Turkey

Republic of Turkey
Flag
Location  Middle East
Capital  Ankara
Area  783,562 sq km
Population  81,257,239

"All things come to those that wait"
(Proverb/Quote of the Week)

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January

January 1 The newly signed free-trade agreement between Turkey and the United Kingdom, including England, came into effect on 1 January 2021 – a development that will strengthen ties between the two countries. January 2 January 3 Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 3 January 2013 signed an inter-governmental agreement worth $12 billion for the development of power plants and associated mines in Afsin-Elbistan region of Turkey. January 4 Researchers from Turkey, Austria and Israel have found the skeleton of a human and a dog in Turkey left behind by a tsunami that destroyed coastal communities along the Mediterranean Sea some 3,600 years ago, as revealed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 4 January 2022. January 5 January 6 January 7 Turkey and Japan on 7 January 2014 signed an agreement to set up a joint international university of science and technology in Istanbul aiming to nurture experts in the field of nuclear energy. January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 January 14 Turkey's first intelligence ship, TCG Ufuk, produced with national resources, was put into service in Istanbul on 14 January 2022 as part of the country's efforts to increase its naval power with a warship program. January 15 January 16 January 17 January 18 January 19 January 20 Turkish film Zer received the Best Film award at the 16th Dhaka International Film Festival in the Australasian Film Section on 20 January 2018. January 21 A 25-member team headed by Dr Omer Ozkan attempted to perform the world's first triple limb transplant, attaching two arms and one leg to a 34-year-old man on 21 January 2012 at a hospital in southern Turkey. January 22 January 23 January 24 January 25 January 26 January 27 January 28 January 29 January 30 Turkey’s Deniz Karakay on 30 January 2017 was named as one of the winners at the Google's annual coding competition Google Code-in (GCI). January 31 Nearly 40 million foreign tourists visited Turkey in 2018, an increase of more than 21 percent, according to the country’s Culture and Tourism Ministry figures released on 31 January 2019.

February

February 1 February 2 February 3 February 4 February 5 Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered dozens of terracotta figurines that are over 2,000 years old in the ancient town of Myra, including ones that depict gods, goddesses, men, women, cavalry and animals, as revealed on 5 February 2021. February 6 February 7 February 8 February 9 February 10 February 11 Dr Serap Erkek from the Cancer Epigenomics Laboratory in Turkey was recognised as one of the International Rising Talents at the 2020 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. February 12 Turkish photographer Bulent Kilic won the first and third places at the World Press Photo awards in the Spot News singles category on 12 February 2015. February 13 Turkish photographer Burhan Ozbilici won the 2017 World Press Photo of the Year award for his image of Russian ambassador's assassination in 2016 in Turkey. February 14 February 15 February 16 February 17 Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have yielded the world's oldest DNA ever sequenced, according to a study by a team of Turkish and international scientists published on 17 February 2021. February 18 Turkey became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance, on February 18, 1952. February 19 February 20 February 21 Turkey and China signed a three-year currency swap deal worth over $1.5 billion U.S. dollars on 21 February 2012 to enable bilateral trade in local currencies. The agreement is aimed at enhancing financial cooperation and promoting bilateral trade and investment, as well as ensuring regional financial stability. February 22 February 23 February 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 February 29

March

March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 Turkey and Croatia signed a culture and arts cooperation agreement on 4 March 2014. The agreement for the 2014-2016 period includes cooperation between the countries in a number of fields from literature, cinema, music and performing arts to historical manuscripts and cultural heritage. Turkey and Greece signed 25 agreements to boost bilateral relations on 4 March 2013. Under these agreements, the two neighbors will strengthen their cooperation in the fields of transport, information, media, sports, healthcare, agriculture, education and tourism, among others. March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 Safak Pavey, the first disabled woman elected to the Turkish Parliament, was honored with the 2012 International Women of Courage Award by the United States Department of State who demonstrated great personal dignity in overcoming physical obstacles every day, while locally and globally championing the rights of vulnerable populations, including refugees and disabled persons. March 9 March 10 March 11 March 12 March 13 March 14 March 15 March 16 March 17 March 18 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March 29 Saadet Ozkan of Turkey, a former primary school teacher and a gender activist who has become a champion for victims of child abuse, was honoured with the United States Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award 2017. March 30 March 31

