Turkey has a population of around 85 million. The majority are ethnically Turkish, with Kurds making up a substantial minority — estimates range from 15 to 25 percent, concentrated in the southeast but also present throughout western cities. There are also smaller populations of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Arabs, Laz (Black Sea coast), and others.
Turkish is the official language, spoken by virtually everyone. Kurdish (in its Kurmanji and Zaza varieties) is spoken by Kurdish communities; Arabic in the border regions near Syria; and Laz along parts of the Black Sea coast. After a period of restriction, Kurdish has been more openly spoken and taught since the 2000s, though the political situation around Kurdish identity remains sensitive.
Around 99 percent of the population is Muslim, the great majority Sunni, with a significant Alevi minority (perhaps 15-20 percent) whose practice of Islam draws on Sufi and pre-Islamic Anatolian traditions and is quite different from Sunni practice. Turkey is officially secular — religion and state are constitutionally separated, a legacy of Ataturk's reforms in the 1920s and 30s — though the degree to which this secularism is maintained has been a recurring political tension.
The country's identity is genuinely complicated. Turks are fiercely proud of their history — both the Ottoman imperial past and the Kemalist republican project — and these two strands are not always comfortable with each other. Hospitality is a core value. Strangers are treated with warmth; invitations to tea and meals are genuine, not transactional. A real interest in where you come from and what you think of Turkey is common.
The younger population in Istanbul, Izmir, and university cities is cosmopolitan, well-traveled, and connected to European culture. Rural eastern Anatolia is conservative, traditional, and has more in common with neighboring Iran and Iraq than with Istanbul. Turkey contains multitudes and generalizations fail quickly.
Ataturk — Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic — remains a legally protected figure. Criticism of him is a criminal offense. His portrait hangs in public offices, his statue stands in virtually every town square, and his image appears on banknotes. This is worth knowing — it is one of those subjects where a casual remark can create serious difficulty.