Turkish

Turkish is spoken by 65–73 million people worldwide. It belongs to the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located in Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and other parts of Eastern Europe. Turkish is also spoken by several million immigrants in Western Europe, particularly in Germany. Until 1928, Turkish was written with a version of the Perso-Arabic script. In 1928, as part of his efforts to modernise Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initiated a decree replacing the Arabic script with a version based on the Latin alphabet. This script has been used ever since.

Map of Turkish language speakers.
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Map of Turkish language speakers.

Basic stats

Total speakers: 65-70 million

Main Countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Romania, Cyprus, Azerbaijanand, also spoken by immigrant communities of the Turkish diaspora

Alternate names: Türkçe, Türkisch, Anatolian

ISO 639-3 Code: tur


Language Sample

Bütün insanlar hür, haysiyet ve haklar bakımından eşit doğarlar. Akıl ve vicdana sahiptirler ve birbirlerine karşı kardeşlik zihniyeti ile hareket etmelidirler.

(Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1)


Some proverbs in Turkish:

Al elmaya taş atan çok olur
There are many who throw stones at a red apple (Good will be envied)

Aslan yattığı yerden belli olur
You can tell a lion from where he dwells (A person's character shows itself from his surroundings)

Her şeyin yenisi, dostun, şarabın eskisi
Every thing is best when new, a friend and wine are best when old

Product Availability

The following products are currently available in Turkish:

  • For Consumers

(Coming soon)

Sources

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