April

April 1 April 2 April 3 April 4 April 5 April 6 April 7 Turkey and Iran signed eight Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in Tehran on 7 April 2015 to expand cooperation in economy, culture and politics during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Iran. April 8 April 9 April 10 Hayrettin Karaca, a successful textile businessman from Turkey, was honored with the United Nations Forest Heroes Award on 10 April 2013 for his initiatives in Turkey to raise public awareness of environmental problems -- specifically soil erosion, deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate change. April 11 Turkey claimed three golds in the women’s under 48 kilogram events at the 2015 European Weightlifting Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 April 16 April 17 Turkey and Malaysia signed a free trade agreement on 17 April 2014 that is expected to boost bilateral trade and diplomatic ties between the two countries. April 18 April 19 The ‘Green Patriarch’, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew from Turkey was awarded the prestigious Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on April 19, 2005. He was honored for mobilizing moral and spiritual forces, not just in Europe, but globally, towards achieving harmony between humankind and nature. April 20 April 21 Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered the remains of a Roman-era arena, where up to 20,000 spectators likely cheered and jeered as they watched gladiator matches and wild animal fights, the excavators said. The 1,800-year-old arena was discovered on the rolling hills of the ancient city of Mastaura, in Turkey's western Aydın Province, as widely reported on 21 April 2021. April 22 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 26 Turkish Airlines won the 2019 Cargo Airline of the Year Award at the Air Cargo News Awards held in London, UK. April 27 A group of Turkish and Chinese Christian evangelical explorers revealed, on 27 April 2010, that the wooden remains they have discovered on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey are likely the remains of Noah's Ark. The group claims that carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old, meaning they date to around the same time the ark was said to be afloat. April 28 April 29 April 30

May

May 1 May 2 May 3 Ministry of Justice of Turkey won the 2016 WSIS Prize for their program titled e-National Judicial System, which has been developed in order to ensure a fast, reliable, soundly operated and accurate judicial system. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, signed a $22bn deal on Turkey’s second nuclear plant project on 3 May 2013 in the Black Sea province of Sinop. May 4 May 5 May 6 May 7 May 8 May 9 May 10 May 11 May 12 May 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 Turkish drama Winter Sleep, by Turkish film director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, won the Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Turkish pop music singer Sertab Erener won the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest for the song Everyway That I Can. It was the first Eurovision title for Turkey. May 25 May 26 May 27 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31

June

June 1 June 2 June 3 June 4 On 4 July 2012, Turkey's parliament passed legislation to keep doctors from performing unnecessary cesarean births after the government claimed some doctors were seeking to earn more money by pushing women into unnecessary surgery with potentially serious consequences. June 5 June 6 June 7 June 8 June 9 June 10 Turkish Airlines won the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Best Food & Beverage in Europe Award for the fifth time on 10 June 2026. Middle East Technical University of Turkey ranked 12th at the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2015. June 11 June 12 June 13 A Turkish project titled Turkcell "Hello Hope” Mobile App for Integration of Syrian Refugees won an award at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2017 in the Cultural diversity & identity, linguistic diversity category. June 14 June 15 June 16 June 17 June 18 Turkish Airlines, the national carrier of Turkey, won the prestigious Best Airline in Europe, Best Airline in Southern Europe and Best Business Class Catering awards in the 2013 World Airline Awards at the Paris Air Show. June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 June 25 Tansu Çiller was Turkey's first female Prime Minister. She was in the office of Prime Minister from 25 June 1993 to 7 March 1996. June 26 June 27 The Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex, including a school, library and market, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Built by the famous Mimar Sinan in the 16th Century it is one of the grandest achievements in Islamic architecture. The square mosque, dominating Edirne's skyline; include an octagonal supporting system created through eight pillars incised in a square shell of walls with four semi domes, decorated by Iznik tiles and stands as a marvel of Sinan's genius to create a harmonic interior from the conformity of geometric shapes. June 28 June 29 Turkish director Erdem Tepegöz’s social drama The Particle (Zerre) won the Golden George for Best Film at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival on 29 June 2013. June 30

July

July 1 Göbekli Tepe, a site that presents monumental circular and rectangular megalithic structures, in Turkey was inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List on 1 July 2018. July 2 July 3 July 4 Turkey on 4 July 2018 signed an association agreement with Sudan aiming to boost trade volume between the two countries to $2 billion. July 5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on 9 July 2017 inscribed Aphrodisias archaeological site in southwestern Turkey as the World Heritage site. July 10 Turkish musician Kudsi Ergüner was named UNESCO Artist for Peace on 10 July 2016 at a ceremony held in Istanbul. July 11 July 12 July 13 Turkish students won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the prestigious 2014 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Cape Town, South Africa. July 14 July 15 July 16 July 17 July 18 İlayda and Ezgi from Turkey received the prestigious Google Community Impact Award for Europe on 18 July 2016 for their idea of an affordable way to retrofit local buildings in their community with an easily available material: aluminium cans. July 19 July 20 July 21 July 22 Turkey unveiled its first hypersonic ballistic missile, the Tayfun Block 4, at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul. July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 Turkey signed trade deals, estimated at $50.7 billion, with the UAE during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit to the UAE on 26 July 2023. July 27 July 28 July 29 July 30 Tuan Dolmen of Turkey won the Scientific American Innovator Award at the 2019 Google Science Fair for his project focusing on the problem of the lack of alternative energy sources in the agricultural sector. July 31

