In 1926, the Ministry of Finance introduced notes for the Republic of Turkey in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Turkish lira. These were the last notes printed with both French and Turkish texts on them. Each note carried the portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Between 1937 and 1939, the Central Bank of Turkey introduced new notes with Turkish texts in the Latin alphabet, bearing the portrait of President İsmet İnönü. İnönü notes caused disputes at the time. Denominations of 2½, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Turkish lira were issued. 1 Turkish lira notes were reintroduced in 1942, followed by 50 kuruş notes which weren't released in the country due to World War II in 1944. These two lowest denominations were replaced by coins after the War. Atatürk reappeared on a subsequent series of notes in the early 1950s. The 2½ Turkish lira notes were replaced by coins in 1960, with the same happening to the 5 and 10 Turkish lira notes in 1974 and 1981. Higher denomination notes were introduced during the 1980s and 90s: 5000 Turkish lira in 1981, 10,000 Turkish lira in 1982, 20,000 Turkish lira in 1988, 50,000 Turkish lira in 1989, 100,000 Turkish lira in 1991, 250,000 Turkish lira in 1992, 500,000 Turkish lira in 1993, 1,000,000 Turkish lira in 1995, 5,000,000 Turkish lira in 1997, 10,000,000 Turkish lira in 1999 and 20,000,000 Turkish lira in 2001. The higher values of the "E7 Emission Group" banknotes are exchangeable for new Turkish liras at a rate of 1,000,000 Turkish lira to 1 new Turkish lira at branches of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey until 31 December 2015, after which time they will have no value. The 50,000 Turkish lira note ceased to be redeemable on 4 November 2009, and the 100,000 Turkish lira note on 4 November 2011.
The notes were given security features. The latest versions of the 100,000 TL, 250,000 TL, 500,000 TL and 1,000,000 TL notes lost their color-changing ink due to inflation.
In the transitional period between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2008, the second Turkish lira was officially called "new Turkish lira" in Turkey. Banknotes, referred to by the Central Bank as the "E-8 Emission Group", were introduced in 2005 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 new Turkish lira. Whilst the lower four denominations replaced older notes and used very similar designs, the 50 and 100 new Turkish lira notes did not have equivalents in the old currency. All notes show portraits of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from different points of his life and images of various historical and otherwise important buildings and places in Turkey.
The Ninth Issue (E9) Banknotes
A new series of banknotes, the "E-9 Emission Group" entered circulation on 1 January 2009, with the E-8 group ceasing to be valid after 31 December 2009. The E-9 banknotes refer to the currency as "Turkish lira" rather than "new Turkish lira", and include a new 200 Turkish lira denomination. The new banknotes have different sizes to prevent forgery. The main specificity of this new series is that each denomination depicts a famous Turkish personality, rather than geographical sites and architectural features of Turkey. The dominant color of the 5 Turkish lira banknote has been determined as “purple” on the second series of the current banknotes.
