- Yunus Emre
Yunus Emre was a Turkish poet and Sufi mystic. He has exercised an immense influence on Turkish literature, from his own day until the present. Because Yunus Emre is, after Ahmet Yesevi and Sultan Veled, one of the first known Turkish poets to have composed their works in the spoken Turkish of their age and region rather than in Persian or Arabic, his diction remains very close to the popular speech of his contemporaries in Central and Western Anatolia, … - Fehmi Koru
Fehmi Koru is a Turkish columnist and journalist. He studied journalism and theology, receiving his master degree from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University. He also worked as a research affiliate at the Center for International Studies of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was editor of the daily Milli Gazete (1984) and Zaman (1986-1987). He was also the chief editorial writer and Ankara Bureau Chief of Zaman until 1998. - Geoffrey Lewis
Geoffrey L. Lewis is a distinguished scholar of the Turkish language and the author of several well known books about Turkish. Many people have learned Turkish from his "Teach Yourself Turkish" and used as a reference his "Turkish Grammar". Lewis was born in London, England in 1920 and educated at the University College School and St John's College, Oxford. - Ziya Gökalp
Ziya Gökalp was a prominent Turkish ideologue of Pan-Turkism or Turanism. Gökalp was publicist and pioneer sociologist. He was influenced by modern western European, especially French and German, thought and elaborated an ideology of Turkish nationalism which was largely implemented, after his death, by Kemal Atatürk. Ziya Gökalp (this last name, Old Turkish "Sky warrior" or "Blue warrior", was originally a pen name), … - Rafet el Roman
Rafet El Roman (born August 25, 1968 in Edirne, Turkey), is a pop star in his home country. He got his name from a fictional character named "El Romano". - Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelen or of Yannina, the "Lion of Yannina",, and Turkish: "Tepedelenli Ali Paşa", and Aromanian: "Ali Pãshelu". - Mustafa Sandal
Mustafa Sandal, commonly known as Musti, is a famous Turkish pop singer. He is fluent in English, Turkish, Italian and French. He emerged in the early 1990s with the revival of Turkish pop music and is one of the most successful pop singers in Turkey. Musti is famous in Europe for his songs "Moonlight" and "İsyankar" in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and Austria - Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan (1029 - December 15, 1072) was the second sultan of the Seljuk dynasty and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponym of the dynasty. He assumed the name of "Muhammad bin Da'ud Chaghri" when he embraced Islam, and for his military prowess, personal valour, and fighting skills he obtained the surname Alp Arslan, which means "a valiant lion" in Turkish. - Mehmet Akif Ersoy
Mehmet Âkif Ersoy was a Turkish poet. He wrote the lyrics of the Turkish National Anthem, İstiklâl Marşı ("The March of Independence" in English) - which was adopted in 1921. He is accepted by Turks as the "National Poet". He studied veterinary science at the university. The lyrics were originally written as a poem in a collection of his writings. Paradoxically, one of his most famous works, a book called "Safahat", … - Ömer Seyfettin
Ömer Seyfettin, also Omer Seyfeddin, (born 1884, Gönen-Kamacioglu Village, Balıkesir/Oya - died March 6, 1920, Istanbul) was a Turkish nationalist writer from late 19th to early 20th century, considered to be one of the greatest modern Turkish authors. His work is much praised for simplifying the Turkish language from the Persian and Arabic words and phrases that were common at the time. Omer Seyfettin was born 1884 in Gönen. - Andreas Tietze
Andreas Tietze was a world-renowned Austrian Turcologist and one of the founders of Turkic studies in the United States. He was educated in Vienna and built his career in, respectively, İstanbul University, Turkey, where he had taken refuge from the Hitler regime; and then in the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was emeritus professor of Turkish in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, … - Mike Feghali
Mike Feghali (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the supervisor of the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish desks of the Washington, D.C. field office, upon which FBI agents nationwide rely for translating documents and audio recordings from those languages into English. Feghali, who has worked for the FBI for several years, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He holds several degrees in foreign languages. - Naim Süleymanoğlu
Naim Süleymanoğlu, born Naim Suleimanov, is a Turkish World and Olympic Champion in weightlifting. He won three Olympic Championships, seven World Championships and six European Championships and improved world records 46 times. Of Turkish descent born in Bulgaria, Naim Suleimanov set his first world record in weightlifting at age 16. He became the second lifter (of only seven) to clean and jerk three times his bodyweight in history. - Ziynet Sali
