Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey/Reports/2025

Annual Report 2025Türkçe sürüm

Summary

We will remember 2025 as a landmark year for Wikimedia Community User Group Türkiye. It was the year the Wikimedia Hackathon was held in İstanbul; and the year the group organized Wiki Loves Folklore and Wiki Loves Monuments for the first time. The year was also marked by an intensive focus on documenting sports and cultural events, enabled by media accreditations obtained from relevant institutions.

Alongside these flagship activities, community members took the initiative to organize local documentation trips in several historical cities, including Kırklareli, Edirne, and Safranbolu, contributing new content about Türkiye’s cultural heritage to Wikimedia projects.

Throughout the year, the group continued its online and in-person educational programs across multiple cities—Afyon, Ankara, Bursa, Erzurum, İstanbul, Sakarya, and Şırnak—while supporting Student Wiki Clubs, delivering presentations to diverse organizations, holding regular biweekly community meetings, and strengthening its presence at regional and global Wikimedia events.

While 2025 was a year of intense activity and growth, it was also a year of reflection. As the user group prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2026, we conducted interviews with founders, members, and partners to revisit our history and document our collective journey. This documentary will be released in 2026.

We invite you to explore our 2025 activities and thank you for being part of this journey.

Wikimedia Hackathon

In May 2025, the Hackathon brought together more than 200 participants from over 30 countries in our beloved city, İstanbul. A small team from our community collaborated with the WMF team in the preparations. Our members enjoyed the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with such a diverse group of builders and coders from across the Movement. You can find more information about the event in the following blog posts and documents:

Group Photo
Announcement
First day

Wiki Loves Folklore 2025

The first Wiki Loves Folklore Türkiye photo competition was organized this year. Between February 1 and March 20, more than 400 photos were uploaded, contributing valuable visual content to articles covering topics related to intangible cultural heritage. To see how the photos uploaded during the competition inspired editors, please read the following blog post:Sheep Jumping, a Master Locksmith, and Village Life: My Journey Through Wiki Loves Folklore

Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in partnership with Kültür Envanteri

Wiki Loves Monuments Türkiye was another competition we organized for the first time in country this year. We had long dreamed of becoming a local organizer of this international competition, but the lack of a comprehensive list of cultural heritage monuments had been a major barrier. We overcame this challenge by partnering with another like-minded civil organization. The Kültür Envanteri (Cultural Heritage) community works on creating such lists, and they generously shared their data with us.

Our members then patiently worked on these datasets—creating or matching Wikidata items, ensuring there were no duplicates, and creating Commons categories as part of the preparation process. In the end, we compiled a list of approximately 26,000 cultural assets belonging to Roman, Seljuk, and Ottoman civilizations, as well as other civilizations that once existed in Anatolia.

We also created a dedicated website to help internet users participate in the competition: https://vikianitlariseviyor.tr/

We are happy to see that over 7,000 photographs of cultural monuments from all over Türkiye were uploaded throughout October.

New Organizers Advancing Cultural Heritage Documentation and Cross-Cultural Collaboration

2025 saw the emergence of new organizers launching initiatives to document cultural heritage in Türkiye. During the year, three projects were supported by the CEE Hub Microgrants Programme:

Edirne Mosques Tour:In January, three Wikimedians documented more than 50 mosques in Edirne.
Photographing Kırklareli Culture: In May, two Wikimedians documented over 100 sites across Kırklareli.
Documenting History of Safranbolu: In December, four Wikimedians documented the historical heritage of the town of Safranbolu.

Another notable initiative was the organization of a Friendship Editing-Month, which brought together Wikimedians from Japan, Türkiye, and Malaysia to contribute collaboratively across cultures.

Edirne Mosques
Kırklareli Culture
Safranbolu History
Friendship Month

Media Accreditation for Sports and Cultural Events

In 2025, community members expanded documentation of sports and cultural events via media accreditation:

During the 2024–2025 basketball season, one member photographed EuroLeague, Turkish Basketball Super League, Women’s Basketball Super League, and youth league matches, uploading over 14,000 photos from more than 120 games. Diff Blog: He documents his greatest passion and uploads it to Wikimedia Commons.

