- The Mother
Mirra Alfassa, later Morisset and Richard (February 21, 1878 - November 17, 1973) but better known as The Mother, was the spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo and a prominent Hindu Yogin. She was born in Paris to Turkish and Egyptian parents and came to his retreat on March 29, 1914 in Pondicherry to collaborate on editing the "Arya".
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an army officer, revolutionary statesman, the founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President. Mustafa Kemal established himself as a successful and extremely capable military commander while serving as a division commander in the Battle of Gallipoli. Afterwards he had fought with distinction on the eastern Anatolian and Palestinian fronts, …
- Adnan Menderes
Ali Adnan Ertekin Menderes was a Turkish statesman and prime minister between 1950–1960. He founded the Democratic Party (DP) in 1946, the first legal opposition party of Turkey. He was hanged following the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.
- Abdullah Gül
Abdullah Gül is the deputy prime minister, foreign minister of Turkey, and presidential candidate.
- Orhan Pamuk
The novelist Orhan Pamuk was born on June 7, 1952 in Istanbul and carries the distinct honor of being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. Pamuk graduated from the Department of Journalism of Istanbul University in 1976, and completed his graduate studies at the same institution in 1979. Even though he was educated in journalism, after the 1970s, Orhan Pamuk made literature his profession.
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, became the Prime Minister of Turkey on March 14, 2003. He is the leader of the "Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi" (AKP, or Justice and Development Party)
- Hrant Dink
Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper "Agos" (Ակօս), Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey.
- Ali Babacan
Ali Babacan (born 1967 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish politician. He is currently State Minister for Economy in the 58th cabinet from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in November 2002. On May 24, 2005, he was appointed Turkey's chief negotiator in accession talks with the European Union. Babacan graduated from the TED Ankara College ranking first among the class of 1985. He attended the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and, …
- Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Ahmet Necdet Sezer is the tenth and current President of the Republic of Turkey. The Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) elected Sezer in 2000 after Süleyman Demirel's seven year term expired.
- Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal is a Turkish politician and long-time leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP). At the moment, he is the main oppostion leader of the Turkish parliament. Baykal was born to Hüseyin Hilmi who was a Caucasian muhajir and Feride whose family came from Egypt (claimed to be of Cretan descent). He was educated at the University of Ankara's Faculty of Law. He later studied at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, …
- Celal Bayar
Mahmut Celal Bayar was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. He was born in 1883 at Umurbey, a village of Gemlik, Bursa as the son of a religious leader and teacher who migrated from Lom, Bulgaria. After the school, he worked as a clerk first in the court in Gemlik and then in Ziraat Bankası and later in the Deutsche Orientbank in Bursa. In 1908, he joined the volunteer’s troop of "İttihad Terakki Cemiyeti" (Committee of Union and Progress), …
- Fatih Terim
Fatih Terim is one of the most successful football players and managers of Turkey. He is considered to be one of the best managers due to his ability to motivate his players and aggressive game strategies. Currently, he is the coach of the Turkish national team.
- 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.
- Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel is a Turkish politician who served as prime minister seven times and was the 9th President of Turkey
- Sezen Aksu
Sezen Aksu was born in Denizli on 13 July 1954 to parents who were both teachers. She grew up in Izmir. Not realizing that what she needed was to be creative, she plunged headlong into a series of activities that included, besides dancing, acting and painting lessons, opening a beauty salon. The singer, whose love for animals we have witnessed even on stage, perhaps for this reason put in a brief stint as a student at the School of Agriculture.
- İsmet Özel
İsmet Özel's songs of freedom derived its content from socialism but its structure and symbolism reflected the tastes of Second New Generation. In 1970s İsmet Özel developed a mystic and islamist view which shocked his leftist audience. He worked as a French lecturer in the State Conservatory. He spent all his time to writing after he retired. Because of both his interesting character and works, he took an impressive place among his contemporaries.
- Sagopa Kajmer
Sagopa Kajmer is a Turkish rapper. He worked with Turkish rapper Ceza during his early albums as Silahsız Kuvvet and Nefret. He has recently started getting attention by working with his wife and Turkish pianist Kolera. Songs written and produced by Sagopa Kajmer tend to reflect the chief components of existentialism. This includes alienation, loneliness, freedom of choice, and responsibility.
- Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, MP (born 19 June 1964, New York), better known as Boris Johnson, is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. Known for his eccentric public persona, he is Member of Parliament for Henley and was for a time front-bench spokesman as Shadow Minister for Higher Education.
- Can Yücel
Can Yücel is one of the most distinguished of 20th century Turkish poets. He is mainly noted for the plain and sincere (and sometimes rude) language in his poems. He is the son of a former minister of National Education, Hasan Ali Yücel. Having studied Latin and Greek in Ankara and Cambridge Universities, he worked as a translator in several embassies and in the Turkish section of the BBC in London. After returning to Turkey in 1958 following military service in Korea, …
- Sibel Edmonds
Sibel Deniz Edmonds is a Turkish-American former FBI translator and founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC). Edmonds was fired from her position as a language specialist at the FBI's Washington Field Office in March, 2002, after she accused a colleague of covering up illicit activity involving foreign nationals, alleging serious acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking of intelligence which, she contended, …
- 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, …
- 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", …
- Hande Yener
Hande Yener (born January 12, 1973 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish pop music singer. She brought a different style to Turkish pop music, which was quickly realized by Turkish listeners, and is today one of the most popular music artists in Turkey.
