List of national parks of Turkey

[4][5] The concept of a national park was introduced for the first time in Turkey by Selahattin İnal, who argued that "nature reserves should have the status of a national park and they should be determined according to natural beauty and touristic potential criteria.

[6] The General Directorate of Forestry, which is given the responsibility of the national parks by law, is authorized to declare a national park for the purpose of using it as a scientific and public sports and recreation area, provided that the fauna and flora of the forested areas are preserved.

[8] In the cases where the area set to become a national park consists of lands belonging to the public as well as fields belonging to the individuals, the area is taken under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which can use measures such as expropriation, transfer, allocation or donation under the Expropriation Law.

[6] The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has the right to organize, manage, or operate national parks.

Turkey has a total of 44 national parks, which cover an area of 853,383 hectares (2,108,760 acres).