Birkan Batuk

Birkan Batuk — Biography

Birkan Batuk began playing basketball with Pamukspor before moving to Ülkerspor's junior team, then signed his first professional contract with Alpella, making his Turkish Basketball Super League debut with the club in the 2006–07 season; he later spent a season with Trabzonspor in the second-tier league. He joined Pınar Karşıyaka in the summer of 2009 and extended his contract through 2013 in 2011, the year he was named MVP of the BSL All-Star Game after leading his team to victory with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists; that same season he set a career high of 31 points in 25 minutes against Trabzonspor.

He transferred to Anadolu Efes in 2012, re-signed in 2014, and suffered an Achilles tendon injury in a pre-season game that same year. He went on to play for Darüşşafaka Doğuş from 2016, returned to Anadolu Efes for the 2017–18 season, was loaned to Pınar Karşıyaka in 2019, and then played for Beşiktaş, Bursaspor and Gaziantep Basketbol in turn. A longtime member of Turkey's youth national teams, he began his senior national team career in 2012 and made seven appearances through the 2016 Olympic qualifying tournament. He married Zeynep Selvili in 2023 and announced his retirement from professional basketball in April 2025.