Öyküleri

Öyküleri is a Turkish word formed from öykü (story) with the plural suffix -ler and the third-person plural possessive suffix -leri. The result means “their stories” or “the stories of them.” In Turkish, the simple plural is öyküler (stories), while öyküleri specifically signals possession by multiple people when used in a sentence. For example, Onların öyküleri çok ilginç means “Their stories are very interesting.”

In Turkish literature, öykü also designates the short story genre, typically a concise narrative focusing on a single event, character, or mood. Turkish short stories often emphasize everyday life, social observations, or psychological insight, and may be realist, lyrical, or experimental in style. The modern Turkish short story began to take shape in the early 20th century and has continued to develop through various periods and movements. Notable writers associated with Turkish short stories include Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Orhan Kemal, Sabahattin Ali, and Yusuf Atılgan, among others. These authors contributed to a tradition that frequently appeared in magazines and small-press collections and that remains an important part of Turkish literary education.

Outside literary contexts, öykü can also mean an anecdote or narrated incident in everyday speech, often used to tell a personal story or a humorous, remarkable, or instructive episode. In everyday use, the word retains a flexible sense of narrative shortness and immediacy.