Inspired by this example, others documented cultural events, including:

Istanbul Jazz Festival 2025 – over 500 photos of performers uploaded under the WikiPortraits initiative.

International Istanbul Book Fair 2025 – portraits of 120 authors uploaded to Commons and used in other projects.

Education Program

Wikimedia Türkiye continued the Wikipedia Education Program across academic institutions. Students contributed to Wikimedia projects as part of coursework, supported by Wikipedians who provided lectures, editing training, and mentorship. The program strengthened student engagement with Wikimedia projects and expanded collaboration between universities and the community.

9 January – Wikipedia lecture in Üsküdar American High School
16 January – Students meet Wikipedians at Koç Secondary School 'Books Week'
6 February – Mehmet Rıfat Evyap Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School Caracal Robotics team meet with Wikimedia projects
24 February – Kadir Has University students were introduced to Wikipedia and sister projects in the KHAS 110 Social Responsibility course
27 February – Yeditepe University studets made Wikipedia assignemnets for Social Responsibility course
3 March – Students enrolled in Istanbul Bilgi University's PUB 405 Seminar course met with experienced Wikipedians.
4-5 March – IELEV Schools held a talk with 11th grade students on Wikipedia and digital volunteering
11 March – Wikipedia was introduced in a presentation titled “Wikipedia and Digital Literacy” at Afyon Kocatepe University Central Library
17 March – Wikipedia presentation to graduate students at Bursa Uludağ University Institute of Educational Sciences
20 March – Wikipedia presentation at the Middle East Technical University Department of Physics
23 March – Online meeting with TED University ELL 104 students as part of the Accessible Museums project
25 March – Practical Wikipedia editing training in 9 preparatory classes at Üsküdar American High School
7 April – Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata were introduced at IELEV Schools
15 April – Wikipedia and Digital Literacy Talk at Sakarya University of Applied Sciences
15 April – Erzurum Technical University Department of Computer Engineering Information Retrieval Systems course online Wikipedia Q&A session
7 May – Wikipedia and Digital Volunteering Talk at Şırnak University
20 May – Wikidata presentation at Marmara University's Information and Records Management Department
18 September – Mehmet Rıfat Evyap High School's The Caracal Robotics team introduced Wikimedia projects
15 October – Kadir Has University students were introduced to Wikipedia and sister projects in their KHAS 110 Social Responsibility course
22 October – Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons were discussed in the MED 215 Digital Literacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence course at Istanbul Bilgi University.
22 December - Wikimedia presentation at İstanbul University Department of Museology

Edit-a-thons and Wikimedia Presentations

In 2025, Wikimedians introduced Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia Movement to new audiences across Türkiye through 15 events, including three online and 12 in-person activities. These events were either organized in partnership with various organizations or featured Wikimedians as invited speakers, and some also included hands-on editing sessions. Participants included members of civil society organizations, professional associations, academic communities, and local interest groups.

22 February - Talk at "Bursa Okulu" local history group, Bursa
7 March - International Women's Day event at İstanbul Swedish Consulate
18 March - Presentation at Turkish Journalists' Union Istanbul Branch,
26 March- Presentation İnegöl City Council, Bursa
13 April - Roma Day Edit-a-thon (online)
12 June- Edit-a-thon at the Turkish Journalists' Union Istanbul Branch, İstanbul
18 July - Karaelmas Journalists Association, Zonguldak
3 October- 22nd National Psychology Congress, Bursa
11 October -Teacher Academy Foundation Festival, Çanakkale
18 October -Presentation at the Sema Karakelle Symposium (online)
26 October -Free Software Association presentation at the Open Access Week symposium, İstanbul
27 October -Presentation at the Open Access Week event at Marmara University, İstanbul
5 October - Presentation to Youth Centre staff affiliated with the Ministry of Youth and Sport (online)
28 November - Bursa Health History Symposium, Bursa
19 December- Bursa Amateur Astronomy Club, Bursa
27 December- Nevşehir Cultural Heritate Edit-a-thon, Ankara.