August

August 1 August 2 August 3 August 4 August 5 August 6 August 7 Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on 7 August 2026 signed a joint defence agreement, stating that an attack on one of them would be seen as an attack on all three. August 8 Scientists in Turkey in collaboration with the researchers at the University of Hawaii have cloned a colony of rabbits that glow bright green in the dark, as revealed on 8 August 2013. The overall goal of the experiment is to introduce a beneficial gene into female rabbits, then to collect the protein made in the milk produced by the female rabbits. This approach could lead to new and competitively efficient ways to produce medicines. August 9 The fifth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games officially started in Turkey’s Konya province in a colourful opening ceremony on 9 August 2022. August 10 Sprinter Ramil Guliyev secured Turkey their first ever gold medal in the men’s 200m final at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. August 11 August 12 August 13 August 14 August 15 August 16 August 17 Melisa Cakmakli of Turkey won gold in women's 44kg Judo event at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. August 18 August 19 August 20 Taha Akgul of Turkey won Men's Freestyle 125 kg Wrestling gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. August 21 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 21 August 2020 announced the discovery of a large natural gas reserve off the Black Sea coast, Turkey's largest-ever natural gas discovery, the scale of the reserves could potentially meet Turkey’s energy needs for 20 years. August 22 August 23 August 24 August 25 August 26 August 27 August 28 August 29 August 30 Turkish female athlete Nazmiye Muslu won gold medal in the Women's-40 kg Powerlifting at the London Paralympics on 30 August 2012 and broke her own world record with 109.0 kg lift. August 31 Turkey on 31 August 2026 signed the NASA-led Artemis Accords, joining the growing international coalition of like-minded nations dedicated to peaceful, transparent space exploration.

September

September 1 September 2 September 3 September 4 September 5 Turkish photographer Bülent Kiliç won the Visa d'Or for News, the most prestigious award at the Visa Pour L'Image Festival in Perpignan, southwestern France on 5 September 2015 for his work on Syrian Refugees at the Turkish border. September 6 Turkish tennis player Ipek Soylu and Jil Belen Teichmann of Switzerland claimed the title in the Junior Women's Double Final at the 2014 U.S. Open, landing a historic first Grand Slam for Turkish tennis. September 7 September 8 September 9 September 10 Turkish film director Reha Erdem won the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize for the film KOCA DÜNYA (BIG BIG WORLD) at the 73rd Venice Film Festival on 10 September 2016. September 11 Turkey and Moldova on 11 September 2014 signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) lifting custom duties each country imposes on goods from the other. The agreement deemed as mutually beneficial and will promote mutual growth of exports, investment and strengthening trade and economic ties between the countries. September 12 September 13 Kaan Terzioglu, CEO, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. Turkey, was recognised as a 2017 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact for supporting refugees through mobile technology. September 14 September 15 September 16 September 17 A giant poolside mosaic featuring intricate geometric patterns has been unearthed in southern Turkey, revealing the far-reaching influence of the Roman Empire at its peak, as revealed on 17 September 2012 by Michael Hoff, a University of Nebraska, Lincoln art historian and director of the mosaic excavation. September 18 September 19 September 20 September 21 September 22 September 23 September 24 September 25 September 26 September 27 Turkish environmentalist Hayrettin Karaca on 27 September 2012 won the Swedish Right Livelihood Award, honoring those who work to improve the lives of others, for a lifetime of tireless advocacy and support for the protection and stewardship of our natural world, combining successful entrepreneurship with effective environmental activism. September 28 Turkish Airlines won the Best Airlines in Southern Europe award 2021 at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. September 29 September 30

