The following is a list of

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

History

The concept of a national park was introduced for the first time in Turkey by Selahattin İnal, who argued that "nature reserves should have the status of a national park and they should be determined according to natural beauty and touristic potential criteria." The concept was included in the 25th article of the Forest Law adopted on 31 August 1956, and was included in the legal plane for the first time. The General Directorate of Forestry, which is given the responsibility of the national parks by law, is authorized to declare a national park for the purpose of using it as a scientific and public sports and recreation area, provided that the

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

and

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the forested areas are preserved. Until 1983, only areas that had forest cover fell within the category of national parks, but the National Parks Law, which was adopted on 8 August 1983, new protection statuses such as

nature parks A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land management, land planning, sustainable natural resource management, resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate dev ...

, nature preserve areas, and nature monuments were established and areas with historical, touristic or cultural values could now be declared as national parks even if they were not covered by forests. According to the current version of the law, the declaration of a new national park falls within the powers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which takes the advice of the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning on zoning, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on historical and touristic matters. In the cases where the area set to become a national park consists of lands belonging to the public as well as fields belonging to the individuals, the area is taken under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which can use measures such as

expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

, transfer, allocation or donation under the Expropriation Law. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has the right to organize, manage, or operate national parks. The right to operate is valid only for national parks not covered by the

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

s, and the right to operate the state forests cannot be transferred in accordance with article 169 of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. The management of the national parks is directly done by the Directorate of National Parks, a subbranch of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, which itself is controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Yozgat Pine Grove National Park The Yozgat Pine Grove National Park () is a national park consisting of pine trees in Yozgat, Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It was established on February 5, 1958 as the country's first national park. The park, a forest island on hills wit ...

, one of the remaining ruins of the ancient forests in Central Anatolia, was declared Turkey's first national park on 5 February 1958.

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

has the highest number of national parks among the provinces by having five national parks within its boundaries. With a height of and an area of ,

Mount Ararat National Park Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

is Turkey's largest and highest national park. The last area to be declared a national park was

Botan Valley National Park The Botan Valley National Park (), is a historical area with the status of a national park within the borders of Siirt Province, Siirt province of Turkey. According to the decision published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey, Res ...

, which was listed on 15 August 2019. Turkey has a total of 44 national parks, which cover an area of .

Key

National parks

National parks by province

Former national parks

Map

References

;Inline citations ;Sources * *

External links

*
National parks map system
{{Europe topic, List of national parks of

National parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...