Reflection and 10th Anniversary Preparation

As 2025 marked the final year before the 10th anniversary of Wikimedia Türkiye in 2026, the community dedicated time to reflection and documentation of its history. Members conducted interviews with founders, long-time volunteers, and partner organizations to revisit the group’s achievements, challenges, and milestones.

These interviews will form the basis of a documentary about the group’s collective journey, scheduled for release in 2026. The process not only helped the community acknowledge past accomplishments but also provided insights to inform future activities, strategic planning, and community growth.

Wiki Student Clubs

In 2025, Wiki Student Clubs established by student Wikimedians organized a wide range of activities at their academic institutions. These included introductory meetings, lectures, edit-a-thons, conferences, and field-based documentation activities such as photography walks. Student Cclub activities combined classroom-based learning with on-site cultural heritage documentation, most notably the Beyoğlu Churches photography walk, which contributed visual content to Wikimedia Commons. Through these events, student organizers introduced Wikimedia projects to their peers, supported collaborative content creation, and expanded contributions to Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia.

2024-25 Education year

6 January – Vikipedi İle Tanış, Özgür Bilgiyi Keşfet Workshop (Üsküdar University Wiki Student Club)
8 February – Aviation edit-a-thon (Üsküdar University Wiki Student Club)
5 March – Education articles edit-a-thon (Atatürk Teacher Training Academy Wiki Club)
24 March – Cypriot Turkish Novelists Conference (Atatürk Teacher Training Academy Wiki Club)
12 May – Conference: Wikipedia (Atatürk Teacher Training Academy Wiki Club & METU Northern Cyprus Campus Wikipedia Society)
13 May – Conference: Wikipedia (METU Northern Cyprus Campus Wikipedia Society & Atatürk Teacher Training Academy Wiki Club)

2025-26 Education year

4 November – The Churches of Beyoğlu Photography Walk (İstanbul Medipol University Wiki Student Club)
14 November – First meeting event (METU Northern Cyprus Campus Wikipedia Society)

Global and regional conferences

In 2025, Wikimedians from Türkiye participated in a range of global and regional Wikimedia conferences, strengthening international collaboration, sharing experiences, and contributing to movement-wide discussions.

Year	Event	Place	Date	Participant/Delegate Notes
2025	Wikisource Conference 2025	Bali	14-16 February	Satırdan kahraman
2025	Youth Conference 2025	Prague	16-18 May	İsnaaa, Kurmanbek, Biologg
2025	EduWiki Conference 2025	Bogota	29 May- 1 June	Basak
2025	Wikimania 2025	Nairobi	6-9 August	Basak, Beyoglou, HakanIST, İmmortalance, Kurmanbek, ToprakM, Zafer
2025	Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2025	Thessaloniki	26-28 September 2025	İmmortalance (delegate), Sadrettin (delegate), Zafer, Kurmanbek, Basak (CEEHub), HakanIST (WMTurkic delegate)
2025	Big Fat Brussels Meeting X	Brüksel	3-4 October	Zafer
2025	Youth Group Meeting	Yerevan	21-23 November	Kurmanbek

Community meetups and Wikidata Birthday

In 2025, Wikimedia Türkiye celebrated the Wikidata Birthday on 1 November. The event also marked the opening of the new office of Dijital Bilgi Derneği, which now serves as a regular meeting space for Wikimedians in İstanbul. The Wikidata Birthday celebration brought together local Wikimedians and partners, creating an opportunity to introduce the new space and discuss potential future collaborations related to Wikidata.

In addition to the Wikidata Birthday event, the group organized 23 community meet-ups throughout the year. These biweekly Tuesday evening meetings, known as “VikiSalı” (WikiTuesday), provided a regular space for coordination, knowledge sharing, and community building. Meeting notes from each session are available online (in Turkish).

List of activities

2025
January	07	-	21	-	-
February	-	11	-	25	-
March	-	11	-	25	-
April	-	08	-	22	-
May	-	13	-	27	-
June	-	17	-	-	-
July	08	-	-	29	-
August	-	-	19	-	-
September	-	09	-	-	30
October	-	14	-	-	-
November	-	11	-	25	-
December	-	09	-	23	-