Türkiye Radio Live — Free Online Stations

Turkish radio began with a loudspeaker fixed above the door of a post office in Istanbul, so that people in the street could hear what the new machine could do. Seven decades later the same country went from a single state broadcaster to hundreds of private stations in just a few years, in one of the most sudden openings of any radio market in the world. That journey shapes what you hear today when you search for Turkish radio live or want to listen to Turkish radio online.

6 May 1927: the Grand Post Office

Turkey's first regular broadcast went on air on 6 May 1927 from the Grand Post Office building in Sirkeci, Istanbul. The young republic had granted the right to broadcast to a private company, the Turkish Wireless Telephone Company, whose founders included İş Bankası and the Anadolu news agency. A transmitter of about five kilowatts carried music to the public, and a loudspeaker over the building's entrance let passers-by listen for free. Ankara's station followed soon after. Programmes were short, often only a few evening hours, and receivers were rare and expensive.

Radio for the republic

The founders of modern Turkey saw radio as a tool for building a nation. Early schedules mixed Turkish and Western music, news and educational talks, and one of the first educational programmes was an agricultural calendar for a country where most people still lived in villages. In September 1936 broadcasting was transferred to the state postal service, and on 28 October 1938 a powerful new Ankara Radio was officially opened. The same year Turkey began shortwave broadcasting abroad under the name Voice of Turkey, a service that still exists.

Istanbul returns, and the voice of the nation

Istanbul's station fell silent for several years and returned on 19 November 1949 from a new building in Harbiye, opened with a speech by President İsmet İnönü. İzmir got its own station in 1950, the same decade in which advertising and religious programmes first appeared on Turkish radio. For listeners across Anatolia, radio became the place where classical Turkish music, folk songs from every region and the great voices of the era reached every home.

1964: TRT and the age of monopoly

On 1 May 1964 the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, TRT, was founded as an autonomous public broadcaster, and all stations were placed under it. For almost thirty years TRT was the only voice on Turkish airwaves. In 1974 its central and regional services were reorganised into national networks, and TRT built a deep archive of folk and art music that remains one of the richest in the region.

The 1990s: hundreds of stations, almost overnight

The monopoly broke in practice before it broke in law. After private television began broadcasting into Turkey from abroad in 1989, private radio stations started appearing in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and then in city after city across the country, at first without any legal framework. Some were raided and closed by police, but listeners embraced them and the trend could not be reversed. A constitutional change in 1993 and a broadcasting law in 1994 finally legalised private radio and created a regulator, RTÜK.

A dial of many sounds

Today the Turkish dial mixes pop, arabesk, rock, classical Turkish music and türkü folk songs, along with news and sports talk. TRT runs national channels such as Radyo 1, TRT FM, Radyo 3 for classical and jazz, TRT Türkü for folk and TRT Nağme for art music, and has expanded into DAB+ digital radio. Private networks lead among younger listeners, while local stations remain strong in Anatolian cities.

Listening from Germany to the Gulf

Millions of Turks in Germany, the Netherlands, France and elsewhere follow stations from home online, and Turkish music radio also has many fans in the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Arab world. Below you can play the Turkish radio stations online we index, from TRT to private and local stations, free in your browser.