The Turkish language belongs to the Altay branch of the Uralo-Altay linguistic family. Through the span of history, Turks have spread over a wide geographical area, taking their language with them. Turkish speaking people have lived in a wide area stretching form today's Mongolia to the north coast of the Black Sea, the Balkans, East Europe, Anatolia, Iraq and a wide area of northern Africa. Various dialects and accents have emerged from these distances. The history of the language is divided into three main groups, old Turkish (from the 7th to the 13th centuries), mid-Turkish (from the 13th to the 20th), and new Turkish from the 20th century onwards. During the five centuries of the Ottoman Empire period, Arabic and Persian words as well as words from other languages were assimilated into the Turkish language. The natural development of the Turkish language was severely hampered during this time. 

The "new language" movement began in 1928, five years after the proclamation of the Republic, and the Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin one. The new language movement also sought to rid the language of foreign words. The Turkish Language Institute was established in 1932 to carry out linguistic research and contribute to the natural development of the language. As a consequence of these efforts, modern Turkish is a literary and cultural language developing naturally and free of foreign influences. 

The history of Turkish literature may be divided into three periods reflecting the history of Turkish civilization:
 

LITERATURE BEFORE ISLAM

ISLAMIC PERIOD IN LITERATURE

WESTERN INFLUENCE IN TURKISH LITERATURE

LITERATURE BEFORE ISLAM

Turkish literature was the joint product of the Turkish clansand was mostly oral.

The oldest known examples of Turkish writings are on obelisksdating from the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The Orhun monumentinscriptions written in 720 for Tonyukuk, in 732 for Kultiginand in 735 for Bilge Kagan are masterpieces of Turkish
literaturewith their subject matter and perfect style. Turkish epics datingfrom those times include the Yaratilis, Saka Oguz, Kagan, Gokturk,Uygur and Manas.

The "Book of Dede Korkut," put own in writing in the14th century, is an extremely valuable work that preserves thememory of that epic era in beautiful language.
 

LITERATURE BEFORE ISLAM

ISLAMIC PERIOD IN LITERATURE

WESTERN INFLUENCE IN TURKISH LITERATURE

THE ISLAMIC PERIOD

Following Turkish migrations into Anatolia in the wake of the Malazgirt victory in 1071, the establishment of various Beyliks in Anatolia and the eventual founding of the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires set the scene for Turkish literature to develop along two distinct lines, with "divan" or classical literature drawing its inspiration from the Arabic and Persian languages and Turkish folk literature still remaining deeply rooted in Central Asian traditions. 

Divan poets did not have independent philosophies. The magnificence of the poetry appeared in original and beautiful forms of expression rather than original ideas in content. The most famous of the Divan poets were Baki, Fuzuli, Nedim and Nef'i. 

Initially based on two foreign literary traditions, Arab and Persian, Divan literature gradually took on Ottoman national characteristics. 

Turkish folk literature reflects the influence of Islam and the new life style and form of the traditional literature of Central Asia after the adoption of Islam. Turkish folk literature includes anonymous bardic poems and Tekke (mystical religious retreats) literature. Yunus Emre who lived in the second half of the 13th and early 14th centuries was an epoch making poet and sufi (mystical philosopher) expert in all three areas of folk literature as well as divan poetry. Important figures of poetic literature were Karacaoglan, Asik Omer, Erzurumlu Emrah and Kayserili Seyrani.
 

LITERATURE BEFORE ISLAM

ISLAMIC PERIOD IN LITERATURE

WESTERN INFLUENCE IN TURKISH LITERATURE

WESTERN INFLUENCE

Modern Turkish literature, from about 1860 to today, is primarily concerned with intellectual content rather than aesthetic values or perfection of style. The latest period of modern Turkish literature, known as Turkish literature of the Republican period, was influenced by literary schools following the Divan poets. These include Tanzimat (reforms), SerVet-i Funun (scientific wealth), Fecr-i Ati (dawnof the new age) and Ulusal Edebiyat (national literature).

Leading figures in the first period, Tanzimat literature (1860-1880), include Sinasi, Ziya Pasa, Namik Kemal, and Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Leading figures during the second period, Servet-i Funun (1880-1896), include Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Abdulhak Hamit, Sami Pasazade Sezai, and Nabizade Nazim.

The most interesting Fecr-i Ati poet was Ahmet Hasim. Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu and Refik Halit Karay who initially joined the Fecr-i Ati at the beginning of their careers, attained their true literary identities later in the National Literature Movement.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy and Yahya Kemal Beyatli initially followed independent courses and later joined the National Literature movement. TheTanzimat, Servit-i Funun and Fecr-i Ati groups who came together to create a modern Turkish literature made great strides toward their goal, but fell short as their works lacked distinctive national characteristics. These works were French
in spirit and Ottoman in language and style.

The years between 1911 and 1923 were most critical to the National Literature Movement. Leading literary figures of the period include Ziya Gokalp, Omer Seyfettin, Mehmet Emin Yurdaku, Yusef Ziya Ortac, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel, Enis Behic Koryurek, Kemalettin Kamu, AkaGunduz, Yakup Kadri Karasomanoglu, Halide Edip Adivar, Halit Karay, Resiat Nuri Guntekin, Ahmet Hikmet Mufuoglu, Necip Fazil Kisakurek, Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Sukufe Nihal, Peyami Safa and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar.

The first decade of the Republic bore the stamp of the National Literature movement, favoring simple clear language, poetic forms and syllabic meter of folk literature and inherently Turkish topics.

The first poets of the Republic used simple language and syllabic meter. Orhan Seyfi Orhon, Yusuf Ziya Ortac, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel and Kemalettin Kamu, advocates of the syllabic meter who won fameduring the Truce Years, all stressed themes from Anatolia and the lives of ordinary people in their poems.

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar wrote intensely profound poems full of hidden meaning, adapting Paul Valery's poetic notions to the Turkish language. Ahmet Kutsi Tecer was inspired in his work by folk sources, while Necip Fazil Kisakurek expressed the mystic tendencies of the Anatolian people in his poems and plays, using the Turkish language skillfully in an original and modern
style reflecting his colorful character. Nazim Hikmet Ran, who went to Russia when he was young and returned with Marxist-materialistic convictions, wrote revolutionary poems using the aesthetic qualities of the Turkish language. These poems were the beginning of a socialist trend which became common in Turkish literature in the 1960s. By contrast, Ahmet Muhip
Dranas' poems reflected aesthetic considerations only. Omer Seyfettin, the founder and most successful representative of the short story tradition in Turkish literature became the most
widely-read author in the country with publication of the 144th edition of his books. The writing of Sait Faik Abasiyanik and Sabahattin Ali started two widely different trends. Sait Faik Abasiyanik depicted happenings in Istanbul with intensely and subjective poetic feeling. In contrast, Sabahattin Ali specialized in objective description of simple events. With these two writers, daily life, opinions and expectations entered literary tradition, a trend that was to intensify in the 1960s.

Orhan Veli Kanik published his poems in a book entitled "Garip"in 1941. Kanik and two other poets who shared his style, Melih Cevdet Anday and Oktay Rifat, created a new poetic movement called"Garipciler" based on the elimination of such formal restrictions as meter, rhyme and analogy. They wanted poetry to become a simple expression of feelings. Orhan Veli's successful poems in free verse greatly influenced those who came after him. Cahit Sitki Taranci achieved the same simplicity through the use of meter and rhyme. Free verse spread rapidly. Asaf Halet Celebi, Fazil Husnu Daglarca and Behcet Necatigil successfully represented this style.