Athletes Famous Athletes from Turkey

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List of famous athletes from Turkey, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Turkey has seen some very talented athletes over the years, many of who have gone on to represent their country in the Olympics. These are some of the best Turkish athletes of all time, so if you're a native of Turkey and are aspiring to compete in sports professionally then these are people you should look up to. If you're searching for a particular popular athlete from Turkey then you can use the "search" box to find who you're looking for.

Use every item on this list for yours, from Can Bartu to Serdar Aziz.

This list answers the questions, "Who are the greatest Turkish athletes?" and "Which athletes are from Turkey?"

You can click on the names of these legendary athletes of Turkey in order to get more information about each one.

1
Elvan Abeylegesse, is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long distance track and field athlete who runs in the disciplines of 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m, but also 10000 m, 2 miles and cross ...more

2
Tuğba Karademir, is a Turkish Canadian former figure skater. She was the flag-bearer for Turkey at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where she placed 21st.

3
Sviatlana Sudak is a Turkish female hammer thrower of Belarusian origin.

4
Turkey national football team Nuri Şahin is a Turkish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Turkey national football team. He began his career at Borussia Dortmund, spending six ...more

5
Everton F.C. Leon Osman is an English football player who plays for Everton in the Premier League as a midfielder. He has spent his whole career as an Everton player, making over 300 Premier League ...more

6
FC Bayern Munich Hamit Altıntop is a Turkish professional footballer who plays for Galatasaray in the Süper Lig. He is a versatile midfielder who can play either in a defending or attacking role and on both ...more

7
Eskişehirspor Alper Balaban was a Turkish-German footballer who started his career with Fenerbahçe. Balaban was raised in Gemmingen and Heilbronn. He began his career with German club TSG 1899 ...more

8
FC Schalke 04 Halil Altıntop is a Turkish footballer who plays for FC Augsburg. He is the identical twin brother of Hamit Altıntop. He can be deployed as a centre-forward or as a winger or attacking

9
Naim Süleymanoğlu is a Turkish World and Olympic Champion in weightlifting. Nicknamed “The Pocket Hercules”, he became the strongest man ever, pound-for-pound, by lifting 3.17 times of his ...more

10
Fenerbahçe SK Colin Kazim-Richards, also known as Colin Kâzım, Kâzım or Kâzım Kâzım, is a professional footballer who plays for Feyenoord and internationally for Turkey having ...more

11
Trabzonspor Ceyhun Gülselam is a Turkish professional footballer who currently plays as a center back and defensive midfielder for Hannover 96.

12
Kayserispor Ali Bilgin is a German football player of Turkish descent. He is currently a free agent, his versatility and ability to use both feet allows him to fill in at various positions if needed. One of ...more

13
Emir Preldžić is a Turkish professional basketball player who plays for Fenerbahçe Ülker of the Turkish Basketball League. He also represents the Turkish national basketball team. He ...more

14
TSV 1860 München Berkant Göktan is a Turkish-German footballer. He was considered one of the hottest prospects in Germany during the late 1990s.

15
Konyaspor Erhan Albayrak is a Turkish footballer. He was most recently the manager of KFC Uerdingen 05.

16
Konyaspor Niyazi Serhat Akın is a retired German-born Turkish footballer who played as a striker.

17
Beşiktaş J.K. Ersen Martin is a Turkish retired footballer who played as a centre forward.

18
Antalyaspor Ahmet Kuru is a Turkish footballer. He plays as a striker.

19
Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet is a former footballer who played for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City and the Turkish national team. His father is a Turkish Cypriot who came to ...more

20
SC Freiburg Ali Mehmet Güneş is a Turkish international footballer. Güneş plays for SV Türkgücü Bräunlingen in a south German lower-tier league.

21
Nurcan Taylan is a Turkish Olympic, world and European champion in weightlifting. She holds six European and one world record. She was born in Mamak, Ankara as the third child of a poor family ...more

22
Bayern Munich II Deniz Yılmaz is a Turkish professional footballer who currently plays for Trabzonspor as a striker.

23
Binnaz Uslu is a retired Turkish middle-distance and long-distance runner. She was banned from sport for life in 2014, after her second doping violation. The 165 cm tall athlete at 55 kg is a ...more

24
FC Metalurh Donetsk Erol Bulut is a retired Turkish footballer playing in the left wing position. He won league championship with Fenerbahçe in the 1995–96 season.

