THE LETTER “Ğ”

The letter “Ğ” represents different sounds in different positions, and there is a good deal of dialectical difference within Turkey and even a difference between styles of speech by the same person, in the use of this group of sounds. The following explanation will help with the standard pronunciation:
1- When “ğ” occurs in a syllable with front unrounded vowels /i/ and /e/, the sound represented is /y/ (as in “Year”)
iğne /iyne/ needle
eğlenmek /eylenmek/ to have fun
diğer /diyer/ other
değil /deyil, diyil/ not equivalent
2- When it occurs in a syllable with front rounded or with back vowels, the sound differs in the final syllable and initial syllable positions:
a) In the final syllable position, the sound represented is merely a lengthening of the previous vowel: (I put a colon “ : ”next to the vowel that has lengthened)
düğme /dü:me/ button
öğrenmek /ö:renmek/ to learn
öğle /ö:le/ noon
b) In the initial syllable position, what is represented is simply a hiatus between the vowels (but pronunciated in a combined way like “aır, yourt, saa”) :
ağır /a-ır/ heavy, serious
yoğurt /yo-urt/ yoghurt
sağa /sa-a/ to the right