October

October 1 October 2 October 3 October 4 October 5 Turkish archaeologists believe they may have discovered the remains of St. Nicholas — from whom the legend of Santa Claus emerged — beneath a church at his birthplace in southern Turkey, as revealed on 5 October 2017. October 6 October 7 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 was jointly awarded to Aziz Sancar of Turkey, Tomas Lindahl of Sweden and Paul Modrich of the USA for mechanistic studies of DNA repair. October 8 October 9 October 10 October 11 Turkey and Mongolia on 11 October 2013 signed an agreement that lifted visa requirements between the countries for their citizens for no more than 30 days. October 12 The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2006 is awarded to the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures. It was the first Nobel Prize to be awarded to a Turkish citizen. October 13 Psychology student and occasional interpreter Asena Melisa Saglam of Turkey was included in the BBC global list of 100 inspirational and innovative women for 2017. Turkish promotional poster of Pamukkale, a natural site in Denizli Province, was announced as the winner of the 2011 Vettor Giusti Tourism Poster Competition under the European region category at the 19th General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The competition is held every two years on the occasion of the UNWTO General Assembly and is an opportunity for member states to promote their destinations around the world. October 14 October 15 October 16 Turkey successfully launched a communications satellite, named Türksat-4B, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 16 October 2015. October 17 October 18 October 19 October 20 October 21 October 22 Turkey launched a project to support increasing access of women to economic opportunities in Turkey, with support from Sweden and the World Bank, on 22 October 2013. The purpose of the project is briefly to contribute to the ongoing efforts by the government to improve women’s access to more and better jobs by (i) strengthening evidence-based policy making; (ii) facilitating knowledge sharing and raising awareness; and (iii) supporting the piloting of women cooperatives. October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27 Turkey was elected as a council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 27 October 2014 for four years from the Western European region. ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. October 28 October 29 Turkey on 29 October 2013 unveiled a three-billion-euro rail link under the Bosphorous to link the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. Turkey is for the first time connecting its European and Asian sides with this railway tunnel, completing a plan initially proposed by Ottoman sultan Abdoul Medjid about 150 years ago. Turkey celebrates Independence Day on October 29 following the Turkish War of Independence in 1923. On October 29, 1923 the Republic of Turkey was established. October 30 October 31

November

November 1 November 2 November 3 November 4 November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 Turkish and Italian scientists discovered and described a new species of scorpion, Euscorpius lycius, coming from the area of ancient Lycia, nowadays the regions of the Muğla and Antalya Provinces in Southwestern Turkey. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys on 8 November 2013. November 9 November 10 November 11 November 12 November 13 November 14 November 15 November 16 November 17 The Blue Stream gas pipeline, for the transport of gas from Russia to Turkey, was officially inaugurated on November 17, 2005. It was opened as the deepest underwater pipeline in the world. November 18 November 19 November 20 November 21 November 22 November 23 November 24 November 25 November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 30

December

December 1 December 2 December 3 The Dallas Museum of Art has returned an ancient piece of mosaic to Turkish officials after learning that the piece was likely looted from an archaeological site. It was returned to Turkish officials at a ceremony on 3 November 2012 in Dallas. December 4 December 5 December 6 December 7 Turkish Airlines won the Design Airline of the Year Europe award at the 2022 TheDesignAir awards that reward innovation. Turkey and Qatar on 7 December 2021 announced to extend a currency swap agreement between their central banks for another three years. Azra Akın from Turkey won the 52nd Miss World pageant at the age of 20 on December 7, 2002. Azra became the first ever representative from Turkey to win the Miss World title. December 8 December 9 December 10 December 11 Gaziantep of Turkey was declared as the member of the 2015 UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the Gastronomy category. December 12 December 13 December 14 December 15 Istanbul Airport in Turkey was certified as a five-star airport by London-based international air transport rating agency Skytrax according to an official announcement on 15 December 2020. December 16 Turkey's first air-to-surface hypersonic missile TRG-230-IHA, manufactured by the Roketsan company, was successfully tested on 16 December 2022. December 17 December 18 December 19 Turksat 5B, Turkish geostationary high-throughput (HTS) communications satellite developed for military and commercial purposes, was launched on 19 December 2021 by U.S. aerospace company SpaceX. December 20 The Eurasia Tunnel, the first ever road tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, was officially opened on 20 December 2016. The Eurasia Tunnel will reduce the travel time between Kazlıçeşme and Göztepe in Istanbul from 100 minutes to 15 minutes. Scientists from Turkey, England and the Netherlands have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever to be found in Turkey, revealing that humans passed through the gateway from Asia to Europe much earlier than previously thought, approximately 1.2 million years ago. Their study was published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews on 20 December 2014. December 21 December 22 Turkish photographer Bulent Kilic received Time Magazine’s prestigious Best Wire Photographer of 2014 award with his stunning shots in a busy year full of events in Turkey. December 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 29 Türkiye’s first domestically developed jet trainer and light attack aircraft, HÜRJET, secured a €2.6 billion export agreement with Spain, as announced on 29 December 2025. December 30 A 5,000 year-old underground city has been discovered in the Nevşehir province of Turkey’s Central Anatolia region. A series of ruins that contain buildings, hidden churches and water channels was found in the previously unknown ancient city, as reported on 30 December 2014. December 31

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