The Türkiye 2025 stamps are here! Hard to believe this is the fifth year exploring the country and it’s been a hell of a trip too. When I began, I knew little about the stamps, and virtually nothing about their designers and artists, which shows in my work on Türkiye’s 2021 program. 2021 doesn’t list a single designer so there is a lot of work to be done bringing that year up to the same level as 2025. A fun summer project? Looking back over 2021 reminded me of why I fell in love with Türkiye’s stamps and covers. That was a spectacular year of culture, history and artists that wowed me. The outstanding set, from a year of outstanding designs was Turkish Painters – Devrim ERBIL(2021) and it would be great to see this series return. It really was a fantastic year.
\
It takes quite a bit of research to track down artists, and many databases/sites forgo posting designer information. Its been a bit time consuming sourcing details, but so satisfying. To that end, I have begun a spreadsheet tracking stamps and their designers. When I can, I add links to their webpages. Wading through Turkish websites is a slow process. But this has allowed me to spot artistic styles and techniques. Its another fun project (as though I don’t have enough to work on). I’ve started the same for a number of countries, including Thailand and Taiwan. Like I said, its a slow slog, but a satisfying one.
One by-product of keeping track of previous years is the ease in finding new, interesting tidbits to share with you. This year’s crop of stamps are up to Türkiye’s usual high standards of design and print quality. A few returning friends have made an appearance already, including a new addition to the Cartoons series and more delicious fruit photographs. One thing I did notice is the lack of EUROMED contributions in the last few years. Either I’ve made a mistake in cataloguing them, or PTT isn’t participating in the program. I think there’s a bit of research to be done here. Stay tuned for any updates on this.
All in all good year to explore and collect… as expected.
Enjoy
Catpaw
January
2025 Year of the Family
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
digital
Designer: Neşet Zeytün
Release date: January 15, 2025
Atatürk And The Republic-3
Official
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
digital
Designer: Mehmet Sayar
Release date: January 3, 2025
February
Wild Fruits
Official
4 stamp
digital
Caucasian Blackberry (rubus caucasicus) – perennial native to the Caucasus Mountains.
https://www.botanicalrealm.com/plant-identification/rubus-caucasicus/
- Rosehip (rose canina) – has a number of names, dogwood, wild rose, briar rose to name a few. Wild Rose: Rosa canina (Briar Rose or Dog Rose)
- Raspberry (rubus idaeus) – Rubus idaeus L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science
- Wild pear (pyrus elaeagnifolia) – Pyrus elaeagnifolia – Trees and Shrubs Online
Photographer: Prof. Ahmet Karataş
Release date: February 22, 2025
Our Grand Mosques
definitive
4 stamps, FDC, cancel
digital
Four mosques are featured this year. Text is from Our Grand Mosques info sheet. The info sheet is filled with fascinating details.
KÜTAHYA GRAND MOSQUE:
It is the only sultan’s mosque in Kütahya. It is the largest mosque in Kütahya with a size of 48×26 meters and its wooden pulpit was made without using any nails. Prince Yıldırım Bayezid started to build this mosque when he was the Governor of Kütahya (1381-1389), but due to his rushing from campaign to campaign, being captured by Tamerlane at the end of the Ankara War and his later death, finishing the mosque was left to his son Musa Çelebi. The foundation charter of the mosque was arranged during the reign of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.
UŞAK GRAND MOSQUE:
It is understood from the inscription on its door that it was built during the Germiyanoğulları period. The inscription states that it was built by Mehmet Bin Hasan Bin Kavşit in 1419 during the reign of Yakup Bey, son of Süleyman Şah, ruler of the Germiyanoğulları Principality.
BURSA GRAND MOSQUE:
It is the first of the Ottoman mosques to have multiple domes and has twenty domes resting on twelve large four-sided piers. It was built between 1396-1400 during the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid. After the construction of the mosque was completed, Somuncu Baba led the first prayer for the congregation, including Yıldırım Bayezid, Molla Fenari, and Emir Sultan, The first imam of the Grand Mosque was Süleyman Çelebi, the author of Mevlid. The mosque has two minarets, the western minaret of which was built during the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid and the eastern minaret during the reign of Çelebi Sultan Mehmed.
The total interior area of the Grand Mosque is 3,165 square meters. It is the largest of the grand mosques in Türkiye. The black cloth hung high on the eastern door next to the imam’s room is the cloth of the Kaaba door. Yavuz Sultan Selim, who became the caliph after the Egyptian Expedition, replaced the Kaaba’s cloth with a new cloth sent from Istanbul. Yavuz brought the old cover to Bursa and gifted it to the Grand Mosque, and carried and hung it with his own hands. There is also a fountain under the dome inside the mosque.
NASRULLAH KADI MOSQUE:
It is the first mosque belonging to the Ottoman period in Kastamonu. It was built with 6 domes in 1506 during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II by the judge of the time, Hacı Nasrullah Kadı Bin Şeyh Yakup Bin Süleyman. It has an important historical-cultural value with the speeches given by the National Poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy in his Friday sermon on November 5, 1920 during the National Struggle Period.
Designer: Abdullah Duman
Release date: February 28, 2025
March
Anatolian Wolves
2 stamps, FDC, cancel
digital
Anatolian wolves (Canus lupus) are endemic in the Anatolian region.
[They] have an important place in the culture and lifestyles of European and Asian societies, especially the Turks, who have shared nature with them for centuries. With their superior strength and charismatic features in nature, wolfs have taken place in Turkish, Mongolian and Altai epics and myths as a symbol of freedom and nature with the characteristics of protector, rescuer, guide, warrior, and with the roles of “Ancestor” and “Mother”, generally under the names “Bozkurt”, “Börteçine”, “Gökkurt” or “Gökbörü”.
