Ahmet Yıldız (born in 1979 in Sakarya, Turkey) is a Turkish professor of Physics and Molecular Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has contributed significantly to the understanding of how motor proteins walk along their filaments.

He received a B.S. in physics from the Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, in 2001, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a postdoctoral position at UCSF.

In 2003 Yildiz received the Foresight Distinguished Student Award for his study of the motion of the molecular motor myosin V. According to the Foresight Institute: "The Distinguished Student Award recognizes the college graduate or undergraduate student whose work is deemed most notable in advancing the development and understanding of molecular nanotechnology." The award was presented during the Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology, October 10-12, 2003, in San Francisco. The Foresight Institute Distinguished Student Award was created in 1997, and is awarded annually.

Yıldız (literally "a star" in Turkish) is a neighbourhood located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighbourhood comprises some of Istanbul's well-known historical locations, such as Yıldız Park and Yıldız Palace, the second largest palace in Istanbul. Yıldız has a population of approximately 6,000.

The area of Yıldız used to be a coniferous forest in Byzantine times. Starting during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman sultans made it their hunting grounds. In the next centuries, it remained as a grove behind the seaside palaces. The neighbourhood began to flourish in the wake of construction of the palace in the 19th century. It took its name from the first pavilion, namely Yıldız Kasrı, commissioned by Selim III in early 19th century.

The area was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for the last 30 years, during the era of Abdul Hamid II.

The biggest part of the palace gardens, some old pavilions and the famous porcelain workshops are open to the public in what is now called the Yıldız Park. The well-known pavilion in the complex, the Şale Köşkü or Chalet Pavilion, is accessed through the park.

Yıldız Tilbe (born 16 July 1966) is a Turkish pop folk singer and one of the best selling musical artists in Turkey,^{[citation needed]} known especially for her eastern-infused ballads.

Yıldız Tilbe is of Kurdish descent. Her father is from Ağrı and her mother is from Tunceli.

While performing at a nightclub in 1991, she met Sezen Aksu.^{[citation needed]} For some time, she worked as a backing singer and collaborated with several other artists on their music projects. Yıldız released her debut album Delikanlım in 1994 and songs from this and later albums received significant airplay and sold well in both Turkey and internationally.^{[citation needed]}

Ahmet Kaya (October 28, 1957 – November 16, 2000) Kurdish singer from Malatya, Turkey, who died on November 16, 2000 in exile in Paris. He formerly sang in Turkish. Some of his most popular songs include Ayrılık Vakti, Söyle, Ağladıkça, Oy Benim Canım, Birazdan Kudurur Deniz, Arka Mahalle, Nereden Bileceksiniz, Hani Benim Gençliğim, Yakarım Geceleri and Şafak Türküsü.

Ahmet Kaya was the fifth and last child of his Kurdish father, who had immigrated from Adıyaman to Malatya, and Turkish mother.^{[citation needed]} He first encountered music at the age of six when his father bought him a bağlama for his birthday. Ahmet Kaya worked for a while as a taxi driver in Istanbul before becoming well known as a singer in the mid-1980s.

His first album, Ağlama Bebeğim, was released in 1985. His popularity continued to rise into the 1990s when in 1994 he released the album Şarkılarım Dağlara which was sold a record 2.8 million copies. All of his 1990 albums to chart-toppers.

During his career he recorded approximately 20 albums and was known for his protest music and positions on social justice. Recurring themes in his songs are love towards one's mother, sacrifice, and hope.

Aziz Nesin (b. Mehmet Nusret Nesin, December 20, 1915 – July 6, 1995) was a famous Turkish writer and humorist of Crimean Tatar origin and author of more than 100 books.

Generally going by the name "Aziz Nesin", this was originally his father's name, used by Nesin as the pseudonym under which he started publishing. He wrote under more than fifty noms de plume, such as the pseudonym "Vedia Nesin", his first wife's name, which he used for love poems published in the magazine Yedigün.

Nesin was born in 1915 on Heybeliada, one of the Princes' Islands of Istanbul, in the days of the Ottoman Empire. After serving as a career officer for several years, he became the editor of a series of satirical periodicals with a socialist slant. He was jailed several times and placed under surveillance by the National Security Service (MAH in Turkish) for his political views. Among the incriminating pieces of evidence they found against him during his military service was his theft and sale for 35 Lira of two goats intended for his company—a violation of clause 131/2 of the Military Penal Code.