Europe/Istanbul is an IANA time zone used in Türkiye. It stays on UTC+3 all year.
Europe/Istanbul at a glance
| UTC offset now | UTC+3 |
|---|---|
| Standard time | UTC+3 |
| Used in | Türkiye |
Rules of the Europe/Istanbul time zone
No clock changes are scheduled in Europe/Istanbul. The last one for daylight saving time was in 2016; since then the offset has been UTC+3 all year.
Recent and upcoming changes in Europe/Istanbul
| Date | Change | New offset |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, March 29, 2015 | Clocks go forward 1 hour: 3:00 AM becomes 4:00 AM | UTC+3 |
| Sunday, November 8, 2015 | Clocks go back 1 hour: 4:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM | UTC+2 |
| Sunday, March 27, 2016 | Clocks go forward 1 hour: 3:00 AM becomes 4:00 AM | UTC+3 |
| Wednesday, September 7, 2016 | Daylight saving time ends for good: clocks stay at UTC+3 | UTC+3 |
The base offset of this zone changed in 2016, from UTC+2 to UTC+3. Old timestamps should be converted with the rule that applied at the time.
Where Europe/Istanbul is used
Europe/Istanbul is used in Türkiye. These are the largest cities in our list that follow it.
Europe/Istanbul compared with other time zones
Differences change during the year when one side moves to or from daylight saving time, so the table shows January and July separately.
| City | Time now | Difference now | In January | In July |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (United States) | --:-- | 8 h behind | 8 h behind | 7 h behind |
| Los Angeles (United States) | --:-- | 11 h behind | 11 h behind | 10 h behind |
| London (United Kingdom) | --:-- | 3 h behind | 3 h behind | 2 h behind |
| Paris (France) | --:-- | 2 h behind | 2 h behind | 1 h behind |
| Dubai (United Arab Emirates) | --:-- | 1 h ahead | 1 h ahead | 1 h ahead |
| Mumbai (India) | --:-- | 2 h 30 min ahead | 2 h 30 min ahead | 2 h 30 min ahead |
| Singapore | --:-- | 5 h ahead | 5 h ahead | 5 h ahead |
| Tokyo (Japan) | --:-- | 6 h ahead | 6 h ahead | 6 h ahead |
| Sydney (Australia) | --:-- | 8 h ahead | 8 h ahead | 7 h ahead |
| UTC | --:-- | 3 h behind | 3 h behind | 3 h behind |
Other zones on UTC+3 right now
These IANA zones show the same time as Europe/Istanbul today. Their clock-change rules may differ.
- Africa/Addis_Ababa
- Africa/Asmara
- Africa/Dar_es_Salaam
- Africa/Djibouti
- Africa/Kampala
- Africa/Mogadishu
- Africa/Nairobi
- Asia/Aden
- Asia/Amman
- Asia/Baghdad
- Asia/Bahrain
- Asia/Damascus
Using Europe/Istanbul in software
Store and send the zone as its IANA name, Europe/Istanbul, not as a fixed offset. A fixed offset such as UTC+3 gives the wrong result after the next clock change.
Show the current time in Europe/Istanbul:
// JavaScript
new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-GB', { timeZone: 'Europe/Istanbul', timeStyle: 'long' }).format(new Date());
# Python
from datetime import datetime
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
datetime.now(ZoneInfo('Europe/Istanbul'))
// PHP
(new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('Europe/Istanbul')))->format('c');
# Shell
TZ=Europe/Istanbul dateTools for time in Europe/Istanbul
- Convert a time to or from Europe/Istanbul: pick a date and time and see it in every city on your list.
- Add Istanbul to your world clock to keep it next to your own time.
- Find a meeting time that falls inside office hours in Europe/Istanbul and the other cities you work with.
- Open a full-screen clock for your own time zone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UTC offset of Europe/Istanbul?
UTC+3, all year.
Time zone rules: IANA tz database, version 2026e. Place names and coordinates: GeoNames. Sunrise and sunset are calculated from the coordinates and can differ by a minute or two from local almanacs.