Until thirty years ago Turkish stamps were largely printed in Switzerland, Austria, Britain and other European countries, but since then Turkey has not only printed its own stamps, but also meets orders for stamps from other countries. Altogether Turkey has issued over three thousand stamps since 1863.

Thematic stamp collection has increased significantly over recent years. Collectors focus on a particular subject such as sport, plants, animals, architecture, archeology, music, theatre, medicine and so on, and the Turkish Post Office has responded to this growing demand around the world by issuing attractive thematic series. The subject matter is deverse, ranging from portraits of artists, writers, scientists and statesmen to native flora and fauna, historical buildings and monuments, sport and important events. Since 1958 Turkey has also issued the European CEPT series issued by the European countries.

In 1963 and 1996 Turkey held major international philately exhibitions, attended by leading philatelists from all over the world. Turkish philatelists regularly sit on juries at stamp exhibitions. There is a Postal Museum in Ankara run by the Turkish PTT with a large collection of stamps on exhibit. The museum organizes programs of events aimed particularly at encouraging young people to collect stamps.




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