Literary translations from the Western languages played an important role and function in the Turkish modernisation process, as manifested in the form of Westernisation starting in the mid-nineteenth century. This essay examines the position of translated Western literatures within the Turkish literary polysystem. A historical-descriptive study of literary translations from Europe from the mid-nineteenth century onwards reveals that these translations not only helped to enrich the target literary system, bringing new literary models (genres), new subject matter, developing the language and giving rise to a new Turkish literature, they also had an effect upon the broader socio-cultural polysystem, especially on the process of identity creation.