25
Adem Sarı is a Turkish footballer who currently plays for TFF Second League club Gölbaşıspor. In December 2009 he scored 2 goals in his team Eskişehirspor's 2–1 win over Fenerbahce, taking ...more

26
Switzerland national football team Gökhan Inler is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A side Napoli. He began his professional career at FC Basel but did not break through, ...more

27
Süreyya Ayhan Kop is a Turkish former middle distance track runner who specialised in the 1500 metres. In November 2009, she was banned for life by the Court of Arbitration for Sport due to ...more

28
Sibel Özkan is a Turkish Olympic medalist weightlifter competing in the Women's 48 kg division. She is 1.55 m tall and weighs 48 kg.

29
Atlanta Hawks Zaza Pachulia is a Georgian professional basketball player who currently plays for Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. He was born as Zaur Pachulia, but his first name was ...more

30
Aylin Yaren is a Turkish-German female soccer player, who currently plays for Cloppenburg in Germany's top level Frauen-Bundesliga.

31
Bahri Tanrıkulu is a Turkish taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the Men's 80 kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece and won the silver medal. He studied at Akdeniz ...more

32
Sibel Şimşek is a European champion Turkish female weightlifter competing in the Women's 63 kg division. She is 1.68 m tall and weighs 62 kg. Sibel Şimşek is a member of the Kocaeli ...more

33
FC Basel Eren Derdiyok is a Swiss footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish club Kasımpaşa and the Switzerland national team.

34
Rasim Başak is retired Azerbaijani-Turkish professional basketball player. The power forward is 2.02 m tall and 100 kg weight and wears numbers 8. He has Russian mother and Azeri father but also ...more

35
SK Rapid Wien Veli Kavlak is an Austrian footballer who plays for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş as a midfielder, having previously played for Rapid Wien. Born in Vienna, Kavlak has represented Austria at ...more

36
Hamide Bıkçın Tosun Hamide Bıkçın Tosun is a female Turkish Taekwondo athlete, who competed in the Women's 49-57 kg weight class at the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia and won the bronze ...more

37
Aydın Karabulut B.B. Ankaraspor Aydın Karabulut is a Turkish footballer. He currently plays for Turkish Super Lig club Sivasspor.

38
Fenerbahçe SK Gürhan Gürsoy is a Turkish professional footballer. He currently plays as a midfielder for Bugsaş Spor in the TFF Second League. Gürsoy was transferred from Adanaspor to ...more

39
Yasemin Horasan Yasemin Horasan is a Turkish professional basketball player of Fenerbahçe.

40
Maccabi Herzliya Umut Güzelses is a Turkish-Israeli soccer player who plays for Kastamonuspor in TFF Third League.

41
SK Rapid Wien Ümit Korkmaz is an Austrian footballer of Turkish descent who plays as a winger for Çaykur Rizespor and the Austrian national team.

42
Beşiktaş J.K. Ekrem Hayyam Dağ is a Turkish-Austrian footballer who is currently playing for Şanlıurfaspor.

43
Beşiktaş J.K. Mehmet Aurélio is a Brazilian-Turkish retired footballer who last played for Olaria in Brazil. He is currently the assistant manager of Kasımpaşa.

44
Galatasaray Ümit Karan is a retired Turkish football player. He played for Gençlerbirliği S.K., Ankaraspor, Galatasaray and Eskişehirspor. He made his international debut for Turkey in 1999, and ...more

45
Fenerbahçe SK Can Arat is a Turkish footballer. He currently plays as a center back for Antalyaspor in the Süper Lig.

46
Müzahir Sille, is a former Turkish Olympic champion sports wrestler in the Featherweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1960 Olympics. Born ...more

47
FC Aarau Baykal Kulaksızoğlu is a Turkish-Swiss footballer who currently plays for FC Schaffhausen.

48
Antalyaspor Uğur İnceman is a Turkish-German football player. He plays as a defensive midfielder for Turkish club Antalyaspor in the Spor Toto Süper Lig. İnceman earned his first and only cap for the ...more

49
Orduspor Volkan Arslan is a Turkish international footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for Bozüyükspor. Arslan played for Turkey at the U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels before he ...more

50
Hakan Balta Galatasaray Hakan Kadir Balta is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Galatasaray in the Süper Lig.