Turkey,[a] officially the Republic of Türkiye,[b] is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe.

[13] Home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe and some of the earliest farming areas, present-day Turkey was inhabited by various ancient peoples.

[21] 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.

[76] Following the Greco-Persian Wars, the Greek city-states of the Anatolian Aegean coast regained independence, but most of the interior stayed part of the Achaemenid Empire.

[93] Following Alexander's death, the Seleucids ruled large parts of Anatolia, while native Anatolian states emerged in the Marmara and Black Sea areas.

The Tanzimat reforms, initiated by Mahmud II in 1839, aimed to modernize the Ottoman state in line with the progress that had been made in Western Europe.

[131][132] As the empire gradually shrank in size, military power and wealth; especially after the Ottoman economic crisis and default in 1875[135] which led to uprisings in the Balkan provinces that culminated in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

The decline of the Ottoman Empire led to a rise in nationalist sentiment among its various subject peoples, leading to increased ethnic tensions which occasionally burst into violence, such as the Hamidian massacres of Armenians, which claimed up to 300,000 lives.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction and in the Russian Empire resulted in estimated 5 million deaths,[138][139] with the casualties including Turks.

[139] Five to seven or seven to nine million refugees migrated into modern-day Turkey from the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and Mediterranean islands,[140] shifting the center of the Ottoman Empire to Anatolia.

Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920).

The reforms aimed to transform the old religion-based and multi-communal Ottoman monarchy into a Turkish nation state that would be governed as a parliamentary republic under a secular constitution.

[171][172] 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.

[187] Turkey is also subdivided into 7 regions (bölge) and 21 subregions for geographic, demographic and economic measurements, surveys and classifications; this does not refer to an administrative division.

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.

[206] In the years of government by the Justice and Development Party 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, because of political interference in the promotion of judges and prosecutors and in their pursuit of public duty.

[228] In 2018, the Turkish military and the Turkish-backed forces began an operation in Syria aimed at ousting US-backed YPG (which Turkey considers to be an offshoot of the outlawed PKK)[229][230] from the enclave of Afrin.

[261] 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.

[274] Since 2015, parades at Taksim Square and İstiklal Avenue have been denied government permission, citing security concerns, but hundreds of people have defied the ban each year.

[292][293][294] Turkey's position at the crossroads of the land, sea and air routes between the three Old World continents and the variety of the habitats across its geographical regions have produced considerable species diversity and a vibrant ecosystem.

Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the central Anatolian Plateau a continental climate with sharply contrasting seasons.

[288] Turkey has a diversified economy; main industries include automobiles, electronics, textiles, construction, steel, mining, and food processing.

[e][396][397][398] In 2013, the Ankara 13th Circuit Administrative Court ruled that the minority provisions of the Lausanne Treaty should also apply to Assyrians in Turkey and the Syriac language.

[457] After the establishment of the republic, Kemalism emphasized Turkish culture, attempted to make "Islam a matter of personal conviction", and pursued modernization.

Textile and carpet design, glass and ceramics, calligraphy, paper marbling (ebru) are some of the art forms for which modern-day Turkish artists are recognized as leaders in the Islamic world.

[citation needed] Internationally acclaimed Turkish jazz and blues musicians and composers include Ahmet Ertegun[465] (founder and president of Atlantic Records), Nükhet Ruacan and Kerem Görsev.

[497] Edirne Province has hosted the annual Kırkpınar oil wrestling tournament since 1361, making it the oldest continuously held sporting competition in the world.

[506] Turkish directors like Metin Erksan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Yılmaz Güney, Zeki Demirkubuz and Ferzan Özpetek won numerous international awards such as the Palme d'Or and Golden Bear.

[507] 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.

[508] 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.