List of Famous people born in Turkey
Homer
Homer is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are the foundational works of ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek kingdoms. It focuses on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles lasting a few weeks during the last year of the war. The Odyssey focuses on the ten-year journey home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
Burak Yılmaz
Burak Yılmaz is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a striker for French club Lille and the Turkish national team.
Romanos IV Diogenes
Romanos IV Diogenes, also known as Romanus IV, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine Emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, where he died of his wounds.
Ekin Koç
Ekin Koç is a Turkish television and cinema actor. Koç studied Business Administration (English) at the Istanbul Bilgi University and open education sociology. He graduated in theater from the Academy 35 Buçuk Art Centre, and took lessons from Altan Gördüm and Vahide Perçin.
Burcu Biricik
Burcu Biricik is a Turkish actress. She has won the Mannheim Turkish Film Festival Best Actress Award.
Burcu Özberk
Burcu Özberk is a Turkish actress and model. She has received a Golden Butterfly Award for Best Actress in a Romantic Comedy in 2020 for her role in Afili Aşk.
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in numerous government positions, Baykal led the CHP from 1992 to February 1995, from September 1995 to 1999 and again from 2000 to 2010. Between 2002 and 2010, he also served as the Leader of the Opposition by virtue of leading the second largest party in Parliament.
Ersan İlyasova
Ersan İlyasova is a Turkish professional basketball player who last played for Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously played in Turkey, Spain and the NBA Development League.
Heraclius
Heraclius was the Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, where he represents Antalya Province. First elected to Parliament in the 2002 general election, he is a founding member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2010 to 2012.
Uğurcan Çakır
Uğurcan Çakır is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Trabzonspor.
Meryem Boz
Meryem Boz is a Aydın Büyükşehir Belediyespor volleyball player. She is 191 cm (75 in) and plays as outside hitter. She was chosen MVP of the CEV Tokyo Volleyball European Qualification 2020.
Rüştü Reçber
Rüştü Reçber is a retired Turkish international footballer and a current sports executive. During his professional career, he played as a goalkeeper for Antalyaspor, Fenerbahçe, Barcelona and Beşiktaş.
Enes Batur
Enes Batur Sungurtekin is a Turkish YouTuber and actor. He became known through the vlog videos he published on YouTube. As of June 2020, he owns the most-subscribed personal YouTube channel in Turkey with more than 13 million subscribers, through which he publishes a variety of videos.
Volkan Babacan
Volkan Babacan is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for İstanbul Başakşehir and the Turkey national football team.
Mehmet Özgür
Mehmet Özgür is a Turkish actor. He is the general art director of the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Theatre.
Engin Öztürk
Engin Öztürk is a Turkish actor.
Neslihan Demir
Neslihan Demir is a former Turkish volleyball star. She is one of the most successful athletes of Turkey and has been among FIVB Heroes. She represented her country as the flag-bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations and the official advertisement face of Turkey for the 2020 Summer Olympics candidateship along with basketballer Hedo Türkoğlu. Her position is opposite-hitter and she has won a lot of personal awards in international tournaments. She studied at Gazi University.
Mustafa Destici
Mustafa Destici is a Turkish politician and the current leader of the Great Union Party. He graduated from Ankara University.
Bülent Kayabaş
Osman Bülent Kayabaş was a Turkish actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1963 to 2017.