Ziynet Sali (born on April 29, 1975) is a Turkish Cypriot singer who has recently produced and became famous in Turkey through songs with lyrics in Turkish and Greek. Ziynet was born in Cyprus on April 29 1975. Soon afterwards, her family settled in London due to her father's work. In 1981, they returned to Northern Cyprus to live in Dilekkaya, where Ziynet did her studies till high school. - Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel, "Sitara-i-Imtiaz", "Hilal-i-Imtiaz" (April 7, 1922 - January 26, 2003) was a well known and very influential German Iranologist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam and Sufism. She received a doctorate in Islamic languages and civilization from the University of Berlin at the age of nineteen. At twenty-three, she became a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Marburg (Germany) in 1946, … - Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey
Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey was the 3rd ruler of the beylik of Karamanoğlu. He was renowned for declaring Turkish language as the official language of the state. In his ferman dated 13 May 1277, he ordered : "Starting from today, in dervish content, in council, in the palace, in parliament and in squares, no language other than Turkish is allowed." Before him, Seljuk elites in Anatolia was using Persian in literature and Arabic in government issues and science. - Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall
Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (June 9, 1774-November 23, 1856) was an Austrian orientalist. Born Joseph von Hammer in Graz, Styria, he received his early education mainly in Vienna. Entering the diplomatic service in 1796, he was appointed in 1799 to a position in the Austrian embassy in Constantinople, and in this capacity he took part in the expedition under Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith and General Sir John Hely-Hutchinson against the French. - Yıldız Tilbe
Yıldız Tilbe is a Turkish singer and one of the best selling musical artists in Turkey, known especially for her eastern-infused ballads. - Kilij Arslan I
Dāwūd Qilij Arslān ibn Soleymān ibn Qutalmish (Turkish: Kılıç or Kılınç Arslan, meaning "Lion Sword". In the old script "قلج أرسلان", "Qïlïj Arslān"; d. 1107) was the Seljuk sultan of Rüm from 1092 until his death. He ruled the Sultanate during the time of the First Crusade, and re-established the Sultanate of Rüm after the death of Malik Shah I of Great Seljuk - Piyale Pasha
Piyale Pasha, also known as "Piale Pasha" in the West or "Pialí Bajá" in Spain; Turkish: "Piyale Paşa"), was an Ottoman-Turkish admiral (Kaptan Pasha = fleet commander) between 1553 and 1567 and an Ottoman Vizier after 1568. Piyale Pasha received his formal education at the Enderun (Imperial Academy) in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey. - Pamela Spence
Pamela Spence (born 1975) is a Turkish Pop-rock singer. In Turkey, she is popularly known by her first name only, that is, as Pamela. Born in Heidelberg, Germany to a British American father and a Turkish mother, she sings in Turkish, which she learned at the age of 15, after her family moved to Turkey. In addition to her solo career, she has collaborated with a number of other Turkish singers including Teoman. She also acted in several musicals. - Imadaddin Nasimi
Imadeddin Nasimi (?–1417?) was a 14th-century Sufi poet ("Nasimi" was his pen name, or takhallus). He has written poetry in Turkish and Persian and is considered as one of the greatest poets of the Azerbaijani and Divan traditions. Some consider him as the father of the classic Turkish literature. - Gerard Clauson
Sir Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson was an English civil servant, businessman, and Orientalist best known for his studies of the Turkish language. Clauson attended Eton College, where he was Captain of School, and where, at age 15 or 16, he published a critical edition of a short Pali text, "A New Kammavācā" in the "Journal of the Pali Text Society". In 1906, when his father was named Chief Secretary for Cyprus, … - Jalal Ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi (Rūmī) (Turkish: "Mevlânâ Celâleddin Mehmed Rumi",), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Bal<u>kh</u>ī, but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (September 30, 1207–December 17, 1273), was a 13th century Persian ("Tājīk") Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian. - Roxelana
Roxelana, Roxolana, Roxelane, Rossa, Ruziac, known also by her Turkish name of Hürrem (or Khourrem or Karima), meaning "the cheerful one", (c. 1510 - April 18, 1558) was the Slavic wife of the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. Sixteenth century sources are silent as to her maiden name, … - Muhammad Ali Of Egypt
Muhammad 'Alī Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha or Mehmet Ali Paşa in Turkish, (c. 1769 - August 2, 1849), was Wali of Egypt and Sudan, and is regarded as the "founder of modern Egypt". The dynasty he established would rule Egypt and Sudan until the mid-20th Century. - Kâzım Koyuncu
Kâzım Koyuncu (born November 7, 1972 in Hopa, Artvin Province, Turkey - died June 25, 2005 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish folk-rock singer and song writer. An ethnic Laz, Koyuncu recorded songs in a number of languages spoken along the southeastern Black Sea coast as well as the regional Turkish dialect. He was first a member of "Zuğaşi Berepe", a rock group founded in 1993. Follwing the group's break-up in 1999, Koyuncu went on to record two solo albums, … - Hayreddin Barbarossa
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha (Turkish: "Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa" or "Hızır Hayreddin Paşa"; also "Hızır Reis" before being promoted to the rank of Pasha and becoming the Kaptan-ı Derya (Fleet Admiral) of the Ottoman Navy) (c. 1478 - July 4 1546), was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral who dominated the Mediterranean for decades. He was born on the island of Midilli (Lesbos in today's Greece) and died in Istanbul. - Çağla Kubat
