Determining If It’s Currently Day or Night in Turkey

With Turkey spanning over 300,000 square miles and located in both southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, it can sometimes be unclear if it’s currently day or night in the country at any given moment But having an understanding of Turkey’s time zones, location, and seasons can help determine whether the sun is up or down across the different regions of Turkey right now

Overview of Turkey’s Time Zones

The entire country of Turkey falls within a single time zone, Eastern European Time (EET), which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Turkey does observe Daylight Saving Time in the summer, shifting clocks 1 hour forward to Eastern European Summer Time (EEST), which is UTC +3 hours.

So in the winter, Turkey is +2 hours from UTC, while in summer it becomes +3 hours from UTC. Currently, as Turkey is observing summer time, the time zone is EEST (UTC +3).

This means Turkey is

• 7 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (New York, Toronto)
• 8 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time (Chicago)
• 10 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time (Los Angeles, Vancouver)

Sunrise and Sunset in Turkey

Turkey’s time zone means sunrise and sunset happen relatively early compared to locations further west. In the capital Ankara in late September, sunrise is around 6 50 am and sunset around 6 50 pm. As you move west towards Istanbul, sunrise gets slightly later, around 7 am currently, and sunset around 7 pm.

In the summer, sunrise can be as early as 5:30 am in eastern Turkey, with sunset not until 8 pm in far western areas. In winter, when Turkey returns to standard time, sunrise is 7 am to 8 am and sunset between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm depending on location.

Current Time and Day vs Night in Turkey

As an example, taking the local time in Istanbul right now on September 27 at 12:05 pm EEST (UTC +3), it is clearly daytime across all of Turkey.

At this moment, the sun has already risen everywhere in Turkey. Even in far eastern cities like Erzurum and Kars, sunrise was before 6 am local time. And in Istanbul itself, sunrise today was at 7:02 am with sunset not until 6:58 pm.

Therefore at 12:05 pm in Istanbul and all of Turkey on September 27, the sun is shining and it is daytime across the country. This will remain daytime for all of Turkey for another 6 hours until sunset begins approaching around 6:50 pm in eastern areas.

Seasonal Differences in Turkish Day and Night

While it is currently daytime in all of Turkey in the late September example, in the middle of winter the eastern and western parts of the country can differ in if it is day or night.

In December, sunrise in eastern Turkey can happen as late as 8 am. So if it’s 5 am in Erzurum in midwinter, it’s still nighttime there while a few hours later at 8 am in Istanbul in the west, the sun is up signaling daytime.

During summer, the relatively late Turkish sunsets mean the entire country experiences daytime simultaneously from around 5 am to 9 pm local time depending on location. It doesn’t get dark in Turkey in the summer until well into the night.

Online Tools to Verify Turkish Day and Night

Rather than trying to calculate time differences, a better approach is using online time tools to immediately tell you if it’s currently night or day in Turkey.

The timeanddate.com website features a Turkey time zone map showing the sun position across the country right now. You can also see current local Turkish time in cities like Istanbul, check sunrise and sunset times, or view a Turkey day and night world map.

These tools instantly indicate if the sun is up and it is daytime or nighttime in any region of Turkey at the present moment.

Summary of Determining Day or Night in Turkey

With Turkey spanning multiple time zones in the past, it could be complicated to figure out if it was day or night there. But now under one simplified time zone of EEST (UTC+3), you just need to remember:

• Turkey is 3 hours ahead of UTC and 7 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time
• Sunrise is between 6 am and 8 am, sunset 5 pm to 8 pm depending on location
• During summer, all of Turkey experiences daytime together from around 5 am until 9 pm
• Online sunrise/sunset and time zone tools can verify if it’s currently day or night in Turkey

So by leveraging these tips and resources, you can easily discern whether the sun is currently up or down across Turkey!