Current time in Istanbul

Three hours ahead of UTC, all year

Istanbul uses Türkiye Time (TRT), three hours ahead of UTC in every season. The whole country keeps this one time, from the Aegean coast to the Iranian border. Moscow, Riyadh, Doha and Nairobi are on the same offset. Athens and Sofia, close neighbours to the west, are one hour behind Istanbul in winter and level with it in summer.

The clocks that went forward and never came back

Türkiye used to change its clocks on the European dates. On 27 March 2016 they went forward as usual, and in September of that year a government decree made summer time permanent. The aim was more daylight in the evening. The cost is paid on winter mornings: in December the sun does not rise in Istanbul until about 08:20, and further west in the country schools and offices open in the dark.

From alaturka hours to the international clock

In Ottoman Istanbul the day began at sunset. Under this alaturka system clocks were set to twelve each evening and had to be adjusted constantly as the days lengthened and shortened, while European-style alafranga time was used alongside it for railways and telegraphs. The Turkish Republic adopted the international 24-hour day by law from 1926. Today Istanbul is two hours ahead of Berlin in winter and one hour ahead in summer.

Istanbul: time zone at a glance

Time zone

Europe/Istanbul

UTC offset

UTC+3, all year

Clock changes

None scheduled

Dates reflect the rules in force when this page was last updated. Governments can change them at short notice.

Plan a meeting in Istanbul

Use the actual meeting date. Seasonal clock changes can alter the time difference.

How accurate is this clock?

Our clock follows your device. Enable automatic time in your settings; this site does not independently synchronize with an atomic clock.