Did you know that Turkey reportedly has the third highest users of Facebook when compared to other countries around the world? With fourteen million (and counting), the only two countries that they are beaten by, are the United Kingdom, and the United States too. There’s a fun fact about Turkey that we bet you didn’t know!

It’s a country with some really interesting facts about it, and there are some pretty fascinating women from there too, as displayed by this list of top 10 most popular Turkish women …

1 – Tülin Şahin

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At first glance, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this absolute beauty with Cindy Crawford, but this is, in fact, Tülin Şahin, a global fashion model and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF if you go by her Instagram bio. She’s also an actress and an author, as well as a TV personality. Originally born in Odense in Denmark, she was scouted whilst shopping in a mall, and it was in 1998 that she made the move to Paris. It was a great move, opening the door for her modelling career even further, and she found herself being able to go back to the home place of her parents — Turkey.

2 – Hande Dogandemir

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She’s got close to two million followers on Instagram, so there’s a good chance you’ll have spotted this Turkish beauty if you hadn’t yet heard of her. Born in Ankara, Turkey, the 31-year-old sociologist, TV host, and actress is well-known on Turkish TV. These include Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Telling Tales, and Leyla ile Mecnun. She’s even won awards for her TV appearances, and she’s beautiful to boot! We’re not jealous … much.

3 – Oyku Karayel

Source: officialoykukarayel

This 27-year-old Turkish actress is best known for her role in the TV series, Kuzey Güney, appearing on the show from 2011 to 2013. Quite a few TV shows followed on from that, including a couple of leading roles. A name in the world of theatre as well as TV, she’s won a few awards already and is starting to grow quite the following across social media.

4 – Serenay Sarikaya

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This 26-year-old has an Instagram following of over six million, and back in 2014, she was voted as “Woman of the Year” by Turkish GQ. Born in Ankara, Turkey, Serenay Sarikaya has had a very impressive career when you bear in mind that she’s still pretty young, breaking into not only TV shows, but also movies, and she’s made a serious name for herself in the world of modelling too.

5 – Bergüzar Korel

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A Turkish actress, Bergüzar Korel is 35 years old and was born in Istanbul, Turkey. It was in the 2006 film Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak that she made her big film debut, but it wasn’t until a TV show called Binbir Gece that her name started to grow. In fact, it would appear that the TV show changed her life in more ways than one, leading to her meeting Halit Ergenç, her partner on the show, marrying him back in 2009, and then having their baby boy a year later. It’s a bit like a celebrity fairytale, right?

6 – Songül Öden

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Born in Diyarbakır, Turkey, Songül Öden is a 38-year-old actress, well known for her appearances in TV shows such as Ferhunde Hanımlar, Vasiyet, Vazgeç Gönlüm, Mükemmel Çift, and many more. Alongside featuring in various TV shows, the “Rose of Turkey” (as she is known) has also made the leap into both theatre/plays and movies too and has even become the international face of many different brands.

7 – Burcu Biricik

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This beautiful 28-year-old was born in Elmalı, Turkey, and is not just beautiful (and an actress) but smart too. She’s basically our girl crush right now. Studying at Ege University, she graduated in the field of archaeology, before making serious waves in both the TV and movie industry. With over a million followers on Instagram, she’s also becoming pretty well known in her own modelling right too!

8 – Cansu Dere

Source: cansudere

This 38-year-old Turkish beauty is definitely worthy of her place on the list of top 10 popular Turkish women, with brains as well as beauty. Not just a model, an actress, and a name in the world of TV, she’s also graduated from Istanbul University in the field of archaeology, and even entered beauty pageants, finishing as a runner-up. With 1.1 million followers on Instagram, she’s definitely one you’ll want to be following. (We are now, anyway!)

9 – Tuba Ünsal

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Born in Denizli, Turkey, Tuba Ünsal is an actress and a model, and you’d never guess that she was 35 years old! With both brains and beauty on her side, it was at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University that she studied business administration, before moving on to Bilgi University, where she studied and graduated in the field of video and photography.

Clearly having a greater understanding of the camera than most worked in her favour, as a little while later, in 1998, she entered a modelling competition— the Elite Model Look. There were a few smaller campaigns and commercials to start with, but it wasn’t long before a budding acting career awaited her. She jumped at the chance and has had a very stint so far, and it seems to be ongoing!

10 – Gizem Karaca

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In 2011, Gizem Karaca competed in Miss World and came second place. She did win the “best-dressed” award though, in the same year’s Miss World competition. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, the 25-year-old is starting to accumulate quite the following on social media, with a following of 1.1 million alone on Instagram.