Sport in Turkey is governed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which oversees various sports federations and infrastructure. Turkey's participation in international sport competitions has started in the 1924 Olympic Games, continued with notable successes in wrestling, weightlifting, and boxing. Domestically, multi-sport clubs like Fenerbahçe S.K., the club which provides the most national athletes, have contributed to the development of various sports disciplines, achieving significant success. The focus on women's sports has also intensified, especially with municipality clubs of the big cities.

Overview

Among all sports, the most popular one is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Turkey's top teams include Fenerbahçe,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. In 2000, Galatasaray won the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

. Two years later, the Turkish national team finished third in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Finals in Japan and South Korea, while in 2008, the national team reached the semi-finals of the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

competition. The

Atatürk Olympic Stadium The Atatürk Olympic Stadium (, ) is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of Başakşehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first Pre ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

hosted the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and 2023 UEFA Champions League Final, while the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul hosted the 2009 UEFA Cup Final. Turkey will host the

UEFA Euro 2032 The 2032 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2032 or simply Euro 2032, will be the 19th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international association football, football championship organised by UEFA fo ...

along with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Other popular mainstream sports include

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Turkey hosted the Finals of

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a ...

and the 2010 FIBA World Cup the men's national team finishing second in both events. The national team also reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and 2014 FIBA World Cup. At the club level,

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

(then known as Efes Pilsen) won the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

in 1996, finished second in the

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

in 1993, and made it to the Final Four of the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

in 2000 and 2001 as the first Turkish club in history. In the following years,

have come out as the winners of the

FIBA EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run by FIBA Europe. It is not to be confus ...

in the 2011–12 season with only a single defeat, all stages of the tournament included. Later on,

won the EuroCup title in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. In the following 2016–17 Euroleague season, Fenerbahçe won Europe's highest-tier basketball league, the

, as the first Turkish club ever, which was followed by

in the 2020–21 Euroleague season. Turkey women's national basketball team won the silver medal in the European Championship in 2011 while Fenerbahçe Women's Basketball won their first Euroleague in 2023. Turkish basketball players such as

Mehmet Okur Mehmet Murat Okur (born 26 May 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. Listed at , he played as a power forward and center. Okur is known for his three-point shooting and ability to space the floor. In his seven seasons with t ...

, Hedo Türkoğlu and Ersan İlyasova have also been successful in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. Active Turkish NBA players include Alperen Şengün and Adem Bona. Sevgi Uzun plays in WNBA, the first player ever being Nevriye Yılmaz. Women's volleyball teams, namely Fenerbahçe, Eczacıbaşı and VakıfBank, have won numerous European championship titles and medals. VakıfBank is currently one of the best volleyball teams in the world, 3-time winner of the Club World Championship and 4 time European championship winner. The yellow-black team is also the most successful sports team of Turkey in International arena with the title of the most international trophy (9) holder of Turkey. Fenerbahçe also won the Club World Championship as the first Turkish club ever in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The Turkish women's national volleyball team won a bronze medal in European Championship in 2011. In 2023, they've won every competition that they've partaken, including European and World tournaments, without losing a single match. That success placed them at 1st place in

FIVB Senior World Rankings The FIVB Senior World Rankings is a ranking system for men's and women's national teams in volleyball. The teams of the member nations of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), volleyball's world governing body, are ranked based on their ...

.
Turkish Federation of Traditional Sports
regulates the traditional sports. The most prominent being thr oil wrestling ("Yağlı güreş"), originating in Ottoman times.

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

hosts the annual

Kırkpınar Kırkpınar (Turkish language, Turkish for "forty springs") is a Turkey, Turkish oil wrestling (yağlı güreş) tournament where pehlivans (wrestlers) compete for three days. It is held annually, usually in late June, near Edirne, Turkey sinc ...

oiled wrestling tournament since 1361.

Football

Turkey has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

has seen a rapid transformation earning it third place in the coveted

. Its domestic teams are dominated by

, Fenerbahçe, and

. Of these, Fenerbahçe's European triumph came in the now defunct

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. Galatasaray has seen success after the 1990s, winning the 2000

and

. In recent years, Turkey has exported many of its players into top foreign teams, including

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, among others. As well as sending players abroad, the Turkish league has also attracted players into Turkey. World class players such as Radomir Antić, Toni Schumacher,

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

, Giga Popescu, Cláudio Taffarel, Mário Jardel, Óscar Córdoba, Frank de Boer, Pierre van Hooijdonk, John Carew,

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

, Franck Ribéry,

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

, Mateja Kežman,

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue 1 with Lyon in 2007, the FA Cup w ...

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

, Dani Güiza,

Giovani dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile Forward (association football), forward, dos Santos played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfi ...

