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Turkey Time Zone

What TRT means

Turkey Time, abbreviated TRT, is the country's single time zone. It is UTC+3, meaning three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, and it applies to every province without exception.

You will sometimes see it written as GMT+3. For everyday purposes UTC and GMT are the same thing, so both are correct. The IANA database identifier — the one used by phones, servers and this site — is Europe/Istanbul.

The 2016 change

Before 2016 Turkey behaved like its European neighbours: UTC+2 in winter, UTC+3 in summer. On 7 September 2016 the government announced that the clocks would not go back that autumn, and that the country would remain on UTC+3 permanently.

Turkey therefore sits on what used to be its summer time all year. This is why sunrise in Istanbul in December is after 08:20, and why the offset between Turkey and Europe is one hour in summer but two in winter.

Which countries share UTC+3

Turkey shares its offset with Moscow and western Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and East Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia. All of those keep UTC+3 year-round, so the time in Istanbul, Riyadh, Moscow and Nairobi is identical.

Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Israel and Egypt also reach UTC+3, but only during their summer months, dropping back to UTC+2 in winter.

Frequently asked questions

Is Turkey GMT+3 or GMT+2?

GMT+3, permanently, since September 2016. Sources still listing Turkey at GMT+2 for the winter are out of date.

What is Turkey's IANA time zone name?

Europe/Istanbul. Older systems may also recognise the deprecated alias Asia/Istanbul.

Is Turkey in the same time zone as Greece?

Only in summer. Greece is UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer, while Turkey stays at UTC+3, so they match from late March to late October and differ by an hour otherwise.

More guides

Time in Turkish cities