18/02/2019
Turkish is the most widely spoken of its family that includes thirty Turkic languages. The differences among these languages are much smaller than their close similarities.
It is a significant language first because of the sheer numbers of people who speak it. 75 million people speak Turkish as their first language, making it one of the globe’s 15 most widely spoken first languages. There are other communities of speakers in the Balkans and the Caucasus, and several very large Turkish immigrant communities in Western Europe (Turkish is the second most widely spoken language in Germany, for example). Another 15 million people speak Turkish as a second language.
The Republic of Turkey is strategically connected, geographically and culturally, to Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Thus Turkish and knowledge of Turkey are advantageous to anyone interested in the international business or politics of those regions. Knowledge of Turkish opens up to you a region of great geopolitical significance.