, Guti, Quaresma, Hugo Almeida, Dirk Kuyt,

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Noted for his playmaking ability, he was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Sneijder started ...

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He represented the Germany national football team, Germany national team ...

and many more have played at some point or continue to play in Turkey.

Basketball

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

is also gaining popularity in Turkey.

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 ...

came in second at the European Basketball Championship

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

in Istanbul. Turkey also came in ninth at the 2002 FIBA World Cup. Several Turkish nationals, including Ersan İlyasova, Hedo Türkoğlu,

, Semih Erden,

Ömer Aşık Ömer Faruk Aşık (; born July 4, 1986) is a Turkish former professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aşık, standing at , was sought after by many of the top Euroleague b ...

, and Enes Kanter, have played in the prestigious

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, generally considered the world's top basketball league. Turkey's greatest success in international basketball came when it hosted the 2010 FIBA World Cup, finishing second behind the USA. Hedo Türkoğlu captained the national side and made the all-tournament team. Turkey also advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2006 FIBA World Cup, achieving a non-expected sixth place. Turkey reached the quarter-finals again eight years later at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The Turkey women's national basketball team won the silver medal at the EuroBasket Women in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. At a club level, the most successful team has been Fenerbahçe S.K. and Anadolu Efes S.K., the latter having won the

in 1996 and the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Fenerbahçe currently has the most

Euroleague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

appearances (5) and was the first Turkish team to win the title in the 2016–17 season.

won the EuroCup title, Europe's second-tier basketball league, in

. Past achievements also include

title in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In women's basketball,

won the 2008-09 FIBA EuroCup, finished third in the same competition in 2007–08, and also was runner-up in the 2009

FIBA Europe SuperCup Women The SuperCup Women (or Women SuperCup) is a super cup competition organized by FIBA Europe and contested between the winners of EuroLeague Women and EuroCup Women. History The first edition of the Cup took place on October 20, 2009, and wa ...

Volleyball

Volleyball, especially women's volleyball, is a popular sport in Turkey. The

Turkey women's national volleyball team The Turkey women's national volleyball team () is formed by the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) and represents Turkey in international CEV and FIVB organizations. The team is the most successful national sports team in the country and h ...

secured 6th place at the

FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was var ...

in 2010 in Japan, and won a bronze medal at the

Women's European Volleyball Championship The Women's European Volleyball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). The initial gap between championships was variable, but si ...

in 2011 in Serbia. Turkey's top women's volleyball team is VakıfBank, which went undefeated to win three championships at the

FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship The FIVB Women's Volleyball Club World Championship is an international women's club volleyball competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Volleyball'' (FIVB), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

in 2013, 2017, and 2018. The same team won five championships (again going undefeated each time) in the

CEV Women's Champions League The Women's CEV Champions League, formerly known as CEV Champions Cup (from 1960 to 2000), is the top official competition for women's volleyball clubs of Europe and takes place every year. It is organized by the Confédération Européenne de V ...

in 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2022. They took gold medals at both the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

and the Women's Top Volley International in the 2007–08 season. Another prominent Turkish women's volleyball club is Fenerbahçe, which won the

with an undefeated record in

, took the silver medal in the

in the 2009–10 season, and finished in third place during the 2010–11 season. They've won 22 consecutive matches in 2023. In that period, they completed the Nations League, European Championship and Olympic Qualification Round / FIVB World Cup matches undefeated. Being the first team to do so in history and securing the 1st place in world rankings. Turkey featured a men's national team in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

that competed at the 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.

Air sports

Plane

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

parachuting Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

, engine powered flights and

skydiving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

are regulated by Turkish Aeronautical Association and Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Archery

Archery is among the traditional sports. Mete Gazoz achieved #1 spot in world rankings in 2022.

Athletics

Athletics is another fast improving sport. Süreyya Ayhan set the 1500m world record in 2003 and Elvan Abeylegesse set a new 5000m record in 2004. In

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

Alemitu Bekele and Elvan Abeylegesse won gold and silver medals respectively in Women's 5000 metres and Elvan Abeylegesse medal in Women's 10000 metres. Nevin Yanıt won first European Championship in a sprint race for Turkey by winning gold in Women's 100 metres hurdles. In 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships Kemal Koyuncu won silver in Men's 1500 metres and Halil Akkas won bronze in Men's 3000 metres. In 2017, Ramil Guliyev of Fenerbahçe won Turkey's first ever gold medal in the men's 200 metre race at the 2017 World Championships, being the second white athlete in history to achieve this feat. The country also hosts major marathons such as Istanbul Marathon.

