The Turkish people, or the Turks, are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey, and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities have been established.

Turkish nationality law, which regulates current Turkish citizenship and nationality, is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis.Various Ancient Anatolian civilizations and Thracian peoples have inhabited the area now called Turkey since prehistoric times.

Modern Turkish people primarily descend from these indigenous groups, in addition to neighboring peoples and Turkic peoples, despite speaking a Turkic language, which is adopted by the local populations who predominantly had spoken Indo-European languages.

Turkic languages may date back to 600 BC, and the first mention of the ethnonym "Turk" may date from Herodotus' reference to "Targitas" or from Classical Latin references to people in the forests north of the Sea of Azov.

Chinese sources in the sixth century also use "Tujue" to refer to the Göktürks.

However, it is the Seljuk Turks who bring Turkish language and Islam into Anatolia in the 11th century.

The Ottoman beylik unites Anatolia starting from the late 13th century and creates the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish identity strengthens with the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire, and the migration of some 7–9 million Turkish-Muslim refugees from the lost territories of the Caucasus, Crimea, Balkans, and the Mediterranean islands into Anatolia and Eastern Thrace during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish nationalism consolidates with the Turkish War of Independence and the subsequent proclamation of the Republic of Turkey.

Turkey has a very diverse culture that is a blend of various elements of the Oğuz Turkic, indigenous Anatolian, Greek, Islamic, Ottoman, and Western cultures.

Due to Ottoman past, the Turkish minorities are the second largest ethnic groups in Bulgaria and Cyprus.

In addition, as a result of modern migration, a Turkish diaspora has been established, particularly in Western Europe, where large communities have been formed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

There are also significant Turkish communities living in Australia, the former Soviet Union and North America.