2012 in Turkey

Incumbents

• President: Abdullah Gül
• Prime Minister: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Events

• 18 March – Police intervene in early Navroz gatherings in multiple cities; clashes cause one death, numerous injuries, and a great many arrests.
• 5 April – The Call to Poetry, a one-night performance art / international poetry gathering event, is held in Istanbul.
• 22 June – Syria's air defenses shoot down a Turkish military aircraft after it enters Syrian airspace over territorial waters.
• 6 September – An overcrowded migrant boat sinks off Ahmetbeyli on the Aegean coast, resulting in 61 deaths; 46 people are rescued, and the vessel’s captain and assistant are detained.
• 18 November –
• *Clashes in Hakkari province result in the deaths of five Turkish soldiers and four PKK fighters.
• *Hundreds of imprisoned Kurdish militants end a 68-day hunger strike following a call from Abdullah Öcalan.

Deaths

• 1 April – Ekrem Bora, actor
• 12 April – Ayten Alpman, jazz and pop singer
• 25 April – Şahap Kocatopçu, engineer and politician
• 4 August – Metin Erksan, film director
• 15 October – Erol Günaydın, actor
• 14 December – Ertuğ Ergin, alternative pop-rock singer-songwriter