- Kenan Doğulu
Kenan Doğulu is one of the most popular and influential musicians in the last ten years of the Turkish pop music industry. In the summer of 2006, Doğulu released his hit album "Festival" and his number one single, "Çakkıdı", which became one of the top hit songs of 2006. He is also planing to release a "best of" album, which will include the most popular songs from his previous albums. He represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007in Helsinki, …
- Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan (born October 29 1926) is a Turkish engineer, academician, politician, political party leader and prime minister of Turkey between 1996 and 1997.
- Gülben Ergen
Gülben Ergen is a Turkish singer and occasional actress. She was born in Istanbul and has acted in films and on television. Her most famous role is probably that of Melek in "Dadı", the Turkish version of "The Nanny". She was named Miss Cinema 1987. During her career, Gulben has released six successful albums and become a top singer. She also has been known for her humanity and this increas her popularity between people greatly.
- Mustafa Akyol
Mustafa Akyol was born in Ankara in 1972 and had his early education there. Later graduated from the Istanbul British High School and the International Relations Department of the Bosphorus University. He had his masters in History Department of the same university. Since mid 1990's he has been voluntarily working with several modernist Islamic foundations of Turkey, especially with the ones focused on explaining modern science from a theistic point of view.
- Hakan Şükür
Hakan Şükür, (born on September 1, 1971 in Adapazarı, Sakarya, Turkey to Albanian parents immigrants from Kosovo), is a Turkish footballer playing the striker position. He has received the nickname "King (Kral)" from his admirers. Along with then team-mate Gheorghe Hagi, he was a member of the UEFA Cup-winning Galatasaray side of 2000. He is remembered by supporters for his scoring in European competition that year, including his superb goals against Leeds United, …
- Ahmet Kaya
Ahmet Kaya (28 October, 1957, Malatya, Turkey - 16 November, 2000, Paris, France) was a Kurdish poet, singer, and a leading artist in Turkey.
- 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
- Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana (born May 3, 1961), is a former female Turkish politician of Kurdish origin, who was imprisoned for speaking Kurdish in the Turkish Parliament after taking her parliamentary oath and for her political actions which were considered against the unity of Turkey. She was awarded the 1995 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, but was unable to collect it until her release in 2004.
- Murathan Mungan
Murathan Mungan is a Turkish author, playwright and poet of Ortalıkta gezer
- Sibel Can
Sibel Can (born August 1, 1970) is a popular Turkish singer. In recent years she has also become popular in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Trinidad and Tobago, Syria and Iran.
- Fethullah Gülen
Fethullah Gülen is a former Islamic preacher, writer, and leader of the eponymous group alternatively known as "Gülen's movement". His critics accuse him of undermining the secular roots of the Republic of Turkey by advocating Islamization, while his supporters hail him as an open-minded Islamic scholar who has been subject to a long-lasting hate campaign. Beyond his mother tongue, Gülen is also fluent in Arabic and Persian. He is the author of over 60 books, …
- Orhan Kemal
Orhan Kemal is the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Raşit Öğütçü. He is known for his realist novels that tells the stories of the poor in Turkey.
- Seda Sayan
Seda Sayan is a Turkish singer, actress and TV Variety-show Hostess. She was born in 1965 in Istanbul. Her real name is Aysel Gürsaçar. She started her career as an actress. She had attended in several movies in her youth; the most famous one is "Imperator" in which she was Kadir Inanir's love interest. She had attended in some TV series too such as: "Sirtimdan vuruldum" (1997) as Gulnaz, "Evimiz olacak mi?" (1999), "Hastayim doktor" (2002).
- Engin Ardıç
Engin Ardıç is a well known Turkish writer who, with the commencement of private television broadcasting in Turkey, also worked as a television commentator in the 1990s.
- Deniz Seki
Deniz Seki is a Turkish singer. Her family roots is in Antalya. They moved to İstanbul from Antalya. She joined TRT and met Melih Kibar. Through him she worked with Emel and Kenan Dogulu. Deniz's album "Hiç kimse Değilim" came out in 1997. Since then she has released four other music albums: "Anlattim", "Şeffaf", "Aşkların En Güzeli" and "Aşk Denizi". In 2006 she appears in the Movie "Turks in Space".
- Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin RA (born 3 July, 1963) is an English artist of Turkish Cypriot origin, one of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists). She has succeeded in equalling, if not surpassing, Damien Hirst among the YBAs in terms of notoriety among the general public. A drunken outburst on a Channel 4 TV discussion, and "My Bed" — an installation in the 1999 Turner Prize exhibition, …
- Namık Kemal
Namık Kemal was a Turkish nationalist poet, translator, journalist, and social reformer and Freemason. Kemal was born in Tekirdağ, in the Ottoman Empire. He was influenced by the growing national sentiment of his day, and published a politically controversial newspaper. When the government cracked down on the newspaper he fled to Europe and worked there as a translator. When he returned, his most famous work, "Vatan Yahut Silistre", …