Istanbul Time Now

What this page shows

So you want to know what time it is in Istanbul right now. Maybe you have a call with someone in Turkey, a flight to catch, a match kicking off on local time, or someone to reach before their evening is over. That is what the clock at the top of this page is for. It shows the current time in Istanbul and ticks forward every second, so there is nothing for you to work out by hand.

Wherever in the world you are reading this from, the clock tracks Istanbul and keeps itself right on its own. And Istanbul time is simpler than it used to be, because it no longer changes through the year, as the next section explains.

Istanbul no longer changes its clocks

Here is the part worth knowing about Istanbul time. Turkey used to change its clocks twice a year, like Europe, but it stopped in 2016. Rather than fall back that autumn, the country simply stayed on its summer setting and has held it ever since. So there is no spring forward and no fall back any more. Istanbul stays on the same clock all year round, Turkey Time, three hours ahead of UTC.

So there are no change dates to track here. Whenever you look, Istanbul is at UTC plus 3, and the clock above simply shows that time. Keeping the summer setting all year has one visible effect, which the facts section picks up: the winter sun runs well behind the clock.

What time zone Istanbul is in

Istanbul runs on Turkey Time, three hours ahead of UTC, held every day of the year. That is the same offset as Moscow to the north and the Gulf states of Qatar and Saudi Arabia to the south, so this whole north-south band keeps a common hour.

Istanbul has a distinction no other major city can match: it straddles two continents, with one side in Europe and the other in Asia, divided by the Bosphorus. Both sides, of course, keep exactly the same clock, so crossing from Europe to Asia in this city changes neither the hour nor the day, only the view. Turkey keeps the single national time across the whole country.

Time difference from Istanbul to other cities

Istanbul never changes its clocks, so the gap to other fixed-offset places stays the same all year. The places that do use daylight saving, like the rest of Europe and New York, shift by an hour against Istanbul when they change. Here is the quick reference, assuming it is 12 noon in Istanbul.

A few quick examples

Let us run a few, so you can see how this works.

Say it is 12 noon in Istanbul. Dubai is an hour ahead at 1 in the afternoon, and Mumbai two and a half hours ahead at 2:30. Singapore is five hours ahead at 5 in the afternoon, all year, since none of these change their clocks.

Now the places that do change. In the European winter, Paris is two hours behind Istanbul, at 10 in the morning, and London three hours behind, at 9. New York is eight hours behind, at 4 in the morning. When Europe and the US move to summer time, each of these gaps narrows by an hour, since Istanbul holds still while they spring forward.

So for a call into Europe or the Americas that has to land just right, especially near the spring and autumn change dates, check the live clock rather than the rule of thumb.

A couple of things about Istanbul time

Istanbul sits at about 41 degrees north, so the length of the day swings a fair amount across the year. Around midsummer there are nearly fifteen hours between sunrise and sunset, while around midwinter that drops to a little over nine hours.

On the clock-against-sun question, Istanbul runs well ahead of the sun, and that is the price of keeping the summer setting all year. The clock sits more than an hour ahead of where the city's longitude would naturally put it, so the sun reaches its highest at around 1 in the afternoon by the clock rather than at noon. In the depths of winter that means late sunrises, with the sky still dark well past 8 in the morning, the trade-off Turkey accepted when it stopped turning the clocks back.

Other places to compare

Istanbul shares its offset with a north-south band of cities on UTC plus 3. Here are some to jump to:

• Moscow time now, on the same offset
• Qatar time now, on the same offset
• Dubai time now, an hour ahead

And if it is the global reference Istanbul is measured from that you are after, see UTC Time Now.

Questions people ask

What time is it in Istanbul right now?

The clock near the top of this page is the answer, and it updates every second. Turkey no longer uses daylight saving, so Istanbul stays on the same time all year, and the time shown is always correct.

Does Istanbul change its clocks for daylight saving?

No, not since 2016. Turkey stopped turning the clocks back that year and has stayed on its summer setting, Turkey Time at UTC plus 3, ever since, with no seasonal change.

Do both sides of Istanbul keep the same time?

Yes. Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia, but both sides keep the same clock, UTC plus 3, so crossing the Bosphorus changes the view, not the time.

What time zone is Istanbul in?

Turkey Time, three hours ahead of UTC, held all year. It is the same offset as Moscow and the western Gulf states.

What is the time difference between Istanbul and New York?

New York is normally eight hours behind Istanbul, or seven when New York is on summer time. The gap shifts because New York uses daylight saving and Turkey does not.

What is the IANA name for Istanbul time?

It is Europe/Istanbul in the IANA time zone database, the time data your phone and your computer use. It holds a steady UTC plus 3, and it is what drives the live clock on this page.

References

1. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Time Zone Database (the tz database), home of the Europe/Istanbul identifier. https://www.iana.org/time-zones
2. Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Time Department, which maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the reference Turkey Time is measured from. https://www.bipm.org/en/work-programme/time
3. International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), which governs UTC and the leap seconds that keep it aligned with the Earth's rotation. https://www.iers.org