A Demographic Study". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 28 (4): 517–541. doi:10.1017/S0020743800063819. S2CID154212694.
^Watts, Nicole F. (2010). Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey (Studies in Modernity and National Identity). Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 167. ISBN978-0-295-99050-7.
^Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF), Nikolaos Andriotis, 2008
^Antoinette Harri; Allison Ohta (1999). 10th International Congress of Turkish Art. Fondation Max Van Berchem. ISBN978-2-05-101763-3. The first military training institutions were the Imperial Army Engineering School (Mühendishane-i Berr-i Hümâyun, 1793) and the Imperial School of Military Sciences (Mekteb-i Ulûm-ı Harbiye-i Şahane, 1834). Both schools taught painting to enable cadets to produce topographic layouts and technical drawings to illustrate landscapes ...
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