Billiards

2018 3-cushion World Championship for Teams-Winners Silver-Gold-Bronce

Gülşen Degener, Güzin Müjde Karakaşlı, Semih Saygıner and Tayfun Taşdemir are prominent

carom billiards Carom billiards, also called French billiards and sometimes carambole billiards, is the overarching title of a family of cue sports generally played on cloth-covered, billiard tables. In its simplest form, the object of the game is to score ...

players.

Chess

Turkey is regularly competing in international tournaments like the Chess Olympiad. Notable figures include Grandmasters Suat Atalık and

Kübra Öztürk Kübra Öztürk (born May 11, 1991) is a Turkish chess player. As of the July 2012 FIDE rating list, she is ranked number 199 in the world and second in Turkey among female active players. She earned FIDE titles as Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in 2006 ...

, as well as Vahap Şanal, the first Turkish male to surpass a 2600 FIDE rating.

Equestrian

The country participates in international competitions such as the

International Federation for Equestrian Sports The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international sport governing body, governing body of equestrianism, equestrian sports. The FEI came into being following the Olympic Congress in Lausanne (SUI) in 1921 from May ...

World Cup, with events held in cities like

and

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Golf

Belek Belek is a neighbourhood in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. As of 2022, it had a population of 9,102. Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganization, it was a town (''Belde''). Belek is one of the centers of Turkey' ...

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 ...

is a key destination. The country hosts international tournaments such as the Turkish Airlines Open, which is part of the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

Gymnastics

The country has seen success in both artistic and rhythmic

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, with athletes like Ferhat Arıcan and İbrahim Çolak bringing home medals from European and World Championships.

Cycling

The country hosts the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, a UCI ProSeries event. Turkish cyclists like Ahmet Örken and Batuhan Özgür have earned recognition.

Gridiron & rugby

Turkish Gridiron Football First League is mostly inhabited by university teams. Rugby League is a relatively new sport in Turkey, so far five clubs make up the rugby league in Turkey, observer status within the

Rugby League European Federation The European Rugby League (ERL) (previously Rugby League European Federation (RLEF)) is the umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe. In the absence of other continental federations, ERL also controls ru ...

is expected.

Handball & beach handball

2010 Beach Handball World Championships were held between June 23–27 in Antalya. The Turkish national team won twice the silver medal at the World Championships in 2004 and 2006, and the bronze medal in 2010. The Turkish women's national team also won the silver medal at the 2004 World Championships. Yeliz Özel of Ankara is a Turkish handballer.

Fencing

Turkey hosted the 2009 World Fencing Championships held from September 30 to October 8 in

. Turkey competes in all three fencing disciplines: foil, épée, and sabre.

Martial Arts

K1PL Berlin 2018-09-16 Victory ceremony 160

Turkish athletes have earned international success, particularly in taekwondo, where they have won Olympic medals and World Championship titles. Karate fighters from Turkey achieve top results in European and World Championships, while kickboxers and Muay Thai fighters have also secured world titles.

Buse Naz Çakıroğlu Buse Naz Çakıroğlu (born 26 May 1996) is a female Turkish people, Turkish, World and European champion and Olympic finaist Boxing, boxer. She is a Fenerbahçe S.K. athlete. Personal life Çakıroğlu was born in Trabzon, Turkey on 26 May 1996 ...

and Busenaz Sürmeneli have both secured medals in olympics. Avni Yıldırım achieved international success in boxing. Some

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

athletes include İbo Aslan and Gökhan Saki.

Motorsports

Motorsports Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...

have become popular recently, especially following the inclusion of the Rally of Turkey to the FIA

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

calendar in 2003, and the inclusion of the

Turkish Grand Prix The Turkish Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor race held at Istanbul Park, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and , and to , the latter two being due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fel ...

to the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing calendar in 2005. Other important annual motorsports events which are held at the Istanbul Park racing circuit include the MotoGP Grand Prix of Turkey, the FIA

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

, the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

and the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

. From time to time, Istanbul and

also host the Turkish leg of the F1 Powerboat Racing championship; while the Turkish leg of the

Red Bull Air Race World Championship The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a ...

, an

air racing Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a pre ...

competition, takes place above the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

in Istanbul. The track located at Istanbul has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 155,000 people (biggest in Europe), is just over 5,340 m long and runs anti-clockwise. The track was designed by

Hermann Tilke Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. His son is architect Carsten Tilke. Racing During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring ...

, designer of the Sepang,

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

tracks.