Anatolian Wolves info sheet
Designers: Prof. Dr. Kazim Çapaci and Ömer L. Furtan
Photographer: Ömer L. Furtan
Release date: March 3, 2025
Ramadan Feast
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
digital
For Muslims across the globe, Ramadan is a sacred time of devotion, reflection, and the celebration of Allah’s (SWT) mercy and love.
As the Islamic calendar is based around the lunar cycle, the Holy month of Ramadan rotates by approximately ten days each year. This upcoming Ramadan is expected to begin on Friday, February 28, or Saturday, March 1 2025, depending on the sighting of the moon.
Toronto Ramadan Timetable 2025 | Islamic Relief Canada This site is a good, friendly site to learn more about Ramadan.It is a time when, after fasting during the month of Ramadan, eating, drinking and benefiting from all halal blessings become permissible, when Muslims rejoice, visit one another, exchange gifts, and bringjoy to children, the poor, and the lonely by giving charity. In brief, it is a time of joy when Islamic brotherhood is embraced by all segments of society, and with an awareness of their responsibilities toward Allah, Muslims gather for communal prayers and offer one another advice.
From the Ramadan Feast info sheet
Designer: Aysu Bekar Kocamiş
Designer FDC: Feride Ortaç
Release date: March 21, 2025
April
Nasreddin Hodja Time Traveler – Cartoon Heroes
2 stamps, FDC, cancel, 2 maxi cards
offset
Since 2022, PTT has featured a stamp using popular children’s cartoons. This year Nasreddin Hodja, a time traveller who finds himself stranded in the 21st century. He befriends some children, who’s father allows him to stay while they figure out how to repair his time machine. The cartoon began in 2017 on TRT Turkey.
In Muslim folklore Nasreddin Hodja is a trickster figure.
While a man called Nasreddin Hodja may actually have existed, it is the fictionalised version found in the eponymous fables that presides in the popular imagination of the Muslim world.
For centuries, stories featuring the 13th century Turkish cleric have been told across the Middle East, where his name has become a byword for fool’s wisdom. The stories have a comedic value in themselves but also represent an archetypal character present in many cultures; that of the jester challenging conventional wisdom with his wit.
Nasreddin Hodja: The archetypal trickster of Muslim folklore | Middle East Eye
Previous stamps in this series include 2024 İbi: Doğu Ekspresi’nin Gizemi (İbi: The Mystery of the Eastern Express) and 2023 Rafadan Tayfa
Graphics supplied by Siyahmartı Animation Studios
Release date: April 23, 2025
May
Saffron from Safranbolu
1 stamp, FDC, cancel
digital
Saffron (crocus sativus) – saffron crocus produces one of the most sought after and expensive spices in the world. The cost is so high because of the labour intensive method needed to harvest it. Safranbolu is a UNESCO World Heritage town in the Karabük Province known for its saffron production.
The Saffron of Safranbolu, which is grown in the Safranbolu district of Karabük, received a Geographical Indication from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office on 18.03.2011, and on 17.01.2024, it became the first spice plant to receive a geographical indication certification from the EU.
From the Saffron Info sheet
Designer: Aysu Bekar Kocamiş
Release date: May 7, 2025
EUROPA 2025: National Archaeological Discoveries – Çatalhöyük
This year’s EUROPA theme revolves around archeological discoveries – an exploration of unique sites that helped increase our knowledge of human history. Türkiye’s contribution is Çatalhöyük, a neolithic settlement that was declared a World Heritage site in 2013. The stamp and cover incorporates some of the incredible wall art found at the large settlement. The Çatalhöyük’s Volcano Mural: The World’s Earliest Depiction of a Volcanic Eruption? has an interesting page on some of the art work. Worth the read. Çatalhöyük – The Shrine of the Hunters (F.V.I) – ArtasMedia provides a deeper dive into the wall art. For people who really want to delve into both the history and the techniques go to The Wall Paintings of Çatalhöyük (Turkey): Materials, Technologies and Artists by Duygu Seçil Çamurcuoğlu. It’ll keep you happy for hours. It may take a bit to appear, it’s a hefty 280 page thesis.
The vast archaeological site of Çatalhöyük comprises two tells rising up to 20 meters above the Konya plain on the Southern Anatolian Plateau. Excavations of the Eastern tell have revealed 18 levels of Neolithic occupation dating from 7,400-6,200 BC that have provided unique evidence of the evolution of prehistoric social organisation and cultural practices, illuminating the early adaptation of humans to sedentary life and agriculture. The Western tell excavations primarily revealed Chalcolithic occupation levels from 6,200-5,200 BC, which reflect the continuation of the cultural practices evident in the earlier Eastern mound.
Çatalhöyük is a very rare example of a well-preserved Neolithic settlement and has been considered one of the key sites for understanding human Prehistory for some decades. The site is exceptional for its substantial size and great longevity of the settlement, its distinctive layout of back-to-back houses with roof access, the presence of a large assemblage of features including wall paintings and reliefs representing the symbolic world of the inhabitants. On the basis of the extensively documented research at the site, the above features make it the most significant human settlement documenting early settled agricultural life of a Neolithic community.
Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük – UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Designer: Derya Sağlam
Release date: May 9, 2025
June
World Environment Day
Release date: June 2, 2025
Pamukkale
Release date: June 13, 2025
July
2025 European Para Youth Games
Release date: July 21, 2025
August
100th Anniversary Of Alija Izetbegović’s Birth
Release date: August 8, 2025
A Yeşİlçam Classic – (Münir Özkul)
Release date: August 15, 2025
130th Anniversary Of The Foundation Of Darülaceze
Release date: August 31, 2025
October
The Tradition Of Ahİlİk
Release date: October 13, 2025
November
Places Of Worship In Mardİn
Release date: November 7, 2025
0 Comments