Çağla Kubat is a Turkish model and actress. She acts as the leading female role in the series 'Sağır Oda'. She was born in İzmir on 16 November 1979. Cağla graduated from Istanbul Technical University with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. She won the Miss Turkey pageant and consequently placed 2nd runner-up at the Miss Universe 2002. She is also a champion windsurfer, having won the IFCA windsurfing European Slalom Championship, at Çeşme, … - Vartan Pasha
Vartan Pasha (Hovsep Vartanian or Osep Vartanian) was an Ottoman Armenian statesman, author and journalist of the 19th century, promoted to the rank of "Pasha" after three decades in the service of the state. He is also notable for his novel "Akabi's Story" ("Akabi Hikayesi"), published in 1851 in Turkish written in the Armenian script, and for having published the bilingual magazine "Mecmua-i Havadis", … - Nene Hatun
Nene Hatun (1857- May 22 1955) was a twenty year old woman with a three month old baby at the start of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, which is known as the "The war of 93" ("93 Harbi") in Turkish in reference to the Hijri year in which the war was fought. She had been living in a neighborhood of Erzurum called Aziziye. In November 1877, Aziziye was attacked by the Russians, but they were defeated with the help of women volunteers. - Yervant Odian
Yervant Odian is considered to be the one of the most influential Armenian satirists. Odian's writings, which include novels and short stories, often humorously point out humanity's vices. He had the unique ability to conceive of and write stories at any given instant. In 1915, Yervant Odian was expelled from Istanbul due to the Armenian Genocide. - Udi Hrant Kenkulian
Udi Hrant Kenkulian (1901-August 29, 1978), often referred to as Udi Hrant ("oud-player Hrant") or as Hrant Emre ("Hrant of the soul") was an oud player of Turkish classical music, and a key transitional figure in its transformation into a contemporary popular music. He was an ethnic Armenian citizen of Turkey who spent most of his life in Turkey and wrote most of his lyrics in Turkish. - Elvan Abeylegesse
Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish)) (born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish woman middle and long distance track and field athlete, running in the disciplines of 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m, but also 10000 m, 2 miles and cross country. She was once ranked 7th in the world, and held the record for 5000m, at 14:24.68. She was born Hewan Abeye on September 11, 1982 in Addis Ababa, … - Chagatai Khan
Chagatai Khan ("Chagadai";) was the second son of Genghis Khan. He inherited most of what are now the five Central Asian states and Northern Iran after the death of his father and ruled until his death in 1241. He was also appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the execution of the Yassa, though that lasted only until Genghis Khan was crowned Khan of the Mongol Empire. The Empire later came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate, part of the Mongol Empire. - Richard Nelson Frye
Richard Nelson Frye (c. 1920) is an American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian Studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University. His professional areas of interest are Iranian philology, and the history of Iran and Central Asia before 1000 CE. Born in Birmingham, Alabama to a family of immigrants from Sweden, "Freij" has four children, his second marriage being to an Assyrian scholar, Dr. Eden Naby, … - Waheed Arshad
Major General Waheed Arshad took over as Director General Inter Services Public Relations on 1 March 2007, replacing Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan who was posted to Lahore as GOC. He was commissioned in Armored Corps of Pakistan Army in 1975. He is a graduate of Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence College, Islamabad, and Turkish War Academy, Istanbul. During his career, the Major General Waheed has had a varied experience of command, … - Mıgırdiç Margosyan
Mıgırdiç Margosyan is an Turkish author of Armenian descent. Margosyan was born on December 23rd, 1938 in the Hançepek district of Diyarbakır, Turkey. He received his primary education at the Suleyman Nazif İlkokulu and Ziya Gökalp Ortaokulu in Diyarbakır, and continued his secondary education at the Armenian community schools in Istanbul, attending Bezciyan Ortaokulu and Getronagan Lisesi. - Kabir Helminski
Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufism. He is the Co-Director of the Threshold Society, a non-profit educational foundation that has developed programs that provide a structure for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. He has translated many volumes of Sufi literature, including many works of Rumi, and is the author of two books on Sufism: "Living Presence" and "The Knowing Heart". - Sabahattin Eyüboğlu
Sabahattin Eyüboğlu was a Turkish writer, principally a widely popular essayist, as well as a translator into Turkish of several important works of the world literature, such as Shakespeare. Besides, he made translations from Plato, La Fontaine, Melville, Camus, Rabelais and Aristophanes. His translations are still admitted to be the main references in the Turkish language for the works of such authors as Montaigne and Omar Khayyam.
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