[3] The name Turka originates from Ukrainian word, тур (tur), meaning aurochs or urus (Latin: Bos primigenius), the ancestor of domestic cattle — a type of huge wild cattle which inhabited in the surrounding forests (it survived in Europe until 1627).

The location of initial settlement outpost, from which arose Turka, was determined by the so-called "Path of Rus" - Neolithic trade route that connected through the Turka Western Europe to Hungary, Moldova and the Balkan countries.

On June 27, 1431, King Władysław II Jagiełło presented Turka to a man named Vancza Valachus.

In 1730 Turka received Magdeburg rights, and three years laters, a Roman Catholic parish was opened here.

After World War II, the town was reattached to the Soviet Ukraine, and its Polish community was expelled to the so-called Recovered Territories.