# List of people from Istanbul

This is a list of notable people hailing from the city of Istanbul.

## List

* Hrant Dink (1954-2007), editor of an Armenian newspaper
* Halide Edib Adıvar, novelist, politician
* Müjde Ar, actress
* Oğuz Aral, cartoonist
* Bülent Arel, music producer
* Duygu Asena, women's rights activist
* Hulusi Behçet, dermatologist
* Semiha Berksoy, opera singer
* Orhan Boran, radio and TV host
* Aydın Boysan, architect, academic, author and essayist
* Yaşar Büyükanıt, Chief of the Turkish General Staff
* Eylül Cansın, transgender sex worker
* Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek-French political philosopher
* Hakan Celik, journalist, TV anchorman, radio producer
* Hande Berktan, journalist, TV presenter
* Nuri Bilge Ceylan, filmmaker
* Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek academic, diplomat
* Tansu Çiller, former prime minister
* Volkan Diyaroğlu, artist
* Bülent Ecevit, former prime minister
* Neşe Erberk, Miss Europe 1984
* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey
* Halit Ergenç, actor
* Sertab Erener, singer
* Ahmet Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
* Nesuhi Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
* Yonca Evcimik, pop singer
* Shlomo Gazit (1926–2020), Israeli head of IDF military intelligence, President of Ben-Gurion University
* Leyla Gencer, opera singer
* Fatma Girik, actress
* Ali Ferit Gören (1913–1987), Austrian-Turkish Olympic sprinter
* Gregory V, Greek Patriarch of Constantinople
* Ara Güler, photographer
* Tunç Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion 2004
* Tunch Ilkin, former American football player, TV anchor
* Ertuğrul Işınbark, stage magician
* Nihat Kahveci, football player
* İrem Karamete (born 1993), Olympic fencer
* Adila Khanum, wife of Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz
* Elia Kazan, director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, actor
* Hülya Koçyiğit, actress
* Bergüzar Korel, actress
* Fahri Korutürk, former president of Turkey
* Lefter Küçükandonyadis, football player
* Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion
* Nasuh Mahruki, first Turkish person to summit Mt. Everest
* Barış Manço, musician
* Andrew Mango, British author
* Arif Mardin, music producer
* Kleanthis Maropoulos, Greek footballer
* Alexander Mavrocordatos, Greek dragoman to Sultan Mehmed IV
* Iskouhi Minas (1884–1951), French poet and novelist of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
* Leone Minassian (1905–1978), Italian painter of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
* Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer
* Aziz Nesin, novelist
* Marika Nezer, Greek singer
* Altay Öktem, Turkish poet, writer, researcher and doctor
* Irfan Orga, Turkish Air Force fighter pilot, diplomat, writer
* Leon Walerian Ostroróg, jurist of Polish descent, adviser to the Ottoman government
* Orhan Pamuk, novelist
* Sadettin Pasha, Ottoman pasha
* Pekinel sisters, twin pianists
* Ajda Pekkan, singer
* Veronica of the Passion, ottoman-born English Catholic nun who founded the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel
* Athinodoros Prousalis, Greek actor
* Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, opera singer
* Michael Babington Smith, British banker, sportsman and soldier from the Babington family
* Alexandros Soutsos, Greek poet and partisan
* Tariq bin Taimur, was a member of the Omani royal family
* Haldun Taner, playwright
* Hidayet Türkoğlu, basketball player
* Fatih Tutak, chef
* Antonietta Gambara Untersteiner, composer
* Orhan Veli, poet
* Stavros Xenidis, Greek actor
* Hamza Yerlikaya, wrestler and Olympic gold medalist
* Erol Yesilkaya, Turkish-German screenwriter
* Cem Yılmaz, stand-up comedian, actor
* Gönül Engin Yılmaz, artist
* Alexander Ypsilantis (senior), Greek diplomat
* Alexander Ypsilantis (junior), Greek military commander
* Constantine Ypsilantis, Greek revolutionary

## Related lists

* List of people from Constantinople (between the 3rd century and 1453 CE)
* Notable people from Byzantium (before the 3rd century CE)
* List of museums and monuments in Istanbul
* List of urban centers in Istanbul
* List of universities in Istanbul
* List of schools in Istanbul
* List of architectural structures in Istanbul
* List of columns and towers in Istanbul
* List of libraries in Istanbul
* List of mayors of Istanbul