15 000 000 Lira Süreyya Ayhan

Süreyya Ayhan was, at the time of this coin's issue, Turkey's most celebrated middle-distance runner — a world champion in the 1500m who had risen from rural Anatolia to dominate European and world circuits. The timing proved unfortunate. Within two years, she received a two-year doping ban following positive tests for testosterone, later extended to a lifetime ban by the IAAF after further violations were attributed to her coach and entourage.

The denomination reflects Turkey's late-lira inflation crisis, which had pushed face values into the tens of millions before the 2005 redenomination stripped six zeros from the currency entirely.