2020 in Turkey

Incumbents

• President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• 29th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly: Mustafa Şentop
• President of the Constitutional Court: Zühtü Arslan
• Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Armed Forces: Yaşar Güler
• Government: 66th government of Turkey
• Cabinet: Fourth Erdoğan Cabinet

  Events

January

• January 2: Turkey reports a new refugee influx and possible crisis, as 250,000 Syrians flee Syria for Turkey, due to Syrian government attacks on rebel groups around Idlib.
• January 3: Greece makes official protest along with other countries against Turkey's plans to deploy troops to Libya.
• January 6: The new building of the National Organization Agency opened in Etimesgut, Ankara.
• January 7: Turkey signs maritime deal with Libya.
• January 11: A 4.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in Silivri.
• January 15: Turkey lifts its ban on Wikipedia, due to a ruling by the Turkish High Constitutional Court.
• January 24: 2020 Elâzığ earthquake

  February

• February 4–5: 2020 Van avalanches: two avalanches occurred near Bahçesaray, killing at least 41 people.
• February 5: Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Izmir to Istanbul. The Boeing 737-800 operating the route skidded off the runway while landing at the Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Three people were killed, 179 people were injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.
• February 23: 2020 Iran–Turkey earthquakes: the first one occurred on 23 February, near Khoy in north-west Iran, close to the border with Turkey, killing 9 people in Başkale, Van. It hit at 9:23 a.m. local time with a magnitude of 5.8. About 10 hours later the same area was hit by another major earthquake of 6.0.
• February 27: During the peak of Operation Dawn of Idlib 2, the Syrian Arab Air Force, and possibly the Russian Air Force, conducted two airstrikes against a Turkish Army convoy in Balyun, Idlib. The strikes resulted in the deaths of 34 Turkish soldiers according to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  March

• March 1: Turkey started conducting Operation Spring Shield.
• March 11: The Ministry of Health confirms the first COVID-19 case in Turkey.
• March 12: As part of the governmental measures for controlling the pandemic, primary and secondary schools were closed for 1 week from 16 March. Universities were also closed for 3 weeks.
• March 17: The first death from COVID-19 occurred in Turkey.
• March 21: A curfew was imposed by the government for people over 65.
• March 27: All educational programs were suspended until April 30 as a result of governmental measures for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

  April

• April 3: A curfew was imposed by the government for people under 20.
• April 10: As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a curfew was declared in 31 provinces.
• April 17: In order to control the spread of COVID-19, a curfew was declared in 31 provinces which was set to last over the weekend.
• April 20: Another curfew was announced by the government in 30 metropolitan municipalities and Zonguldak, restricting movement across the cities between 23–27 April.
• April 27: Another curfew was announced by the government in 30 metropolitan municipalities and Zonguldak, restricting movement across the cities between 1–3 May.

  June

• June 1: Prohibitions and measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic started to be gradually lifted. The normalization process began.
• June 14: An earthquake of 5.7 hit Bingöl, Karlıova. One person was killed.
• June 15: Turkey launched an air attack on the areas used as a base by terrorists in Northern Iraq under Operation Claw-Eagle.
• June 17:
• * Turkey launched Operation Claw-Tiger in Northern Iraq.
• * Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkır is elected President of the 75th United Nations General Assembly. He was the sole candidate.

  July

• July 3: An explosion occurred in the fireworks factory in Hendek. 6 workers died and 114 workers were injured.
• July 6: 450 hectares of forest were burned in the Ilgardere district of Gelibolu, Çanakkale. Transportation was stopped in the Dardanelles.
• July 7: The elections for choosing the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly was held. Mustafa Şentop was re-elected.
• July 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan annuls the Hagia Sophia's museum status, converting the site back into a mosque.

  Deaths

• 17 January – Rahşan Ecevit, politician
• 19 January – Kazım Ayvaz, wrestler
• 25 January – Garbis Zakaryan, boxer
• 14 February – Hilmi Ok, football referee
• 17 February – Mustafa Yücedağ, footballer
• 25 February – Hikmet Köksal, military officer
• 2 March – Suat Yalaz, comic book artist
• 15 March – Aytaç Yalman, military officer
• 20 March –
• *Cengiz Bektaş, architect
• *Muhterem Nur, actress and singer
• 24 March – Nihat Akbay, footballer
• 28 March – Fevzi Aksoy, academic and columnist
• 31 March – Turhan Kaya, actor
• 2 April – Feriha Öz, pathologist
• 3 April –
• * Helin Bölek, singer
• * Yusuf Kenan Sönmez, politician
• 14 April – Haydar Baş, politician
• 15 April – Ülkü Azrak, academic
• 27 April – Nur Yerlitaş, fashion designer
• 3 May – Ömer Döngeloğlu, theologian
• 9 June – Ayşegül Atik, actress
• 7 July – Jale Aylanç, actress
• 14 July – Adalet Ağaoğlu, novelist and playwright
• 17 July – Seyfi Dursunoğlu, performing artist and comedian

  Lists of military officials

• List of Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff
• List of Commanders of the Turkish Land Forces
• List of Commanders of the Turkish Naval Forces
• List of Commanders of the Turkish Air Force
• List of Commandants of the Turkish Coast Guard