500 000 Lira Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre, the 13th–14th century Anatolian poet and Sufi mystic, was commemorated extensively in 1991 as part of UNESCO's designation of that year as the Year of Yunus Emre — marking the 750th anniversary of his birth. Turkey's commemorative program around this event was unusually broad, spanning postage stamps, cultural festivals, and this gold issue. The UNESCO connection gave the coin an international dimension rare for Turkish commemoratives of the period.