Turkey

The Republic of Turkey or Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), is a bicontinental country that is located mainly in the Middle East (Southwest Asia) and partly in Southeast Europe; The Anatolian peninsula comprises most(97%) of its territory, and is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea to south and west, with the Aegean Sea (and Marmara Sea) in between. A small portion of the country's territory (3%) is situated in southeastern Europe, west of the Bosphorus straits.

Sports in Turkey

Turkey has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Its national sport, football, has seen a rapid transformation earning it third place in the coveted {{Wc|2002}}. Its domestic teams are dominated by Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas. Of these, Galatasaray has seen the most success, winning the 2000 UEFA Cup and European Super Cup, as well as fielding many of the players for the international team. In recent years Turkey has exported many of its players into top foreign teams including Inter Milan, Barcelona, Parma, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen among others. As well as sending players abroad, the Turkish league has also attracted players into Turkey. World class players such as Gheorghe Hagi, Ariel Ortega, Pierre Van Hooijdonk, Mario Jardel, Nicolas Anelka, John Carew and many more have played at some point, or continue to play in Turkey.

Related Topics:
Sporting areas - Football - Galatasaray - Fenerbahce - Besiktas - 2000 - UEFA Cup - European Super Cup - Inter Milan - Barcelona - Parma - AC Milan - Bayer Leverkusen - Gheorghe Hagi - Ariel Ortega - Pierre Van Hooijdonk - Mario Jardel - Nicolas Anelka - John Carew

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Weightlifting has been another successful sport for Turkey, regulary relied upon to provide gold medals in the Olympics. Its most famous weightlifters Naim Suleymanoglu and Halil Mutlu are only two of four weightlifters in the world to have won 3 gold medals in 3 olympics.

Related Topics:
Weightlifting - Olympics - Weightlifters - Naim Suleymanoglu - Halil Mutlu

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

Related Topics:
Athletics - Sureyya Ayhan - 1500m - 2003 - Elvan Abeylegesse - 5000m - 2004

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Turkey placed a bid to become a candidate for the 2012 olympics but was eliminated in the initial rounds. Part of its bid included the building of the 80,000 seater Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul. The stadium was used for the 2005 European Champions League final.

Related Topics:
Ataturk Stadium - Istanbul - 2005 - European Champions League

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Another world event for Turkey is its addition to the Formula 1 season. The track located at Istanbul has a seating capacity of 155,000 people, is just over 5,340 m long and runs anti-clockwise. The track is designed by Hermann Tilke, designer of the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai tracks, and made its debut on the August 21, 2005.

Related Topics:
Formula 1 - Track - Hermann Tilke - Sepang - Bahrain - Shanghai - August 21 - 2005

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Basketball is also gaining popularity in Turkey. Two Turkish nationals, Hedo Turkoglu and Mehmet Okur, have achieved success in the prestigious NBA of North America, generally considered the world's top basketball league.

Related Topics:
Basketball - Hedo Turkoglu - Mehmet Okur - NBA - North America

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See also:

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• Turkish Premier Super League
• Turkish Football Federation
• Turkey national football team
• Turkey at the 2004 Summer Olympics