GP2 series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

also include a Turkish Team ( Petrol Ofisi FMS International) and a Turkish Driver, Jason Tahincioglu. Cem Bölükbaşı became the first Turkish driver in Formula 2 in 2023. Kenan Sofuoğlu became world champion in Supersport three times in 2007, 2010, and 2012. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu got Superbike World Championship in 2023 and 2024. Seda Kaçan, the country's second female car racing driver after Ann Tahincioğlu, is also her country's first international race driver. She secured the championship title in the DSG class of the 2024 TCR European Endurance, becoming the first woman to do so.https://tr.motorsport.com/turkish-sports/news/avrupa-sampiyonu-ilk-kadin-pilot-seda-kacan-oldu/10627662/

Shooting

Turkey has had success in international competitions, including the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

s and the Olympics. Notable shooters like

Yusuf Dikeç Yusuf Dikeç (born 1 January 1973) is a Turkish shooting sport, sport shooter who competes in the shooting sport#Pistol, pistol events and won the world and European champions multiple times. He is a retired non-commissioned officer of the Genda ...

and İsmail Keleş.

Tennis & table tennis

Facilities include the Turkish Tennis Federation Complex in Ankara and the Garanti Koza Arena in Istanbul. Turkey hosts professional events such as the Istanbul Open (ATP) and Istanbul Cup (WTA). There are WTA winners such as

Çağla Büyükakçay Çağla Büyükakçay (; born 28 September 1989) is a Turkish professional tennis player. She won her first title at her home tournament in Istanbul becoming the first Turkish woman to lift a WTA Tour title. She has won 12 singles and 1 ...

İpek Soylu İpek Soylu (born 15 April 1996) is a Turkish former tennis player. In her career, Soylu won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, her biggest coming at the 2016 year-end Elite Trophy. She also won 12 singles and 18 doubles titles on the ITF ...

and Zeynep Sönmez. Marsel İlhan is the first Turkish male player to reach the top 100 in

ATP rankings The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all single ...

. Melek Hu is a prominent table tennis player.

Triathlon

The country regularly hosts international triathlon events, such as the Alanya Triathlon and Istanbul Triathlon. Turkish athletes like Gülşah Günenç and Uğurcan Öztürk have gained recognition for their performances at international competitions.

Watersports

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

: Turkey accepts both CMAS and SSI regulations.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

: cannot be done from any boat without a license, even if you're an amateur. You must apply to have one by submitting some I.D. cards and paying a fee 150 Turkish Lira for two years. Details concerning fishing zones, the minimum sizes of fish that can be caught, and the numbers of fish that can be caught per person can be obtained from the Department of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

: Turkey's rivers provide conditions for canoeing and rafting.

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

: Turkey has four bordering seas; the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

, and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, so cruising is a popular sport.

Windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

: The bays around

Çeşme Çeşme, officially the Çeşme Municipality, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 285 km2, and its population is 48,924 (2022). It sits at Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on t ...

, Alaçatı,

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

, and

Datça Datça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 436 km2, and its population is 25,029 (2022). The town center is situated midway through the peninsula which carries the same name as the distri ...

peninsulas as well as Antalya have wind conditions for windsurfing. Famous windsurfer

Çağla Kubat Çağla Kubat (; born 16 November 1978) is a Turkish people, Turkish actress, model, windsurfer and beauty pageant titleholder. She is member of Fenerbahçe SW, Fenerbahçe sailing & windsurfing team. She is 5 feet 10 (1.80m) tall. She was born ...

is also from Turkey.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

has been another successful sport for Turkey, regularly relied upon to provide gold medals in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Its most famous weightlifters, Naim Süleymanoğlu and

Halil Mutlu Halil Mutlu (born Halil Aliev () on 14 July 1973 in Postnik, Bulgaria) is a former professional Turkish weightlifter with several World and Olympic championship titles. Mutlu is one of the six weightlifters who has achieved three consecutive ...

, and among women Nurcan Taylan. Some major events include Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim.

Winter sports

Some popular destinations for winter sports include; Davraz, Kartepe, Palandöken, Sarıkamış and

Uludağ Uludağ (), the ancient Mysian or Bithynian Olympus ( Greek: Όλυμπος), is a mountain in Bursa Province, Turkey, with an elevation of . In Turkish, ''Uludağ'' means "great mountain". In ancient times the range of which it is a part, e ...

Wrestling

Wrestling is considered as a

national sport A national sport is a physical activity or sport that is culturally significant or deeply embedded in a nation, serving as a national symbol and an intrinsic element to a nation's identity and culture. Several sovereign states and constituent ...

. Turkey has most of its gold medals in wrestling. Notable Olympic champions include Yaşar Doğu, Hamza Yerlikaya, and Taha Akgül.

References

External links

Sport in Turkey
{{Sport in Asia Sport in Turkey

Overview

Football

Basketball

Volleyball

Air sports

Archery

Athletics

Billiards

Chess

Equestrian

Golf

Gymnastics

Cycling

Gridiron & rugby

Handball & beach handball

Fencing

Martial Arts

Motorsports

Shooting

Tennis & table tennis

Triathlon

Watersports

Weightlifting

Winter sports

Wrestling

See also

References

External links